By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our Premiership play-off semi-final second leg fixture with Belle Vue.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches travel to Manchester to face the Belle Vue Aces at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday 3rd October in a Premiership play-off semi-final second leg fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
BELLE VUE: 1. Brady Kurtz 8.24 © 2. Tom Brennan 5.86 (RS) 3. Matej Zagar 7.20 4. Charles Wright 6.42 5. Robert Lambert 7.61 6. Norick Blödorn 5.45 7. Jye Etheridge 4.76. Team Manager: Mark Lemon
IPSWICH: 1. Jason Doyle 10.32 2. Aaron Summers 4.91 3. Danny King 6.57 © 4. Rohan Tungate 6.61 5. Troy Batchelor 5.57 6. Paul Starke 3.53 7. Anders Rowe (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: W. Dishington
PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Sheffield | 19 | 43 |
| Ipswich | 19 | 43 |
| Belle Vue | 19 | 38 |
| Wolverhampton | 20 | 34 |
| King’s Lynn | 19 | 24 |
| Peterborough | 20 | 13 |
PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF FIXTURES
SEMI-FINALS
Wolverhampton vs Sheffield (1st Leg – Oct 3), Sheffield vs Wolverhampton (2nd Leg – Oct 6)
Ipswich 38-52 Belle Vue (1st Leg – Sep 29), Belle Vue vs Ipswich (2nd Leg – Oct 3)
TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased online here and are available on the gate.
THE STORY
The ‘Tru Mix’ Witches head to Manchester on Monday night to face the Belle Vue Aces for the decisive second leg of their Premiership play-off semi-final. Ipswich hosted the first leg at Foxhall last Thursday and endured a disastrous evening, going down to a 14-point defeat, leaving themselves with a mountain to climb if they are to progress to the final.
The Suffolk side have had mixed fortunes at the National Speedway Stadium in 2022, picking up a consolation point in June after a narrow 48-42 defeat, but they have also experienced a heavy 60-30 defeat in August. The Witches know they need to produce a comeback of epic proportions on Monday with many expecting Belle Vue’s progress to the final to be a formality having built up such a healthy lead at Foxhall.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We have already messed it up, so we have nothing to lose now and everything to gain. The pressure is off. We have had a great year together as a team and we have enjoyed being together and chances are Monday will be the last time as a one to seven. If we can go there and put everything into place as we should, you never know.
“We have got a team of riders capable of beating Belle Vue riders. The history and stats won’t be in our favour, but we have no pressure on us and we can go and race and enjoy ourselves. We need to put in a much better performance than we did on Thursday for all the fans watching at home or travelling. We need to put in a performance that they have seen all season with that fighting spirit and give them something to be proud of.”
THE ACES
Belle Vue boast a perfect home league record in 2022 with 10 wins from 10 and have handed out several heavy defeats along the way to their Premiership rivals. On Thursday night they surprised many by racing to a convincing victory at Foxhall in the first leg, having previously only recorded victories on the road against bottom side Peterborough in the league this season. They host the second leg knowing they are in pole position to reach the final with that 14-point advantage.
The hosts remain without their number one Grand Prix rider Max Fricke who had his season ended by injury just before the play-offs began. He will be replaced by their new signing Robert Lambert who comes in at number five with captain Brady Kurtz moving to number one. With the October averages now in force there is a switch at reserve with Jye Etheridge dropping to number seven and Norick Blödorn moving up to number six.
AWAY DAYS
Ticket prices can be found here and official programmes cost £3. For more information about your visit to the National Speedway Stadium, head here.
For more information about the club head to Belle Vue’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway