By Rob Binns
All the details ahead of our ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R2 fixture with Oxford.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches host the Oxford Spires at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 27th June in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R2 fixture. Parade: 7.30pm, first race: 7:45pm.
MEETING SPONSORS
RN Euston – RN Euston Limited has supplied steel framed buildings in East Anglia for over 40 years. Established by Ray Euston the business has grown steadily over the years and now Ray works in partnership with his son Mark. The company is based in Suffolk and work all over East Anglia where they have gained a reliable reputation.
Doug Wade Insurance
TEAMS
IPSWICH: 1. Scott Nicholls (G) 9.36 2. Dan Thompson 4.78 (RS) 3. Danny King 7.50 © 4. Adam Ellis 5.95 5. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.24 6. Keynan Rew 4.15 7. Jordan Jenkins 4.00. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
OXFORD: 1. Rohan Tungate 7.38 2. Charles Wright 6.36 3. Lewis Kerr 5.26 4. Maciej Janowski 5.18 5. Chris Harris 6.64 © 6. Erik Riss 4.74 7. Ashton Boughen (RS). Team Manager: Peter Schroeck
REFEREE: P. Carrington
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 12 | 24 |
| Sheffield | 11 | 20 |
| Belle Vue | 13 | 19 |
| Oxford | 12 | 13 |
| Leicester | 12 | 12 |
| King’s Lynn* | 10 | 7 |
| Birmingham | 12 | 6 |
TICKETS
Tickets are available to buy online (until 7pm on raceday) and on the gate and are priced at £23 for adults and £21 for concessions (65+) & students (21 & under). Tickets for children aged 6-16 are £1 whilst children 5 & under go free. Official programmes are priced at £3.50 and are available at the stadium. Car parking is free for all supporters. Debit and credit card payments are accepted. Turnstiles open at 6.40pm.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches race another home fixture at Foxhall on Thursday as they welcome the Oxford Spires in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Witches’ home record was flawless in the first half of the season, and they have been racing brilliantly, particularly in the last few weeks. The hosts come into this meeting off their biggest winning margin of the season, a brilliant 60-30 victory against Leicester Lions at Foxhall last Thursday. The previous home meeting saw a 50-40 win in the top-of-the-table clash with the Sheffield Tigers which extended the lead at the top of the table to four points.
Ipswich have the same line-up that raced in the dominant victory against Leicester which sees Scott Nicholls once again guesting at number one in place of Jason Doyle. Danny King, Adam Ellis and Dan Thompson have all returned to the line-up in recent weeks after injury and illness absences.
When the two sides met in the first half of the season, Ipswich took a maximum five points from the two meetings with a 48-42 victory in Oxford followed a week later by a 45-39 victory after 14 heats at Foxhall. The Suffolk side also held a 10-point advantage after six heats before rain saw the meeting abandoned when they last met the Spires two weeks ago in Oxford.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“Back at Foxhall this week, the first half of the season our home form has been perfect. We’ve dealt with the changing conditions most meetings due to the weather very well. In the two dry meetings we’ve had we’ve shown a liking to the grippy surface. After this, we’ve got a run of four out of the next five meetings away from home so it’s important to keep up our terrific home form and put a couple of points on the board against Oxford.
“It’s great to be able to bring Scott in again, same line-up as last week which was our biggest win for a long time, and he did a superb job at number one. He’s going to be as good as anyone around Foxhall, so we know what we’re getting. Delighted to have him in, he’s been doing brilliant.
“Oxford ran us close earlier on in the year when they came to Foxhall. It’s a bit like Leicester who we’d faced a couple of times before and kept it close, but we knew we needed to improve. We need to improve now we’re in the second half and we’ll look to get a bigger victory like we did last week. Their riders are obviously capable around Foxhall but the way we’re going we certainly don’t need to fear anyone at the moment.”
THE SPIRES
Oxford have had a mixed season and sit fourth in the table. They have been very strong at home with their only defeat in the first half of the season coming against Ipswich. However, they have struggled for away form with just one win, and they come into this meeting off the back of a 50-40 defeat to the King’s Lynn Stars. Oxford ran the Witches close on their last visit to Foxhall but fell to a six-point defeat.
The visitors come into this meeting with their strongest one-to-seven. Skipper Chris Harris has been a recent guest for the Witches and Rohan Tungate is back to Foxhall after spending five seasons at the Witches over two spells.