By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our Knockout Cup semi-final second leg fixture with Peterborough.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches travel to Peterborough to face the Panthers at the East of England Arena & Events Centre on Monday 28th August in a Knockout Cup semi-final second leg fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
IPSWICH: 1. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.91 2. Erik Riss 4.86 3. Danny King 7.03 © 4. Keynan Rew 4.00 5. Jason Doyle 9.37 6. Danyon Hume 3.74 7. Ashton Boughen (G) (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: C. Turnbull
KNOCKOUT CUP DRAW
QUARTER-FINALS
First Leg: Wolverhampton 46-20 Belle Vue. Second Leg: Belle Vue 54-36 Wolverhampton
First Leg: Ipswich 48-42 Leicester. Second Leg: Leicester 43-47 Ipswich
First Leg: Sheffield 58-32 King’s Lynn. Second Leg: King’s Lynn 34-56 Sheffield
SEMI-FINALS
First Leg: Ipswich 57-33 Peterborough
First Leg: Sheffield 54-36 Wolverhampton. Second Leg: Wolverhampton 52-38 Sheffield
FINAL
Sheffield v TBC
TICKETS
Tickets are available on the gate.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches travel to Peterborough on Monday for the second leg of their Knockout Cup semi-final. Ipswich beat Leicester in the quarter-final to book their place in the final four whilst the Panthers received a bye into the semi-final. The Suffolk side arrive at the East of England Arena in decent form having won six of their last seven fixtures. The Witches have already tasted success at Peterborough this season with two league victories in Cambridgeshire in the Sports Insure Premiership.
The visitors take a big lead into the second leg and are heavy favourites to progress to the final having won the first leg 57-33 back in May. 16-year-old Ashton Boughen will guest in the Rising Star position for the injured Dan Thompson.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru Mix’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We have done very well at Peterborough this season and we go there with a massive lead, but we can’t go there looking to defend the lead. We have got to go there looking to do as much as we can to win the meeting and then hopefully the lead should be enough. They are a lot stronger team now and they are in better form, and we have got to be wary of that and not relax too much and switch off.
“We have got a massive lead, but they are in good form, and they will be confident after their result last week against Sheffield that they can overturn it, so we have got to make sure we don’t give them that opportunity.
“The play-offs are the main priority every season, but we haven’t won the cup since 1998, so we need to get trophies, and this is our best opportunity at the moment to win something this season. The cup is important to us, and we want to win it.
“We have brought Ashton in; he has just turned 16 and did his first meeting at Sheffield. There is no pressure on him, just come in and ride. He is an East Anglian lad and is highly rated, it will be an experience for him. He is extremely talented and doing very well so it will be a great learning experience for him, and he is another British prospect who it will be great to work with.”
THE PANTHERS
Peterborough’s 2023 has not gone to plan but the club have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks. Having a full one to seven has no doubt boosted the club and they showed what they can do last week with a 53-37 win over Sheffield on home shale. They sit bottom of the Sports Insure Premiership with just two home wins to their name all season but now look a very different side to the one that has been tracked for the majority of the season.
The Panthers made a team change over the weekend, bringing in 2021 world champion Artem Laguta after he was released by King’s Lynn. He replaces Patryk Wojdylo who had impressed during his time at the East of England Arena.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £22, concessions (over 65), disabled and students £20, children (5-16) £5 and children under the age of 5 go free. Official programmes cost £3 with car parking priced at £1. Facilities include a 2200 capacity grandstand, grass banking on the back straight, fast food outlets on the grandstand side of the track and a licensed bar. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Peterborough’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway