By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture with Sheffield.
WHEN & WHERE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Sheffield to face the Tigers at Owlerton Stadium on Monday 13th May in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership R1 fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
SHEFFIELD: 1. Jack Holder 8.89 2. Kyle Howarth 5.62 © 3. Chris Holder 7.13 4. Josh Pickering 6.92 5. Tai Woffinden 8.44 6. Luke Killeen 3.00 (G) 7. Dan Gilkes (RS). Team Manager: Simon Stead
IPSWICH: 1. Emil Sayfutdinov 9.65 2. Dan Thompson 4.46 (RS) 3. Adam Ellis 5.74 4. Ryan Douglas 7.50 (G) 5. Jason Doyle 9.18 © 6. Keynan Rew 4.00 7. Jordan Jenkins 3.83. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: M. Bates
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 7 | 13 |
| Belle Vue | 7 | 11 |
| Sheffield | 5 | 9 |
| Leicester | 7 | 9 |
| Oxford | 7 | 9 |
| Birmingham | 9 | 3 |
| King’s Lynn | 6 | 2 |
TICKETS
Tickets are available to purchase on the gate.
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches are back on the road on Monday as they face the Sheffield Tigers in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Suffolk side continued their terrific start to the campaign last time out with a comfortable win over local rivals King’s Lynn in a rain-affected meeting. That victory consolidated their position at the top of the table, but they know they will face a much tougher challenge against the reigning champions.
The Witches are still without captain Danny King due to a hand injury with Ryan Douglas once again guesting in his place at number four. Douglas stood in at Belle Vue for the Witches and scored 11+1.
It’s not a happy hunting ground for Ipswich with the last positive result being a 45-45 draw back in 2016 in the Championship and the last win was back in 2014 with a 51-42 victory for the Witches where the likes of Adam Ellis and Ritchie Hawkins formed part of the side.
FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives us his pre-match thoughts…
“We are still using guests while Danny is recovering, and his recovery is going well. It is just a matter of time for him and patience and hopefully he will be back by the end of the month or the start of next month. We are using Ryan Douglas as a guest again; he was brilliant at Belle Vue and fits into the team really nicely and we look forward to having him back again.
“We met Sheffield in the cup final and play-off final last year and both teams will be favourites to be up there and do it again. We got the better of them in the cup and they got the better of us in the play-offs and in the early league meetings between us it would be great to get an away win on the board. We have got the bonus point to play for too so it would be nice to get one over on them early doors, but it is not vital in the play-off race as things stand.
“I’m not entirely sure why we haven’t won at Sheffield for so long, it is very different to the Ipswich track but the amount we ride on different circuits these days, home advantage isn’t quite as prevalent as it used to be. It is nice to know that I featured in our last win there and it would be great to be the team manager for our next one! We will keep working hard at it and see if we can put together 15 solid heats and push them close or try and nick a victory.”
THE TIGERS
Sheffield have also enjoyed a strong start to the season and sit third in the table despite having only raced five meetings in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. Due to a number of postponements, they have only raced three times at home in all competitions, picking up three wins whilst away from home they have already tasted victory twice.
It’s a strong top three for the hosts led by Jack Holder who won the first round of this year’s Speedway Grand Prix. He is backed up by former world champions Tai Woffinden and brother Chris Holder. Luke Killeen guests at number six for the injured Jason Edwards.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £23, concessions (over 65s & students) £21, kids (up to and including age 17) £1 whilst children under five go free. Official programmes cost £3. All the stadium is open except the back straight which remains closed for safety reasons. There is seating in the Panorama Room, which also boasts a restaurant and bar overlooking the track. There is a fast-food bar, and the Panorama Room Restaurant also offers a ‘Speedway Special’ carvery with a choice of meats. The Panorama Room Restaurant has large bar with ideal viewing facilities in addition to the carvery. Reserve your table now by calling Owlerton Stadium on 01142 343074. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Sheffield’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway