By Henry Chard
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THE SCORES
IPSWICH 36: Jason Doyle R/R, Adam Ellis 0 (Withdrawn), Scott Nicholls (G) 13, Dan Thompson (RS) 4, Danny King © 7, Keynan Rew 8+1, Jordan Jenkins 4+2. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
LEICESTER 54: Max Fricke © 10+2 (Paid Maximum), Richard Lawson 12+1, Sam Masters 9+1, Luke Becker 11+1, Ryan Douglas 9+1, Drew Kemp (G) 2, Sam Hagon (RS) 1+1. Team Manager: Stewart Dickson
REFEREE: G. Allen
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Sheffield | 20 | 35 |
| Ipswich | 20 | 34 |
| Leicester | 20 | 32 |
| Belle Vue | 20 | 31 |
| Oxford | 21 | 25 |
| King’s Lynn* | 18 | 11 |
| Birmingham | 21 | 6 |
THE STORY
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches fell to their first defeat at Foxhall this season on Thursday night in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership as they were beaten by Leicester.
The hosts went into the fixture without their top two riders with Jason Doyle having been ruled out for the season and Emil Sayfutdinov having crashed out at Sheffield last week. Rider replacement and Scott Nicholls were covering their absences whilst the visitors had Drew Kemp in for Craig Cook at reserve. A tough task became even tougher as Ipswich lost Adam Ellis after just one heat following a crash, leaving them with just five riders to finish the meeting. That task proved impossible as the Lions raced to three league points. Nicholls top scored with 13.
Heat one set the tone for how the evening would pan out for the home team. With the Lions on a maximum, Max Fricke seemed to get out of shape causing Ellis to try and avoid him which resulted in Ellis hitting the deck and being excluded from the race. With the Witches man having taken a knock to the head that ruled him out of the rest of the night, leaving the Suffolk side with a mountain to climb. Leicester hit a 1-5 in the re-run, but Keynan Rew and Jordan Jenkins hit back in heat two with a maximum of their own. Sam Masters held off Nicholls to win heat three in a Lions 2-4 and heat four was stopped as Rew slid off on the first turn having made the gate meaning he was excluded. Danny King won a shared re-run leaving the visitors 11-13 in front.
Leicester raced to a maximum in heat five and Ritchie Hawkins used his tactical substitute ride early putting King in heat six, but the away side registered a 2-4. Luke Becker and Masters extended the lead with a 1-5 in heat seven, but the Witches were not throwing the towel in as Rew flew to victory in heat eight with Jenkins third for a 4-2 to make it 19-29.
Nicholls powered himself to the win in heat nine in another 4-2 to Ipswich but that was to be the last heat advantage for the hosts. Leicester recorded a heat advantage in heat 10 before a maximum in heat 11 put them on the brink of victory. A shared heat 12 made the score 29-43.
Heat 13 was awarded as a 1-5 to the away side as King went into the air fence as he tried to chase the Lions pair out front. A 3-3 followed in heat 14 and Nicholls won a shared heat 15 to end a challenging night for the Witches.
REACTION FROM THE BOSS
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Thursday’s defeat against Leicester.
“It was a really tough night. It was always going to be tough but then losing Adam in the first race made it a daunting task for us all. The boys fought their hearts out, they were nearly in every race between them. If anything, most of them were guilty of over-riding to compensate for everything and that is something I can’t criticise at all. They gave everything for the team again and we will come again next week.
“Adam has had a slight knock to his head, the doctor thinks he will be fine tomorrow but with the rules he will have to have a mandatory period out so he will miss next week. He will have a bit of rest, but the main priority is to sort that out.
“It wasn’t difficult to keep everyone motivated. We knew it was backs against the wall, but we have had five riders once already this season and managed to pull off a win but Leicester were simply too good. You have got to give credit to Leicester as well, their performance was brilliant. Even with our full one to seven I think it would have been an extremely close meeting, it is a shame it wasn’t our full team as it could have been a classic. They performed brilliantly and they are in great form so well done to them. Everything went wrong for us but even if it didn’t it certainly isn’t a given that we would have won.
“We were aiming to win the league but given our current circumstances if that does not happen it is completely understandable. The main thing is that we are already secured in the play-offs, we will get through this tough period, and we will come back as strong as possible before the cup final and play-offs.”
SCOTT PROPERTIES & VOLVO TRUCK & BUS CENTRE SOUTH & EAST RIDERS OF THE NIGHT
Nicholls picked up both awards after top scoring with 13 points as a guest.
WHAT IT MEANS
Leicester pick up two points and the aggregate bonus point to move third in the table. Ipswich drop to second in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
UP NEXT
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches host the Sheffield Tigers at Foxhall Stadium on Monday 19th August in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. Tickets can be purchased on the gate and in advance here.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway