SCORECARD
KING’S LYNN 51: Richard Lawson 9+1, Ben Cook R/R, Nicolai Klindt © 7+1, Chris Harris 12+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 2, Jan Kvěch 18+2, Jody Scott (G) (RS) 3+1. Team Manager: Rob Lyon
IPSWICH 39: Emil Sayfutdinov 9+1, Danny King © 8+2, Adam Ellis 4, Tom Brennan 6+1, Jason Doyle 5 (Withdrawn), Connor Mountain (G) 1, Jordan Jenkins (RS) 6+1. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: P. Carrington
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Ipswich | 11 | 21 |
| Sheffield | 11 | 20 |
| Belle Vue | 10 | 17 |
| Leicester | 10 | 14 |
| King’s Lynn | 11 | 11 |
| Oxford | 12 | 6 |
| Birmingham | 11 | 4 |
THE REPORT
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches were beaten at King’s Lynn on Monday night in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The visitors welcomed back Jason Doyle to the side after his hip injury with Connor Mountain guesting for the injured Dan Thompson at reserve. The Stars were using rider replacement for Ben Cook with Jody Scott coming in for Ashton Boughen. The two teams traded heat advantages in the opening eight races with the Suffolk side four up. However, Ipswich lost Doyle who withdrew ahead of heat nine after aggravating his injury and King’s Lynn took advantage to race to victory in the closing stages with Ipswich picking up the aggregate bonus point. Emil Sayfutdinov top scored with 9+1.
Sayfutdinov got his side off to a good start by winning heat one and Danny King worked his way into third for a heat advantage. King’s Lynn recorded a 5-1 in heat two before Tom Brennan won a shared heat three. Doyle returned to action with a win in heat four in a 2-4 to level the score at 12-12.
Sayfutdinov made it two wins from two in heat five as King once again picked up a point to edge the away side in front. It was all square again after heat six as King’s Lynn raced to a 4-2 and a 3-3 followed in heat seven. The Witches went ahead in heat eight thanks to a maximum from Jordan Jenkins and King to make it 22-26.
Doyle was withdrawn from the meeting ahead of heat nine with injury rider replacement in use for his remaining rides, but King’s Lynn hit a 5-1 in his absence to make it level again. The home team followed that up with another maximum in heat 10 to go in front and it was a 3-3 in heat 11. The points were shared again in heat 12 leaving King’s Lynn 38-34 to the good.
There was another 3-3 in heat 13 and the win was sealed in heat 14 thanks to a maximum from Chris Harris and Jan Kvěch. The hosts ended with another 5-1 as Ipswich had to settle for the bonus point.
RITCHIE HAWKINS REACTION
Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Monday’s defeat at King’s Lynn…
“After being up halfway through to go down to a defeat is really disappointing. I thought the boys gave it everything, but we haven’t quite got the consistency from some of them and are not firing as a whole at the moment. I felt everything else was there and I know if they keep working hard as they are things will soon turn back round.
“We lost Jason, he aggravated his injury in the grippy conditions and couldn’t carry on. He was in a lot of discomfort, and it was definitely for the best to withdraw from the meeting. I don’t think that was the reason we ended up losing the meeting, we can’t use that at all. The difference was that we didn’t up our performance and it probably dropped a bit whereas a couple of their guys really stepped up and won it for them.
“We are missing Dan obviously because he was riding like a heat-leader rather than a reserve which is rare. A side like King’s Lynn will always have a very strong number six, Jan was superb and has hit a great run of form and is doing very well and is making the most of being down there. That is how they are built but we should be good enough in the other positions to account for that but tonight we weren’t, and they were the better team on the night.
“It is a little bit of a tough period for us, but it is not a disastrous time to be having a few issues. I can see what the boys are doing and how hard they are working. Inevitably they will get the rewards for that, and it is not as disastrous as could be seen. Maybe it seems more of a tough period because we have set such high standards and expectations are so high of us. That exaggerates everything into thinking things are worse than they really are whereas in reality we are top of the league in a very strong position and are still in the cup as well.
“We will get through this period stronger and should improve. We have got time on our side to get that right for when we really need to be firing and can’t have any mishaps which is later on in the season. Saying that, we have a very big meeting on Monday. Leicester turned us over the other week, and we don’t want that to be happening again.”
RIDER OF THE NIGHT
Fans online voted for Sayfutdinov who top scored with 9+1 from four rides.
WHAT IT MEANS
King’s Lynn add two points to their total and stay fifth in table. Ipswich collect the aggregate bonus point after their 16-point win at Foxhall over the Stars which keeps them top of the pile.
NEXT FIXTURE
The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches host the Leicester Lions at Foxhall on Monday 23rd June in a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture. Tickets can be purchased on the gate and in advance here.
Press Officer at Ipswich Speedway