By Henry Chard
All the details ahead of our Premiership fixture with Sheffield.
WHEN & WHERE
The ‘Tru Plant’ Witches travel to South Yorkshire to face Sheffield at Owlerton on Thursday 24th June in a Premiership fixture that starts at 7.30pm.
TEAMS
SHEFFIELD: 1. Troy Batchelor 8.63 2. Kyle Howarth 5.86 © 3. Adam Ellis 6.49 4. Justin Sedgmen 4.00 5. Jack Holder 7.75 6. James Wright 3.00 7. Kyle Bickley (g) (RS). Team Manager: Simon Stead
IPSWICH: 1. Nick Morris (g) 8.00 2. Paul Starke 4.27 3. Danny King 6.85 © 4. Jake Allen 5.70 5. Craig Cook 7.59 6. Anders Rowe 3.00 7. Drew Kemp (RS). Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
REFEREE: C. Ackroyd
PREMIERSHIP TABLE
| Team | Meetings | Points |
| Peterborough | 6 | 15 |
| Belle Vue | 5 | 13 |
| Wolverhampton | 5 | 10 |
| Ipswich | 8 | 8 |
| Sheffield | 4 | 4 |
| King’s Lynn | 4 | 3 |
TICKETS
Tickets can be purchased online here. Details on covid regulations at the stadium can be found here.
THE STORY
The Witches are on the road again on Thursday as they travel to South Yorkshire to take on the Sheffield Tigers at Owlerton. Ipswich were in action on Monday night at Peterborough and picked up a point after a narrow defeat to the Panthers, a result that saw them pick up points for the first time since victory over Thursday’s opponents at Foxhall back in May. The Suffolk side have not visited Owlerton since their Championship days in 2018 where the home side emerged 52-38 winners.
The away side are still without number one Jason Crump who remains on the sidelines after breaking eight ribs in a crash at Wolves earlier this season. In his absence, Wolves’ Nick Morris deputises at number one at Sheffield. Both captain Danny King and Drew Kemp raced for the Tigers in the 2019 season when they were in the Championship and the Witches will be looking to build on Monday’s point at Peterborough by picking up more points on their travels.
HAWKINS PREVIEW
Ipswich ‘Tru Plant’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins gives his pre-match thoughts…
“Sheffield are a good team and it is a tough place to go but we are quite capable ourselves if we perform to our abilities. We need to build on Monday’s performance and if we do that, I’m sure we will pick up a lot of points. We will go there looking forward to it, but we go there with confidence and knowing we can perform well.
“We have got Nick guesting on Monday and he has started the season very well. He is quite capable and has maybe had a tough couple of years, but he seems to have started pushing on again. He has been there this year and done well so I’m sure he will do a good job.
“We are capable of going well there and we need to go there with the focus of winning because at some point we are going to have to start winning away meetings if we want to make the play-offs whilst obviously picking up our home form. We need to win somewhere, and we will go there looking to do that, why not?”
THE OPPOSITION
Sheffield’s season is yet to really gather pace with the club having suffered three postponements already due to the weather. They are currently fifth in the table having only raced four fixtures, but they have won their one and only home fixture so far against Wolves. The Tigers will be hoping to record a victory over the Witches on Thursday and build some momentum ahead of a busy schedule in July where they will hope to cement a place in the top four.
The home side boast a powerful top end with Troy Batchelor, Jack Holder and Adam Ellis leading the side. Ellis recently booked his place in the Speedway GP Challenge as he aims to qualify for next year’s Grand Prix series, and he scored 16 points at Foxhall earlier this season as the Tigers were defeated. The hosts have a guest in the Rising Star position with Kyle Bickley deputising for Josh Bates who picked up an injury in a practice session.
AWAY DAYS
An adult ticket costs £19, concessions £17, children (12-16) £6 and children (under 12) £1. Official programmes cost £3. All the stadium is open except back straight which remains closed for safety reasons. There is seating in the Panorama Room, which also boasts a restaurant and bar overlooking 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 0114 2343074. For travel information head here.
For more information about the club head to Sheffield’s official website.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway