Ipswich skipper Danny King insists the Tru7 Group Witches “owe it to the fans” to at least “go down swinging” in their Rowe Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final, second leg away to Belle Vue on Monday.
The Witches must overturn a 52-38 deficit from last Monday’s first leg at Foxhall if they are to take their title defence into the Grand Final against either Sheffield or Leicester.
With Belle Vue unbeaten at the National Speedway Stadium this season, it’s fair to say the Suffolk side has a mountain to climb. But King is determined for his team to at least go down fighting on a track where they gave the Aces an early scare on April 20, before losing 51-39.
He said: “They were the better team in the first leg; congratulations to them. But it’s not over. I don’t think they have lost at home yet this year, but we’ll go down swinging. We owe it to the fans.
“We knew it was going to be tough. They are a solid outfit. They finished top of the league for a reason.
“I thought we had enough firepower to get a result at home. I’m just disappointed we couldn’t. They were the better team. You could probably sit back and look at certain things, but ultimately, you have to be honest.”
The 2026 Ipswich side was only unveiled less than a month before the season started following Mayfield’s winter takeover of the club from former promoter and Witches legend Chris Louis.
With that in mind, a top-four finish and a run to the Premiership Knockout Cup Final is not to be sniffed at. “It’s probably not when you look back at it,” King said. “But last Monday’s result was a very difficult and bitter pill to swallow. We’re going to go into the second leg and put up a fight; let’s see what we can do. Then we’ll look back at the end of the year.”
Live coverage of Witches’ trip to Manchester can be streamed live on the British Speedway Network HERE.
STARTING LINE-UPS
BELLE VUE ACES: 1 Brady Kurtz (captain), 2. Norick Blödorn, 3. Peter Kildemand, 4. Zach Cook, 5. Jason Doyle, 6. Tate Zischke, 7. Will Cairns.
IPSWICH TRU7 GROUP WITCHES: 1. Richard Lawson, 2. Scott Nicholls, 3. Danny King (captain), 4. Tom Brennan, 5 Tobias Musielak, 6 Kevin Juhl Pedersen, 7. Jason Edwards.