The ‘Tru7.com’ Witches came away empty handed from their visit to Glasgow on Sunday, losing 50-39 to the Tigers.
The home side had a slight lead throughout the meeting but the Witches kept things tight and looked like taking something away from the meeting until two 5-1’s in the two last heats ended any hopes of a positive result. Danny King scored paid 11 (9+2) for the Witches.
Things started in unusual fashion as the Tigers recorded a 3-2 after Aaron Summers beat King to the flag with both Fernando Garcia and James Sarjeant retiring with bike trouble. Nike Lunna was a winner in heat two as Joe Jacobs sandwiched himself in-between the Tigers pairing. Glasgow’s strong start continued in heat three as Richie Worrall and Lunna hit the first maximum of the evening. Ben Barker got the first Witches heat win of the meeting as the points were shared leaving the Tigers with a 15-8 lead.
Barker’s win boosted the Witches camp and in the following heat Sarjeant and Worrall went into turn three of the first lap side by side with the Witches man coming out on top and he was joined by King who made the most of the Worrall going wide to record a 5-1 for the visitors. However, it was short lived as the Tigers responded immediately with their own 5-1 thanks to Summers and Garcia with Barker trying everything to get past but to no avail. The Witches bounced back in heat seven as Morten Risager won with Covatti in third for a 4-2. The two sides continued to trade heat advantages and it was Glasgow’s turn in heat eight as Garcia overcame Sarjeant to take the win with Danny Ayres in third to make it 27-20 to the home side.
Worrall won heat nine as the points were shared and Summers took another three points in heat 10 ahead of Covatti but Risager managed to get past Garcia to prevent any heat advantage to the Scottish side. The 3-3’s continued in heat 11 as King won comfortably and Covatti produced a great move in heat 12 as he stormed under the Tigers pair of Worrall and Lunna on the third bend of the first lap to take the win in another shared heat leaving the tie finely poised at 39-32.
The Witches looked set to take something away from the meeting after heat 13 as Barker and King banged in a 5-1 for the away side to reduce the lead to just three with two to race. Sadly the Tigers had other ideas as Worrall won heat 14 and Lunna rounded Risager on the final turn for a 5-1 to the home side. The Witches still had hopes of taking a point from the meeting with a 4-2 or better in the final heat but Worrall and Summers rode to another maximum to leave the final score 50-39 to the Tigers.
Director of Speedway Chris Louis couldn’t hide his disappointment and frustration with the result saying it was a missed opportunity to take a positive result due to bad preparation.
“Every point is so vital so it is very disappointing to come away with nothing,” said Louis. “I thought it was a good effort at Workington but then some of the lads didn’t prepare themselves very well for today and they let themselves down and the team down. Had we have been better prepared, I think we had a good chance of picking up points especially as Rene Bach was missing for them and Danny Ayres was not 100% fit.”
“Glasgow were not at their best, we were given an opportunity that we didn’t take, that is how I see today. I was disappointed in the fashion that we didn’t take it too.”
Louis says there is no room for error in the remainder of the season if they want to make the play-offs but hasn’t ruled a top six finish out just yet.
“Every meeting is vital now because we are in a battle with Workington, Newcastle and Sheffield and they are the three teams we have left to race at home so we have to make sure they don’t take anything from Foxhall. Realistically I would say that we need 8 points from our two away meetings.
“I think our chances have lessened slightly after the weekend on the basis that two points was the minimum we were capable of taking away from this weekend and we’ve failed. We are not out of it but we have made life harder for ourselves and realistically I think we need to win every meeting now.”
A positive of the weekend for Louis was the performance of Danyon Hume who made his first visit to both tracks and looked on the pace in both meetings.
“Danyon’s work ethic and attitude impressed me, he was never off the pace at either track this weekend. The difference between National League and Premier League is probably a little bit of belief at the start line which is understandable and normal but he was mixing it on the first turn and first lap when he was close enough and he never got left behind which was nice considering he’d never seen the tracks before so it was impressive.”
Glasgow ‘Allied Vehicles’ Tigers 50
Aaron Summers (c) 11+1
Fernando Garcia 5+1
Richie Worrall 15
Richard Lawson 7
Nike Lunna 9+4
Danny Ayres 3+1
Ipswich ‘Tru7.com’ Witches 39
Danny King (c) 9+2
James Sarjeant 5
Nico Covatti 6
Morten Risager 6+1
Ben Barker 10
Joe Jacobs 3+1
Danyon Hume 0
Premier League table
| Team | Pl | Pts |
| Glasgow | 20 | 46 |
| Somerset | 16 | 46 |
| Peterborough | 18 | 34 |
| Edinburgh | 16 | 33 |
| Sheffield | 18 | 31 |
| Witches | 19 | 27 |
| Workington | 16 | 26 |
| Newcastle | 13 | 25 |
| Berwick | 21 | 25 |
| Rye House | 16 | 19 |
| Redcar | 17 | 19 |
| Plymouth | 18 | 19 |
| Scunthorpe | 16 | 12 |
Next Meeting: PL 18th August vs Workington (home)