IPSWICH Witches abandon their usual Thursday night Foxhall experience for a trip to Wiltshire this evening, as they go in search of Elite League points at Swindon Robins.
With the motor sport Spede-Weekend coming up at Foxhall on Saturday and Sunday, the Stadium is being prepared for that event, leaving the Witches to try and boost their ever-flagging Elite League campaign on the road tonight.
Not that many Witches fans will travel over-hopeful.
The original staging of this meeting was curtailed half-way through, when the heavens opened back in April, with the Witches already 15 points adrift. And there isn’t much to suggest a huge swing in favour of the Suffolk side will occur this time.
But hope springs eternal and there is enough in the Ipswich team to cause a surprise or two for a Robins side who are on a good run of form.
A draw at Coventry on Monday was the latest in a string of decent results for Ronnie Russell’s team and with new averages placing Morten Risager in the reserve department, it strengthens Swindon even more.
The Witches have plenty of riders who go well at Swindon however, with Robert Miskowiak and Scott Nicholls both having enjoyed good meetings at Blunsdon over the years.
But consistency, or lack of it, continues to be the Witches Achilles Heel, as typified last week when they beat Belle Vue easily, but then lost to weakened Coventry in the space of 24 hours.
Olly Allen, after crashing twice at Brandon on Friday, suffered another bad fall in Poland on Sunday.
He went for x-rays on Monday but should be fit to take his place in the Witches side.
Robins team manager Ronnie Russell said: “Despite their eighth-placed league position, Ipswich track a host of international riders and will certainly pose a threat.”
Tonight’s teams
Swindon: 1 L Adams, 2 C Gathercole, 3 G Zengota, 4 M Korneliussen, 5 S Stead, 6 M Risager, 7 T H Jonasson.
Ipswich: 1 S Nicholls, 2 O Allen, 3 D King, 4 A Dryml, 5 R Miskowiak, 6 D Stachyra, 7 R Hawkins.
Follow Mike Bacon tonight on Twitter, live from Blunsdon
Table
P Pts.
Poole 17 46
Lakeside 18 35
Wolves 17 34
Peterborough 18 31
Belle Vue 21 26
Swindon 16 24
Coventry 17 20
Ipswich 19 17
Eastbourne 19 15
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