Ritchie Hawkins reserved special praise for Lewis Kerr as Ipswich Witches beat Peterborough 48-42 in the League Cup at Foxhall this evening.

The hosts eventually edged a tight contest, in which the Panthers were in touch throughout, with skipper Danny King (14) and Kerr (11) leading the way as Nico Covatti and Morten Risager backed them up with eight and 7+2 respectively.

Following a tough start to the season, both for the team and for Kerr individually, Hawkins was delighted to see his side pick up their first victory, helped largely by Kerr’s display of lightning gating and smooth riding, which saw him pick up three heat wins

“We’re getting there now, it’s far from perfect but that’s more like what I have expected and what I wanted, which is good,” he said.

“I’m happy and satisfied.

“Danny’s (King) done well but I’m so happy for Lewis this evening, he needs to make this a good home track for him.

“He was so quick and was trapping really well, and I’m happy for Sarj (James Sarjeant, six) as well. I’m just happy for all the boys.”

Reserves Darryl Ritchings and Paco Castagna scored just a point each, but no alarm bells are ringing for Hawkins just yet.

East Anglian Daily Times: Danny King (red) and James Sarjeant (blue) will be at Glasgow to try and make the British FinalDanny King (red) and James Sarjeant (blue) will be at Glasgow to try and make the British Final (Image: � Copyright Steve Waller)

“Their performance and their attitude is good and I’m really happy for them,” he said.

“I needed something from Paco in heat 14 and he showed me it, the boys are just settling in so we need to stick by everybody, stay together as a team and we’re really happy with that performance.”

A Panthers 4-2 in heat 15 meant the visitors took a losing bonus point from the contest, but Hawkins isn’t too concerned given they still have three fixtures to come in the Midland Group.

He said: “We dont’ know the significance of that just yet but we know we have to go and win next Thursday at Sheffield, so that’s our focus for the moment.

“We certainly won’t be worrying about a losing point at the moment and we’ll just concentrate on our own performance, which was a lot better.