King’s Lynn Stars 45 Ipswich Witches 45
Ipswich Witches team boss Ritchie Hawkins heaped praise on his side after they fought back from eight points down to gain a deserved draw at King's Lynn.
Chris Harris flew to a paid 15-point maximum, including a last heat win, while flying reserve Cameron Heeps scored a paid 18.
It was a terrific performance from the Witches, who pick up two points to keep their Premiership play-off hopes very much on track.
"I'm just very happy tonight about the whole thing," Hawkins said.
"To come back from eight down and get a draw like that. They had to use a tactical ride to get back into it. That keeps happening to us.
"A draw is a very good result here and to come back from where we were is awesome."
While Harris and Heeps were the Witches heroes tonight, there was an off night for Richard Lawson.
"Our guest rider Aaron Summers had bike issues and Richard didn't have a good one. But he'll bounce back, because he will.
"We are a team, simple as that."
And Hawkins had special praise for the fans.
"We had loads of support here and I hope we made them proud."
Danny King touched the tapes off gate one in the opening heat and was excluded. Heeps came in as a replacement.
But it was the home side who got off to the perfect start with a 5-1 maximum.
Heeps was out again in the next to provide the Witches with their first heat win of the night and Harris passed Ty Proctor to win heat three.
Heeps had started the meeting well for the Witches and he beat Craig Cook in the next, but the Witches, despite producing three heat winners in the first four races, were four behind.
Suddenly they were eight back after Richard Lawson and King were beaten out of the start by the Lynn pairing.
Michael Palm-Toft fell on bend two in heat six with Robert Lambert at the front, the Lynn man excluded.
Lambert won the re-run but the Witches hit straight back in heat seven.
Lewis Kerr led but the Witches pairing of Edward Kennett and Harris nipped through, the former winning his first-ever race for the Witches, before King and Heeps brought the scores level.
The Witches were on a 5-1 maximum in the next but Ty Proctor fell and the race was stopped with Proctor excluded. But in the re-run Heeps, with his fourth race win and Pieszczek gated to the front.
The Witches had turned an eight-point deficit into a four-point lead - and they stretched that to six in the next, with Harris passing Robert Lambert, Kennett getting third on the line.
The Stars had Robert Lambert out on a tactical ride in heat 11 and he and Cook pulled four points back.
There was just two in it but Heeps came in for his sixth ride and linked with Harris as the Witches went back into a six-point lead, with just three to go.
The Stars hit straight back through Cook and Lambert and levelled it up in the penultimate race, before Harris' superb winning heat 15.
Scorers
King's Lynn: R Lambert 15+1, M Palm-Toft 2+1, T Proctor 4+1, T Jorgensen 8+1, C Cook 8+3, L Kerr 2+1, S Lambert 6
Ipswich: R Lawson 1, D King 3+1, C Harris 14+1, E Kennett 4, K Pieszczek 5+1, A Summers 1+1, C Heeps 17+1
Heat details
1 R Lambert, Palm Toft, Heeps, Lawson 5-1
2 Heeps, S Lambert, Kerr, Summers. 8-4
3 Harris, Proctor, Jorgensen, Kennett 11-7
4 Heeps, S Lambert, Cook, Pieszczek 14-10
5 Jorgensen, Proctor, Lawson, King 19-11
6 Lambert, Pieszczek, Summers, Palm-Foft (ex) 22-14
7 Kennett, Harris, Cook, Kerr (R) 23-19
8 Heeps, King, S Lambert, Palm Toft. 24-24
9 Heeps, Pieszczek, Jorgensen, Proctor (f/x) 25-29
10 Harris, R Lambert, Kennett, Palm Toft. 27-33
11 R Lambert*, Cook, King, Lawson 32-34
12 Harris, Heeps, S Lambert, Proctor (r) 33-39
13 Cook, Lambert, Pieszczek, Summers 38-40
14 Jorgensen, Heeps, Kerr, Kennett 42-42
15 Harris, Lambert, Cook, Pieszczek 45-45
*tac ride
Lynn 1 pts. Witches 2 pts.
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