Premiership
Ipswich Witches 54
Sheffield Tigers 36
A second half demolition job by the Witches saw them comfortably see off Sheffield in this Premiership encounter, but for much of the meeting it looked like the Tigers were going to push them all the way.
Just four points up after nine heats, it took 5-1 maximums, either side of the interval, before the league leaders opened up some daylight.
The first came from Jason Doyle and Troy Batchelor in the tenth and the second rather fortuitously when Jack Holder retired whilst out front, which saw Erik Riss and Batchelor combine and set the home side up for a storming finish.
Justin Sedgmen may have taken the chequered flag in the twelfth, but Doyle and Batchelor hammered home another 5-1 in the thirteenth, before Tom Brennan, guesting for the injured Ben Barker and Riss scored another maximum in the penultimate heat.
Doyle then finished his evening off in style, with his fifth win of the night to finish undefeated, but it was an all round team effort that brought the points.
Skipper Danny King won his first three races and guest Brennan was good value. Batchelor combined for vital maximums and Riss scored race wins.
Doyle won the opening heat from Jack Holder and a lively Kyle Howarth, before Erik Riss took the chequered flag in the second from Sedgmen, with Danyon Hume winning the battle for third as the Witches took the lead.
This was extended with another 4-2 in the next. Adam Ellis looked to have got round the inside of skipper King on the first bend, but the Witches veteran powered down the back straight and back into the lead.
Heat four saw the visitors pull a couple of points back and then a win by King and a battling third from Brennan restored the Witches four point advantage.
Doyle brought the house down as he battled past first Ellis and then Sedgmen, in a share of the spoils in the sixth.
Batchelor touched the tapes in the next and was excluded. With Ellis winning the visitors now trailed by just two and when Howarth won the eighth it kept things close.
King won his third race of the night in the ninth before the home side took control and powered home.
The win sees the Witches extend their lead to five points at the top of the league.
Scorers
IPSWICH: Jason Doyle 15, Danny King 9, Tom Brennan 8, Troy Batchelor 8+3, Erik Riss 12+1, Danyon Hume 2+1
SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder 6+1, Kyle Howarth 6+1, Adam Ellis 12, Craig Cook 3, Justin Sedgmen 9+1, Connor Mountain 0
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