THE Ipswich Witches have a mountain to climb if they are to bring the Knock-Out Cup back to Suffolk, following a first-leg 48-42 defeat at the hands of the Newcastle Diamonds, at Foxhall on Saturday.
During a tough meeting, made all the more trickier by a dusty track that dried up much of the surface water, the Witches only led once throughout the meeting and that was after the opening heat.
They trailed 40-32 going into heat 13, but a 4-2 from Leigh Lanham and Rohan Tungate, followed by a maximum, courtesy of Dakota North and Mat Tresarrieu, looked to have changed the whole complexion of the tie.
However, Mark Lemon and Claes Nedermark teamed up on Lanham in the final heat of the night and, with Dakota North trailing, gave the Tynesiders a healthy six-point lead going into tomorrow’s night’s second leg – a leg that could yet still be in doubt due to snow in the north east.
Should the meeting be cancelled, the teams will look to get the meeting run on Monday.
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