Ipswich Witches 60 Peterborough Panthers 32

Ipswich Witches roared to a comprehensive victory over Peterborough at Foxhall Stadium tonight.

The Suffolk side proved far too good for a Panthers team, already without Kenneth Hansen, who also lost Paul Starke after he had one ride and a nasty spill, while Ulrich Ostergaard missed his last ride after a nasty heat 10 spill.

The Witches didn’t need any second invitation to put the visitors to the sword and the large Saturday night crowd loved it.

Only Bradley Wilson-Dean really got among the points for the visitors as the home side ripped into the Panthers to make it three home wins on the spin at the start of the season.

All the home side came to the party, none more so than young reserve Danyon Hume who picked up two heat wins in an impressive 11 point score.

But the Witches were strong throughout, attacking the track with gusto as the visitors faded after a bright start.

James Sargeant went through the tapes in heat one and was replaced by reserve Hume for Ipswich. Danny King and Jack Holder were wheel to wheel for a lap before the Ipswich skipper pulled away to take the flag.

Meanwhile Hume held on well for third place as Ipswich took a first-heat lead.

Bradley Wilson-Dean just got the better of Hume on the turn of heat two to give the Panthers a first heat victory.

Paul Starke was the next to go through the tapes in what was a nervy start from both teams. Wilson-Dean replaced Starke and won his second heat of the night in style.

In fact the Panthers were on a 5-1 maximum until Cameron Heeps roared around Ostergaard on the final bend to split the visitors.

Both Panthers hit the deck on the first and second turns of heat four, with Tom Bacon excluded. Both got up ok, Starke taking a bang on the shoulder.

And although Starke hit the front in the re-run, both Hume and Rory Schlein flew past him down the back straight as the Witches gained the first 5-1 victory of the night.

Ipswich led by four, a lead they doubled in heat five as Nico Covatti pulled out an outrageous first and second turn to get the better of Holder.

Heeps passed Simon Lambert before taking advantage of Holder’s mistake.

The Witches looked to be coasting to another 5-1 in the next, but Sarjeant fell off on his own on turn four on the third lap. It was a big let-off for Peterborough.

An untidy start to heat seven saw Wilson-Dean on the deck and in the re-run Connor Mountain was also on the deck. However, there was no re-run a second time as Schlein sped to victory.

The large Saturday night Foxhall crowd were getting behind their team, boosted by free entry for children.

And they were on their feet again as the excellent Hume shot from the start in heat eight, with Sarjeant backing him up. Ipswich were 30-18 ahead. With Starke ruled out of the meeting, the Panthers were down to five riders now and Heeps and Covatti made them pay with another maximum as the Witches turned the screw.

Ostergaard spun round on the second turn in heat 10 and his team-mate Wilson-Dean piled into him. It looked an awful incident, but thankfully both were up ok, even if Ostergaard was excluded.

Heat 10 was another 5-1 as the home side now led by 20.

Panthers No.1 Holder took a tactical ride but Schlein got the better of him on turn two as the home side wrapped up the victory. Wilson-Dean kept up his one-man defiance up as he won his third race in heat 12.

King made it four wins out of four and Heeps finished a decent night for him with another heat victory in race 14 as Schlein and Heeps finished the night off with a sixth 5-1 maximum.

The return fixture is at Peterborough on Bank Holiday Monday, 3pm start.

Scorers

Ipswich: D King 12, J Sarjeant 4+2, N Covatti 6+2, C Heeps 12+2, R Schlein 12+1, C Mountain 3+1, D Hume 11

Peterborough: J Holder 10, S Lambert 0, P Starke 1, U Ostergaard 4+1, R/R, B Wilson-Dean 14+1, T Bacon 3

1 King, Holder, Hume, Lambert, Sarjeant (ex/t) 55.8 4-2

2 Wilson-Dean, Hume, Mountain, Bacon 57.8 7-5

3 Wilson-Dean, Heeps, Ostergaard, Covatti 57.8 9-9

4 Hume, Schlein, Starke, Bacon (ex/t) 58.8 14-10

5 Covatti, Heeps, Holder, Lambert 57.7 19-11

6 King, Wilson-Dean, Ostergaard, Sarjeant (f/x) no time 22-14

7 Schlein, Ostergaard, Wilson-Dean, Mountain 58.1 25-17

8 Hume, Sarjeant, Lambert, Bacon 59.3 30-18

9 Heeps, Covatti, Wilson-Dean, Bacon 58.2 35-19

10 King, Sarjeant, Wilson-Dean, Ostergaard (f/x) 57.3 40-20

11 Schlein, Holder*, Mountain, Lambert 57.5 44-24

12 Wilson-Dean, Hume, Covatti, Bacon 58.5 47-27

13 King, Holder, Schlein, Lambert 56.8 51-29

14 Heeps, Bacon, Mountain. 3 riders only 58.1 55-31

15 Schlein, Heeps, Holder, Bacon 58.0 60-32

*tac ride points count double

Ipswich 3 pts. Peterborough 0 pts.