Ipswich Witches 48 Glasgow Tigers 42
Ipswich Witches went joint top of the Championship table alongside Glasgow after a hard-fought win over the Tigers at Foxhall Stadium tonight.
In a tight clash between two of the league’s top sides, the Witches had to dig deep, but came through impressively to pick up the three points.
This was a real test of the Witches’ credentials.
New boys Kyle Newman and Justin Sedgmen were making their Foxhall debuts, while guest James Shanes was also at Foxhall for the first time this season.
They all impressed alongside the rest of the home team and this win will certainly fire warning sides out to the rest of the league.
However, a last heat 5-1 to the Tigers, rescued them a deserved point, much to the disappointment of Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins.
“It was always going to be a tough night with three riders making their debut at home and against a very good team,” said Hawkins.
“They got a 5-1 in heat 15 which makes it feel a little bit like a loss and we don’t want to be giving teams who are play-off contenders a point off of us, so that was really disappointing.”
Hawkins feels that home debutants Justin Sedgmen and Kyle Newman will only get better with track time and was pleased with their performances.
“I think Justin took a couple of rides to get his head around it but he rode his last race perfectly. Kyle made a mistake in his last ride but they have both learnt a lot tonight and I’m sure they will improve and do really well for us.”
Hawkins was impressed with guest James Shanes and says work is still ongoing to try and find a replacement for the injured Danyon Hume.
“James came in and fitted in well with the team and really enjoyed himself. He was superb coming in as a two point guest and was really impressive.
“We’re doing our best to find a replacement for Danyon and we will have to see what the future holds and see if we can get something together. Obviously it has not affected us tonight as James did so well but he can’t guest every week for us.”
Cameron Heeps made a flyer in heat one, while Danny King’s clutch caused him issues as he had to come from the back, overtaking Tigers’ Aaron Summers into third. Glasgow got their first race win in the reserves heat with Tom Perry gating to victory, Shanes pushing him all the way. Newman slid off at the back in heat three as the visitors levelled.
The Tigers were gating like rockets and Richie Worrall was the next to fly from the tapes to victory. Newman and Sedgmen looked like they were going to get the Witches first 5-1 of the night in heat six, but Summers did well to roar past Sedgmen on the final bend.
King put his firs heat machine problems behind him to get to the first bend ahead of Worrall as the Witches eeked out a four-point lead.
Schlein had it all to do against the fast-starting Lawson in heat seven, but the Aussie rode a great second bend to get the better of the Tiger. It was a great ride from Schlein.
Glasgow’s heat leaders had started well and it was nip and tuck in the first half of the meeting.
But the Witches struck hard in heat eight as Heeps and Shanes left the Tigers for dead at the start and the Foxhall faithful rose as one to cheer them home to the first maximum of the meeting.
Sedgmen had to pass Perry on lap three as the Witches shared heat nine. Lawson roared past Heeps and led King in a thrilling heat 10 as the Glasgow top men continued to impress.
But it was the Witches 34-26 up with just five races to go and they stretched it to ten as Sedgmen won his first race at Foxhall
King bravely went round Worrall in heat 13 as the Tigers’ man packed up.
Shanes completed a fine night for him with a super gate and win ahead of Lawson, while Perry, another young reserve, held Newman at bay as the home side went into the last heat 10 points ahead.
The win was the Witches but Glasgow salvaged a point with a fine heat 15 maxium from Summers and Worrall, as they left Suffolk pleased with their night’s work – and rightly so.
Scorers
Ipswich: D King 9, C Heeps 8+1, J Sedgmen 7+1 K Newman 5, R Schlein 8+1, C Mountain 1, J Shanes 10+1
Glasgow: A Summers 10, D Bewley 5+2, R Lawson 12, R/R, R Worrall 10+1, T Perry 5+1, J Smith 0.
Heat details
1 Heeps, Bewley, King, Summers 56.6 4-2
2 Perry, Shanes, Mountain, Smith 57.6 7-5
3 Lawson, Sedgmen, Perry, Newman 57.0 9-9
4 Worrall, Shanes, Schlein, Smith 56.3 12-12
5 Newman, Summers, Sedgmen, Bewley 57.4 16-14
6 King, Worrall, Heeps, Smith 56.9 20-16
7 Schlein, Lawson, Bewley, Mountain 57.1 23-19
8 Heeps, Shanes, Bewley, Perry 57.3 28-20
9 Worrall, Newman, Sedgmen, Perry 56.8 31-23
10 Lawson, King, Heeps, Perry 56.8 34-26
11 Schlein, Summers, Bewley, Mountain 56.7 37-29
12 Sedgmen, Lawson, Shanes, Perry 57.2 41-31
13 Summers, King, Schlein, Worrall (e/f) 57.0 44-34
14 Shanes, Lawson, Perry, Newman 58.0 47-37
15 Summers, Worrall, King, Schlein 57.6 48-42
Ipswich 3 pts. Glasgow 1 pt.
Championship
P Pts
Ipswich 9 17
Glasgow 7 17
Edinburgh 6 16
Redcar 7 14
Scunthorpe 10 10
Sheffield 5 9
Peterborough 5 9
Workington 4 8
Newastle 4 6
Berwick 9 1
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