Ipswich Witches 49 Peterborough Panthers 41
Ipswich Witches remain unbeaten at Foxhall this season and stay second in the Premiership after another gutsy performance at Foxhall Heath, as they defeated Peterborough Panthers.
Missing injured duo Krystian Pieszczek and Jake Allen, this had banana skin written all over it for the Suffolk side.
And with the scores all level after heat five and Ipswich having a few bike issues, things weren't looking great for the home side.
But they stuck at it and came through in style, showing real team spirit.
Led by No. 1 Richard Lawson who won heats 13 and 15 in style and with Danny King, Chris Harris and Cameron Heeps all having bright moments, the Witches battling qualities were evident.
This is one that could have got away from them but if you can win when not at your best, it's a statement. And the Witches are making plenty of those this season.
The Witches got off to the perfect start with Lawson and King making the start.
But Peterborough hit straight back as Heeps missed the start and the Panthers levelled it up. Harris was away well to win the next with David Bellego this time making a poor start.
Bradley Wilson-Dean hurtled through the fence coming out of turn two in heat four. It looked nasty, but he was up ok, but excluded.
In the re-run King led but former Witch Rohan Tungate passed on turn two of lap two as the scores remained level at 12-12.
Harris was looking sharp from the start as he won heat five, but with Bellego again at the back, it remained all level.
Ipswich went back in front with the Lawson/King combo again gating to victory.
The Witches hadn't been convincing despite leading, but when Heeps, out on bike number two, shot round the outside to win race seven and Garcia got third, suddenly the Witches were six up.
King roared round the field to win the next as Heeps passed Wilson-Dean.
Bellego made a good start in heat 10 but Aaron Summers went past him Tungate passed Harris.
Ipswich were making hard work of this and the Panthers took advantage as the strong Lawson/King partnership were beaten as the Panthers netted a 5-1 to draw to just two points behind.
Heeps won the first race after the interval with Bellego getting a valuable point. And Heeps was at it again, with Harris alongside as the Witches stretched their lead to eight.
Lawson rode a race winning heat 13 and Bellego passed Charles Wright after the Panthers gated in heat 14 and just to make sure of the points for Ipswich,
And Lawson was at it again, making sure the Panthers went home pointless, as the Witches went home happy.
Ipswich: R Lawson 11+1 D King 11, C Harris 8+1, D Bellego 5, R/R, C Heeps 13+2, C Garcia 1
Peterborough: R/R, S Nicholls 13+1, K Newman 2+1, C Wright 6+1, R Tungate 8+1, A Summers 7+1, B Wilson-Dean 5+1
Heat details
1 Lawson, King, Nicholls, Wilson-Dean 56.7 5-1
2 Summers, Wilson-Dean, Heeps, Garcia 57.8 6-6
3 Harris, Wright, Newman, Bellego 57.7 9-9
4 Tungate, King, Heeps, Wilson-Dean (f/x) 56.8 12-12
5 Harris, Nicholls, Summers, Bellego 57.1 15-15
6 King, Lawson, Tungate, Summers 57.0 20-16
7 Heeps, Wright, Garcia, Newman 57.7 24-18
8 King, Nicholls, Heeps, Wilson-Dean 56.9 28-20
9 Summers, Bellego, Tungate, Harris 57.1 30-24
10 Nicholls*, Wright, King, Lawson 57.6 31-29
11 Heeps, Nicholls, Bellego, Wright 56.8 35-31
12 Heeps, Harris, Newman, Summers 57.4 40-32
13 Lawson, Nicholls, Tungate, Garcia (f) 57.9 43-35
14 Wilson-Dean, Bellego, Heeps, Wright 57.3 46-38
15 Lawson, Tungate, Nicholls, Harris 57.4 49-41
*tac ride
Ipswich 3 pts. Peterborough 0 pts.
Premiership
P Pts
Belle Vue 9 20
Ipswich 7 17
Peterborough 9 14
Poole 7 12
Wolverhampton 7 10
Swindon 5 8
King's Lynn 7 6
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