The Ipswich Witches maintained their 100% winning start in 2024 with a 45-39 victory against the Oxford Spires at a rainy Foxhall Stadium in the Premiership.

Ipswich came into the fixture at full strength but there were a host of changes for the Spires.

Firstly, Erik Riss was in at reserve for his first meeting as a Spire since he was brought in to replace Nicolai Klindt.

This move pushed Lewis Kerr up to number two but he broke his ankle in a crash against the Witches last week so Scott Nicholls guested in his place and top-scored with 12.

Rohan Tungate missed his flight from Poland and was due to be replaced by Jacob Clouting but he also failed to arrive on time resulting in Oxford having a non-starter at four.

The visitors took an early lead with a 2-4 in heat one which could have been worse for the Witches if not for a fantastic late overtake on Maciej Janowski from Emil Sayfutdinov.

An incredibly tight heat two ended all square after a lengthy video review judged Riss beat Keynan Rew to the finish line by the narrowest of margins with Dan Thompson in third.

Heat three was also shared despite the Spires having a non-starter as Charles Wright rode to victory.

Thompson and Jason Doyle earned a share of the points in heat four which was won by Ashton Boughen to put his side into an 11-13 lead.

Ipswich took the lead in heat five courtesy of the first maximum of the meeting with Danny King taking the win closely followed by Adam Ellis.

The Spires restored the advantage with a maximum of their own in heat six with Riss taking the chequered flag and Chris Harris in second.

It was all square after heat seven as Doyle cruised to victory with Rew in third to earn a 4-2 taking full advantage of the Spires non-starter to make it 21-21.

Jordan Jenkins suffered a fall in heat eight which saw him excluded and the heat was awarded, resulting in a heat advantage for Oxford with Nicholls taking the chequered flag with Boughen in third and Thompson splitting them. King and Ellis scored another maximum in heat nine with the Witches skipper again taking the win.

Sayfutdinov cruised to victory in heat 10 with reserve substitute Rew finishing in third for a 4-2 as the Witches again made the most of the non-starter.

Heat 11 saw reserve substitute Thompson experience bike trouble which led to him pulling up on the second lap but Doyle wheelied over the line to take the victory and earn a share of the points taking the standings to 35-31 to Ipswich.

Riss went down on the third turn in heat 12 which saw King excluded as the cause of the stoppage.

The re-run resulted in a heat advantage to the Spires with Wright taking the victory with Rew in second and Riss third. Sayfutdinov and Doyle hit a maximum in heat 13 as they so often do, the Witches number one taking the chequered flag ahead of his teammate on this occasion.

Tactical substitute Nicholls took the victory to cancel out the non-starter in Heat 14 with Rew and Ellis earning a 3-3.

With the unrelenting rain, both teams agreed that track conditions had deteriorated too significantly for Heat 15 to take place resulting in a 45-39 victory for the Witches on the night and a 93-81 aggregate victory to earn the bonus point.

Witches team boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Really tough night for us with the conditions and against a very strong Oxford side but I’m very proud of the boys for how they battled and coped with everything.

"There was no complaining about the conditions, it was head down and we did what we needed to do. Oxford were very good, certainly missing Rohan weakened them but we needed to take advantage and we did.

“I think it shows a lot of the mental strength that this team has already and the confidence it has coming from last season and into this year with a great start to the season. I’m very happy with the boys!

“It’s been a perfect start to the season, I’m absolutely delighted. It’s gone as well as I could ever hoped, all going to plan so far. We just need to concentrate on keeping it up for the next six months.”

IPSWICH 45: Emil Sayfutdinov 9, Jordan Jenkins 0, Danny King (c) 7+1, Adam Ellis 7+3, Jason Doyle 9+2, Keynan Rew 8, Dan Thompson (RS) 5+1. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins

OXFORD 39: Maciej Janowski 3+1, Scott Nicholls (G) 12, Charles Wright 10, Jacob Clouting NS, Chris Harris (c) 3+1, Erik Riss 7, Ashton Boughen (RS) 4. Team Manager: Peter Schroeck