Leicester Lions 43-47 Ipswich Witches: Speedway report

The Suffolk side were without captain Danny King due to injury with rider replacement in operation at number two.

Despite an opening heat maximum to the hosts, Ipswich controlled the contest after that and held off a late fightback by the Lions to secure the two points. Jason Doyle top scored with 15+1.

Emil Sayfutdinov fell in heat one at the end of the opening lap and was excluded with the Lions hitting a 5-1 in the re-run to open proceedings.

The Witches responded immediately in heat two as Keynan Rew and Jordan Jenkins raced to a maximum.

Doyle coasted to victory in heat three as Dan Thompson passed Sam Masters and held him off excellently for back-to-back maximums.

Adam Ellis flew from the gate to take victory in heat four and with Rew tucked nicely into third it was a 2-4 to the away side, giving them a 9-15 lead.

Doyle was a clear winner again in heat five as Ipswich recorded another 2-4 with Luke Becker holding off Sayfutdinov.

Leicester stemmed the tide in heat six as Richard Lawson and Max Fricke registered a 5-1 as they did in heat one.

Keynan Rew had a good night for the Witches (Image: Steve Waller)
The points were shared in heat seven and in heat eight Lawson and Rew exchanged moves on the opening lap before the Lions man took control as the race finished in a 3-3, meaning the Witches were 22-26 ahead.

Becker managed to hold off Ellis to take the chequered flag in heat nine, but it ended in a 3-3 as Rew raced smartly to round Masters late on in the race for third.

Doyle produced a magnificent opening lap to win a shared heat 10 and there was another 3-3 in heat 11.

Doyle racked up another three points in heat 12 and once again Rew lined up Masters and passed his compatriot for second as the visitors hit a maximum to make it 32-40 with three to race.

Fricke won heat 13 as Sayfutdinov forced his way past Ryan Douglas to split the home pairing.

Fricke was back out in heat 14 as a tactical substitute and he won but despite his best efforts to slow the race down from the front, Becker was unable to get past Rew for second.  

Fricke won heat 15 but with Sayfutdinov and Doyle both amongst the points it confirmed another impressive win on the road for Ipswich.

Ritchie Hawkins was delighted with his team (Image: Steve Waller)
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “A brilliant performance and I am absolutely delighted with the whole camp; it was a proper team effort.

"All the mechanics played a vital role tonight, all helping each other with covering R/R, it was a proper team effort, and it was everything I want to see in an Ipswich side.

“Doyley has been terrific all season and he was again tonight. Keynan was superb, he was the main factor in us winning the meeting.

"We know he has the potential and he showed it tonight and it looks like British racing is starting to click for him now. We can’t get too carried away; he needs to carry it on this month at reserve but I’m happy to see the progress he is showing.

“Overall, the riding order worked well bar heat one, I guess. As a whole team we managed the meeting really well.

"We got ourselves up early on and commanded the meeting and if everyone in the team is contributing and you get an early lead, it is so hard to pull it back.

"We got our noses in front and kept ahead for the whole meeting and that was down to us being solid.”

LEICESTER 43: Max Fricke (c) 15+2, Richard Lawson 10+1, Sam Masters 2, Luke Becker 6, Ryan Douglas 9, Drew Kemp 1, Joe Thompson (RS) 0. 

IPSWICH 47: Emil Sayfutdinov 7, Danny King R/R, Jason Doyle (c) 15+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 4+2, Adam Ellis 7+1, Keynan Rew 11+2, Jordan Jenkins 3+2.