'Brilliant' - Top of the table Witches win again as they see off Spires

The Ipswich Witches picked up another victory to consolidate their place at the top of Premiership last night as they beat the Oxford Spires 55-37 at Foxhall.

The home team had regular guest Scott Nicholls in at number one for the injured Jason Doyle whilst the visitors were at full strength.

Ipswich started strongly and built a 12-point lead after seven races but lost Adam Ellis to injury before the Spires fought back mid-meeting with back-to-back maximums.

However, the Witches just stepped it up another gear and cruised to a comfortable win to make it six wins on the trot. Emil Sayfutdinov top scored with a 12-point maximum.

Nicholls won heat one as the hosts registered a 4-2 and there was a 5-1 in heat two as Keynan Rew stormed past Erik Riss for the lead which also allowed Jordan Jenkins through into second.

The strong start continued in heat three as Danny King took victory in another heat advantage as Ellis picked up a point in his only ride of the night before being withdrawn with pain in his side. Heat four was shared as Sayfutdinov won making it 16-8 to Ipswich.

Oxford got their first race win as Rohan Tungate finished first in heat five but with partner Charles Wright falling having been passed by King it was a 3-3.

Keynan Rew had a good night for the Witches (Image: Steve Waller)
Nicholls picked up another three points in heat six as the Witches bagged another 4-2 with Chris Harris managing to get past Dan Thompson for second late on in the race.

Ipswich were running away with things at this point and there was another heat advantage in heat seven as Sayfutdinov took the chequered flag with Rew in third.

Heat eight was stopped as Jenkins fell and was excluded, and the visitors took advantage with a maximum in the re-run to narrow the score to 28-20.

Tungate came in as a tactical substitute in heat nine and suddenly the visitors were just four points behind as he and Harris raced to a 1-5.

The home team responded immediately in heat 10 as Thompson and Nicholls teamed up for a maximum.

There was further breathing room after heat 11 as Sayfutdinov picked up another win in a 4-2 and the tie was all but over after heat 12 as King won and Rew passed Riss for the 5-1 that put the hosts 43-29 up.

Tungate led heat 13 but was hunted down by Sayfutdinov who came through to win as a 4-2 sealed the victory for Ipswich and a maximum for him personally.

Rew picked up three points in heat 14 as the Witches racked up another heat advantage.

Harris won the final race of the night as partner Tungate beat King on the run to the line for a 2-4 but it was little consolation for the visitors as the Suffolk side strengthened their grip at the top of the table and built a big lead with the aggregate bonus point up for grabs next week at Oxford.

Adam Ellis was withdrawn with an injury (Image: Steve Waller)
Witches' boss Ritchie Hawkins said: "Result wise it was brilliant and another team performance again, so I am delighted with that.

"It certainly wasn’t without its worries and stress with different injuries, but we managed to cope with our problems and all the boys are working well as a unit to cover each other.

"Missing Adam after one heat puts a lot of pressure on the team, Danny is not fully fit yet and Jordan had a crash and picked up a knock.

"Even though he went through the card Emil was feeling pretty under the weather, so we were far from fully fit.

“Keynan really stepped up and took the pressure off and Dan Thompson had a superb win in heat 10 when Oxford had got back into the meeting.

"That 5-1 in heat 10 turned it back in our favour and what a performance from the young guys to get us through."

IPSWICH 53: Scott Nicholls (G) 11+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 7, Danny King (c) 9, Adam Ellis 1 (Withdrawn), Emil Sayfutdinov 12 (maximum), Keynan Rew 11+2, Jordan Jenkins 2+1.

OXFORD 37: Rohan Tungate 13, Charles Wright 2+1, Lewis Kerr 1, Maciej Janowski 6, Chris Harris (c) 9+1, Erik Riss 2, Ashton Boughen (RS) 4+1.