The injury-ravaged Ipswich Witches were beaten 52-38 by the Sheffield Tigers in the Premiership last night, dropping to third in the table as a result.
It was a depleted home side that took to the track with the hosts missing Jason Doyle, Emil Sayfutdinov and Adam Ellis with rider replacement, Dan Bewley and Troy Batchelor covering their absences.
Sheffield had rider replacement for Tai Woffinden and Luke Harrison in for Dan Gilkes.
Ipswich started strongly and built up an eight-point lead, but the away side fought back and raced to victory picking up the aggregate bonus point in the process. Bewley top scored with 9+1.
It looked like the Witches were going to start proceedings with a 5-1 as Bewley and Batchelor hit the front, but Jack Holder dived up the inside of Batchelor going into the final lap to limit Ipswich to a 4-2.
Heat two was stopped as Harrison hit the deck whilst at the back and in the re-run Keynan Rew and Jordan Jenkins looked good for a 5-1 before Jenkins slid off but the reserve was able to remount and get the point for another heat advantage.
Danny King was the next faller in heat three as he lost control on the opening turn, but he cleared the track and Dan Thompson won the race meaning a 3-3.
Ipswich’s dominant start continued in heat four with a 5-1 courtesy of Bewley and Jenkins which put them 16-8 up.
King won heat five but with Thompson relegated to the back it meant a 3-3. Josh Pickering won a shared heat six and he was back out in heat seven teaming up with Chris Holder for a Tigers maximum.
Batchelor couldn’t be caught in heat eight and with Jenkins third it was a 4-2 to Ipswich to give them a 27-21 lead.
Pickering was brought in as a tactical substitute for the away side in heat nine and he followed Jack Holder home for a maximum.
The away side then went in front after heat 10 as Pickering and Chris Holder hit a 1-5 and the run of maximums continued for the visitors in heat 11.
Ritchie Hawkins brought in Bewley as a tactical substitute in heat 12 but Chris Holder won in a 3-3 leaving the visitors 33-39 ahead.
The tie was all but over after heat 13 as the Sheffield pair struck another 1-5 leaving the hosts needing snookers to get a result.
Pickering won a shared heat 14 to confirm their victory and Sheffield raced to another maximum in the final race of the night to seal a 14-point win.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: "We started the meeting really well but threw a few points away and should have built a bigger lead.
"All in all, when they came back at us, we didn’t have a reply and that was mainly down to not having enough bodies in the team but overall, they were the better team on the night. It is disappointing but we have two weeks to regroup before the Knockout Cup final."
He added: “At the moment we are too short of bodies and are not at our best, but this is the situation we are in, and we have to deal with it.
"We need to make a better fist of it than we did tonight, before the meeting I said to the team I felt we were still good enough to win the meeting, but we were not.
"We have lost at home twice in a row and we need to forget about top spot.
"That would have been nice because it is not something we have done for a long while, but we have got two weeks to get sorted and put something together for the cup final and three weeks until the play-offs. That is where are focus is now."
IPSWICH 38: Jason Doyle R/R, Troy Batchelor (G) 7, Danny King (c) 8+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 4+1, Dan Bewley (G) 9+1, Keynan Rew 5, Jordan Jenkins 5+1.
SHEFFIELD 52: Jack Holder 12+1, Kyle Howarth (c) 9+2, Chris Holder 11+3, Josh Pickering 18+2, Tai Woffinden R/R, Jason Edwards 2, Luke Harrison (G) (RS) 0.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here