The Ipswich Witches suffered their third home defeat in a row last night as they were beaten 49-41 by the Belle Vue Aces in the Premiership.

It was another depleted Witches side that took to the track with Scott Nicholls and Zach Cook guesting for the injured Jason Doyle and concussed Adam Ellis whilst rider replacement was in operation for the injured Emil Sayfutdinov.

The visitors were at full strength for the fixture. The Aces edged ahead and found themselves racing against a five-man team after heat two with Keynan Rew withdrawn following a crash.

It looked like the away side were going to pick up a comfortable victory, but Ipswich produced a spirited fightback to narrow the gap to just four points after heat 12.

However, Belle Vue had just about enough to get the job done and pick up three league points. Nicholls top scored with 15+1.

Nicholls won heat one, but it ended in a 3-3 as Dan Bewley got past Dan Thompson for a point late on in the race.

Heat two was awarded as a maximum to the away side with Rew going into the fence as he chased Jake Mulford to the line. Rew was subsequently withdrawn from the meeting, adding further to Ipswich’s injury woes and leaving them with five riders for the second Thursday in succession.

Skipper Danny King takes the chequered flag Skipper Danny King takes the chequered flag (Image: Steve Waller)
Danny King took victory in a shared heat three and the hosts clawed back two points in heat four as Nicholls picked up another win and Jordan Jenkins was third for a 4-2 that left the score 11-13.

Belle Vue raced to a maximum in heat five and Brady Kurtz couldn’t be caught as heat six ended in a 3-3. King was a winner again in heat seven as the points were shared.

The away team hit another 1-5 in heat eight and were already well on the way to victory being 19-29 in front.

Heat nine ended in a 3-3 and the visitors recorded a heat advantage in heat 10 as Jaimon Lidsey beat Nicholls and Ben Cook nicked a point on the line.

Nicholls was brought in as a tactical substitute in heat 11 and it worked a treat as he followed Jenkins home for a 5-1.

Despite being down to just five riders, the home team kept on battling and brought themselves right back into the tie with another maximum in heat 12 courtesy of King and Jenkins, making it 34-38.

However, Belle Vue then eased the pressure with a maximum in heat 13 and sealed victory in heat 14 despite a 4-2 to the Witches as Jenkins took the chequered flag.

Heat 15 was awarded as a 2-4 to the away team as Bewley won ahead of Nicholls and King was excluded as he fell at the start of the final lap with Lidsey coming under him, making the final result 49-41 to the Manchester outfit.

The defeat sees the Witches, who have been top of the table for much of the season, slide down to fourth place behind Sheffield, Leicester and the Aces.

Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: "It was a night we knew was always going to be really tough and that task became a lot tougher with Keynan crashing out in heat two.

"It was great to have Scott back in the side and he led the team brilliantly at number one.

"Danny was back on form as well and those two held the meeting together for us in the first part and then you saw the difference it made when Jordan clicked in mid-meeting.

"That really kept us in it and kept it interesting but understandably a five-man team wasn’t going to be good enough against a solid Belle Vue outfit."

He added: “It is the end of a really tough period after three home defeats. We have done absolutely everything we could off the track to get the best teams out possible.

"We have got one more week of league action next week home and away against Birmingham and we will be looking at using lots of guests again.

"We will put out the best team possible and will fight for two wins next week as we look to get back to a more regular line-up for the cup final and go into that with better form as we look to retain the trophy.”

IPSWICH 41: Scott Nicholls (G) 15+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 1+1, Danny King (c) 12, Zach Cook (G) 2+1, Emil Sayfutdinov R/R, Keynan Rew 0 (Withdrawn), Jordan Jenkins 11+1. 

BELLE VUE 49: Dan Bewley 11+1, Norick Blödorn 7+1, Jaimon Lidsey 9, Ben Cook 5+2, Brady Kurtz (c) 10+1, Antti Vuolas 3, Jake Mulford (RS) 4+2.