The Ipswich Witches finished their regular Premiership campaign with a 46-44 defeat to Birmingham at Foxhall last night.
The hosts welcomed back Keynan Rew at reserve but were still without the trio of Jason Doyle, Emil Sayfutdinov and Adam Ellis.
Scott Nicholls guested at one and Troy Batchelor came in for Ellis whilst rider replacement was used for Sayfutdinov.
Birmingham were without Piotr Pawlicki and Wiktor Lampart with Antti Vuolas in for Lampart and rider replacement in operation for Pawlicki.
The meeting was tight throughout with the Witches holding a narrow lead for most of the contest until Birmingham hit the front in heat 13.
The Witches responded with a 5-1 in heat 14 to retake the lead but the Brummies hit a maximum in heat 15 to give them their first away win of the season and the aggregate bonus point having also beaten Ipswich on Monday at Perry Barr. Batchelor top scored with 9+2.
Fredrik Lindgren won a shared heat one and Rew did the same in heat two. The Witches went in front in three courtesy of a maximum from Danny King and Batchelor. There was another 3-3 in heat four leaving Ipswich 14-10 up.
Birmingham levelled the score in heat five as they raced to a fortunate maximum with King retiring with mechanical issues whilst in second.
The Suffolk side went back in front in heat six as Nicholls got the better of Tom Brennan to win and Dan Thompson finished third for the 4-2.
Heat seven was shared but Ipswich extended their lead in heat eight with a 5-1 from Thompson and Jordan Jenkins, making it 27-21.
The away side recorded a heat advantage in heat nine and Thompson was a winner again in a shared heat 10.
The scores were level after heat 11 as Lindgren and Brennan hit a maximum. The Witches regained the lead in heat 12 as King won in a 4-2 putting the hosts 37-35 in front.
Birmingham then took a big step towards victory with another maximum from Lindgren and Brennan in heat 13 putting them in the lead.
However, the hosts responded, roaring to a 5-1 of their own in heat 14 thanks to Rew and Batchelor, taking it to a last-heat decider with the home team two points ahead.
It was the combination of Lindgren and Brennan that won it though as the pair struck another 1-5 which condemned Ipswich to a sixth defeat in a row.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I know we are short of riders, but it was a meeting we should have been able to win and cover that, but we didn’t.
"We had some bad luck and some machinery problems but really, we should have been good enough for that not to matter."
He added: “Now the league has finished, and we have got a massive cup final next week.
"From here on in we should be settled with one or two guests and a full one to seven. We will regroup for the cup final and play-offs and will be ready to try and win some trophies.”
The Witches now travel to Sheffield to take on the Tigers on Monday, in the first leg of the Knockout Cup final.
IPSWICH 44: Scott Nicholls (G) 8+1, Dan Thompson (RS) 8+1, Danny King (c) 7, Troy Batchelor (G) 9+2, Emil Sayfutdinov R/R, Keynan Rew 8+1, Jordan Jenkins 4+1.
BIRMINGHAM 46: Fredrik Lindgren (c) 15 (Maximum), Piotr Pawlicki R/R, Antti Vuolas (G) 0, Zach Cook 9+1, Tom Brennan 14+3, Michael Palm Toft 5+1, Leon Flint (RS) 3+1.
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