The Workington Comets connection couldn’t help Belle Vue into the Sports Insure Premiership Grand Final last night.
Ipswich made it through on aggregate after a sensational semi-final decider in Manchester.
Former Comets star Dan Bewley and current Workington number one Connor Bailey were in the line-up, while ex-Comet Charles Wright again missed out through injury.
The Witches led by 18 points from the first leg but came under huge pressure in the closing stages of the return at a packed National Speedway Stadium, with back-to-back Aces 5-1s in Heats 13 and 14 bringing the margin back to just two.
The decider turned out to be one of the best races ever seen in play-off speedway as home duo Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley initially appeared to hold a 5-1 position only for Witches stars Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle to both come through to win it for the Foxhall side.
Belle Vue won the meeting 51-39 with Jaimon Lidsey scoring 11+1 whilst Kurtz and Bewley scored 10+1, as their first leg deficit proved just too high. Bailey scored three and two bonus points.
Sayfutdinov scored 11 for the Witches with Doyle on 9+1 as they now await their Grand Final opponents next week.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins, another former Workington rider, said: “It was only fitting that it came down to our top two to do the business in heat 15. What a ride from both of them and for Jason to step it up after what he has done for the club in the last two years showed what he is all about.
“It was phenomenal from them both and it is hard to put into words at the moment, but we need to enjoy tonight – but we are only through the semis, and we have bigger meetings to come next week.
“It shows we have come a long way with what we have been through this year to get here. That has made us very strong, and I didn’t see any panic when things were going wrong for us tonight. We just kept fighting for every point and they stuck to the task very well.”
Meanwhile Sheffield are in pole position for the Sports Insure Premiership Grand Final after a brilliant performance to win 50-40 in their semi at Wolverhampton last night.
The Tigers, patched up due to their injuries with three guests involved, found themselves four points down early on but they levelled with a 5-1 in Heat 9 and then pushed on for a big away win in the first leg in front of a huge crowd at Monmore Green.
Robert Lambert (12+1) was unbeaten after a third place his first ride, and his Heat 15 5-1 with -fellow stand-in ex-Workington star Richard Lawson (10+1) took the margin to ten points heading back to Owlerton on Thursday.
Another former Comet Kyle Howarth, Josh Pickering and Chris Holder all chipped in with two race wins apiece as Wolves again suffered disappointment in the home leg of a semi-final, with their top scorer being skipper Sam Masters on 7+1.
Sheffield boss, former Workington star Simon Stead said: “It was 100 per cent effort from every single one of the lads.
“They rode their socks off in every single heat, they battled for places when they were out of positions, consolidated clever points in other heats and they did everything and more than I could’ve asked for.
“They were fabulous on track, they’ve been a great bunch of lads all helping each other in the pits as well and we’ve seen a fantastic result because of their hard work and determination.”
