West Cumbrian ace Dan Bewley was in sparkling form for Belle Vue last night but couldn’t see off the challenge of Ipswich.
The Witches were victorious in a Super Heat after a pulsating ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash between the top two ended in a 45-45 draw in Manchester.
The Witches raced into a 25-11 lead after just six races as they looked to repeat a KO Cup victory from earlier in the season at the same venue, but the Aces came charging back despite the absence of the injured Jaimon Lidsey.
Zach Cook raised the roof by snatching a Heat 14 win from Tom Brennan on the line, leaving the home side two points down with one race remaining.
Bewley won the race for the home side but Emil Sayfutdinov’s second place ahead of Brady Kurtz left the meeting tied, meaning one league point apiece.
Then despite another win for Bewley it was the visitors who took the extra point in the Super Heat as Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle kept Kurtz at the back.
Bewley scored 15+1 from six rides for the hosts with Cook on 12+1 and Kurtz on 11, whilst Sayfutdinov led the way for the Witches with 12, and reserve Dan Thompson gained a huge race win over Kurtz on his way to 8+2.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins, a former Workington rider, said: “I’m really happy with the result but I felt everything about us was much improved and the buzz was back from the boys which has been lacking for a few weeks now. I thought that was by far our best performance since the injuries.
“We know they are an extremely good team, and they have not been beaten in the league there all season and they have two of the top riders in the world. We knew they would come back at us, but we didn’t let our heads drop and stayed fully focused.
“To get the win is terrific and it gives us great confidence for the play-offs if we go there, but more than anything I was glad to get the ball back rolling again.”
Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “It was a little bit frustrating tonight, what normally worked wasn’t working. It took quite a bit of resolve from the boys to knuckle down and pull it back.
“To bring back 14 points against the table toppers is quite some feat, especially without Jaimon.
“Credit where credit is due, we did so well to get the result we did. The Super Heat could have gone either way.”
Workington Comets young Australian rider Tate Zischke rode at reserve for Belle Vue but only scored one point in the first of his four rides.
