SHEFFIELD were beaten at Ipswich for the se cond time this season as they went down 51-39 in Suffolk.

It was a result which moved the Witches onto level points with the Tru Plant Tigers in the Sports Insure Premiership standings, but the South Yorkshire side do have one meeting in hand.

The Owlerton outfit kept right in touch with the Witches at Foxhall in the opening half of the meeting and even when the hosts struck the first maximum of the night in Heat Four, the Tigers responded instantly with a 5-1 from Tobiasz Musielak and Lewis Kerr.

Ipswich had regained their six point lead by Heat Seven but successive 4-2s from Kerr and Dan Gilkes and then Jack Holder and Kyle Howarth reduced the gap back down to two.

The hosts then reeled off three straight heat advantages though and were 41-31 ahead going into Heat 13.

And that turned out to be one of the races of the season with Musielak and Holder level with home pair Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov for the duration of the opening two laps with the four riders constantly exchanging places.

But Musielak eventually got his nose in front and found enough drive to find some breathing space as he ended the Witches’ top two’s unbeaten night.

The Tigers No.1 then came in as a tactical substitute to take the chequered flag in Heat 14 and he almost rounded off his night with a straight hat-trick, only for Sayfutdinov to produce a stunning ride to come through in Heat 15.

The two teams meet again at Owlerton on Thursday night (June 15, 7.30) - but that is a Premiership R1 fixture with the aggregate score there standing at 47-43 in Ipswich’s favour from the first time they met at Foxhall in April.

IPSWICH 51: Emil Sayfutdinov 13+1, Jason Doyle 12, Danny King 11, Keynan Rew 10+3, Danyon Hume 5, Joe Thompson 0, Ben Barker R/R.
SHEFFIELD 39: Tobiasz Musielak 15, Adam Ellis 7, Lewis Kerr 6+2, Jack Holder 6, Kyle Howarth 3, Dan Gilkes 2+1, David Bellego 0.