OXFORD’S Rohan Tungate insists Ipswich are “pretty dangerous” in their closing races after a thrilling contest of the unbeaten clubs on Thursday.
In front of one of the biggest crowds since the sport returned to Cowley in 2022, Ipswich secured victory after a 5-1 in Heat 15 from Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov.
It meant the Witches kept their winning streak in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with the 48-42 win.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “It was another great performance and we carried on from where we left at Leicester, it was a very similar performance, and we were solid throughout.
“Everyone contributed and I’m really happy to get an away win on the board early which eases a little bit of pressure on the season as a whole.
“It was another good crowd; every time I have been here it has been a great crowd and a good atmosphere.”
Jason Doyle led the Witches with 13+1 points, and Emil Sayfutdinov scoring 11+2.
Rohan Tungate led the hosts with paid 12 and admitted: “Ipswich are very strong in the closing races, because they’ve got both Emil and Doyley in Heats 13 and 15.
“You need to hit them hard in the early stages and then you can turn them over, but they’re pretty dangerous towards the end of the night.
“It’s only one loss. We won the first three meetings leading into tonight, so we can’t dwell too much on just one defeat.
“We’ll just move onto the next meeting and focus on that.”
After the loss of the speedway legend, John Louis, Spires placed his image as the front cover on the programme and included a tribute inside.
Hawkins added: “There was a warm welcome and it was lovely to see a bit about John Louis in the programme and on the front cover.
“That was a really nice touch, so respect for that.”
Witches will look to continue their winning streak and Spires will be looking to fight-back in the BSN streamed, ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, return leg at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 18th April.
Words by Freya Taylor.
Images by Taylor Lanning.