The Evening Star Ipswich Witches gained an important Elite League victory on Thursday evening when they defeated the Eastbourne Eagles 52-41 at Foxhall Stadium in a match sponsored by Turnkey.

Both sides were missing their captains. Ipswich were operating the rider replacement system at number 1 in place of shoulder injury victim Chris Louis whilst Eastbourne were using the system at number 3 in place of their captain Lee Richardson who will be missing for a couple of weeks with an injured wrist. The Eagles were also missing recent signing Brent Werner who was riding in the Premier League for Somerset and in his place at number 7 was Nick Simmons of the Newport Wasps.

Robert Miskowiak began the meeting well with a fine victory over the Eagles pairing of Lewis Bridger and Scott Nicholls. Jarek Hampel, taking the rider replacement outing could make no impression and finished at the back. The issue of the recent averages had meant that Piotr Swiderski dropped down to reserve and he made no mistake in the reserves race where he was followed home by team mate Chris Schraam for a 5-1 to the home side. Heat 3 saw Lewis Bridger giving the rider replacement ride and showing much better form than previously at Foxhall the young British rider comprehensively defeated Steve Johnston. With Cameron Woodward third the Witches lead was reduced to two points. Jarek Hampel looked back to his best in the next race with an immaculate start to win from Edward Kennett and with Chris Schraam third Ipswich led 14-10 after four heats.

Heat 5 saw the Eagles level the scores with a 5-1 from Scott Nicholls and the impressive Lewis Bridger over Steve Johnston. The following race was stopped after Piotr Swiderski spun on the second lap whilst leading. Edward Kennett and Simon Gustafsson were very quick to lay their bikes down and avoid the fallen Pole and referee Phil Griffin commended both Eastbourne riders for the speed of their actions which helped avert a serious incident. In the rerun Robert Miskowiak raced away for victory so the heat was drawn. There was a further incident in heat 7 when Cameron Woodward lost control on the fourth bend of the second lap and with Piotr Swiderski close behind both riders collided and fell. Fortunately both riders were soon up although Woodward was excluded. In the rerun Jarek Hampel and Piotr Swiderski left Edward Kennett trailing for a 5-1 to the home side. In the next race Robert Miskowiak was completely shut out at the first bend and finished last, however reserve Chris Schraam came up with the goods to score an excellent victory. The 3-3 meant that the Witches led by four points after eight heats.

Edward Kennett won his first race of the evening in heat 9 from Tobi Kroner and Steve Johnston. The Witches increased their lead in the next race in somewhat bizarre circumstances. With Robert Miskowiak and Scott Nicholls vying for the lead Nicholls pulled up on the fourth bend of the first lap. He then parked his machine by the start line and together with Eagles team manager Trevor Geer appealed to the referee for the race to be stopped as the former Ipswich star had seen a red light as he entered the corner. The race however continued with Robert Miskowiak and Steve Johnston gaining a 4-2 over Cameron Woodward. After declaring the result the referee stated that someone in the crowd had used a camera with a red light and if this continued racing would be halted. Scott Nicholls was out again in the next heat and looked in very determined mood but Jarek Hampel made another superb start and held off the hard chasing Nicholls. With Piotr Swiderski third the Witches extended their lead to eight points. Heat 12 saw that lead extended to twelve points courtesy of a 5-1 from Tobi Kroner and Chris Schraam.

Scott Nicholls was given a tactical ride in heat 13 and the Grand Prix rider showed his class by conclusively defeating Jarek Hampel and Piotr Swiderski for a 6-3 heat advantage. A further 5-1 from Steve Johnston and Piotr Swiderski sealed the Witches victory in the penultimate race and then Scott Nicholls again showed his class with a victory in the final heat over Robert Miskowiak with Lewis Bridger third. This left the Withches winners by 52-41.

For the Witches Robert Miskowiak led the way with eleven points with Piotr Swiderski scoring 10+2 and Jarek Hampel 10+1. It was Chris Schraam however who took the rider of the night award after his best performance for the Witches in a competitive fixture. The popular 23 year old told the crowd “after a few difficult meetings we have changed a few things which seem to be working. Now I hope I can keep this up.”

The bulk of the Eagles’ points were recorded by their top two riders with Scott Nicholls scoring fifteen points including a tactical ride whilst Lewis Bridger had his best meeting at Foxhall notching 10+1.

The Witches therefore climbed to fifth position in the table with this victory and now look forward to a run of three successive away fixtures at Eastbourne, Wolverhampton and Poole before returning to Foxhall next Thursday to entertain Belle Vue. The events of the next seven days could have a major bearing on the outcome of the Witches season but as captain Steve Johnston said “most teams have a good spell at some time during the season. Perhaps this is ours and we could still be up there in a play-off spot come the end of the season.”
 
Ipswich Witches:
Chris Louis rider replacement, Robert Miskowiak 11, Tobi Kroner 5, Steve Johnston 8+1,  Jarek Hampel 10+1, Piotr Swiderski 10+1, Chris Schraam 8+2.

Eastbourne Eagles:
Scott Nicholls 15, Lewis Bridger 10+1, Lee Richardson rider replacement, Cameron Woodward 5, Edward Kennett 7+1, Simon Gustafsson 4+1, Nick Simmons 0.