Eastbourne Eagles hopes of returning to the winning groove were dashed as they slipped to defeat by a 52-41 margin at Ipswich’s Foxhall Heath stadium on Thursday evening.
Still bearing the scars of their Monday night home disappointment, a 48-41 reverse at the hands of South Coast rivals, the Poole Pirates, the Sussex squad would surely have been looking to bounce straight back, but despite having matched the very much in-form Suffolk outfit point for point over the first six races, however Ipswich, aided by solid down the order displays and no fewer than four 5-1’s over the course of the meeting eased comfortably out of reach of their visitors as the contest headed towards a conclusion.
Once again Scott Nicholls topped the visitor’s scorechart and he along with the impressive Lewis Bridger provided the majority of Eagles moments to savour. It wasn’t all plain sailing for the England captain however, his final tally and Eastbourne chances having undoubtedly been affected as he pulled up and out of contention in heat 10 after he acted upon what he deemed to be a red stop light.
It was revealed subsequently that the source of the light was a spectator’s camera but of course hindsight, although 20-20 vision, was of little benefit to the Eagles and a clearly frustrated Nicholls, the Witches taking a 4-2 from the race to put them 6-points (33-27) clear of their opponents, this contrasting with Eastbourne hopes of narrowing the 4-point difference heading into the heat especially with Nicholls showing such fine form.
Falls for both Edward Kennett and Cameron Woodward also might have been considered to have an affect; however, the truth of the matter was that there was to be no denying the Witches, particularly as the match moved past the midway stage. Double figure returns from Polish trio Robert Miskowiak, Jarek Hampel and tall scoring reserve Piotr Swiderski in addition to a superb display from Man of the Match Chris Schramm, proving sufficient to fend off the challenge posed by their Sussex rivals.
The opening race was shared with Miskowiak taking the chequered flag; however Nicholls and Bridger were at least able to fend off Hampel to ensure the consequent 3-3.
Swiderski was up next, and he was to put an immediate smile of the faces of the Foxhall faithful, sharing a 5-1 with Schramm ahead of Eagles own reserve duo of Simon Gustafsson and Newport’s Nick Simmonds (who was guesting due to regular number eight Brent Werner being unavailable).
The maximum set the scores at 8-4 in favour of the home side but this advantage was halved as Bridger rode a storming race to become Eagles first race winner in heat three. The young Eagle blocked the every attempt made by veteran Australian Steve Johnston to pass, and with Woodward, the new breed of antipodean doing likewise at the expense of German Tobias Kroner this pulled the visitors to within 2-points (10-8) of their hosts.
The heat advantage was countered in the next however as Hampel made amends for his opening race disappointment, leading Kennett all the way with Schramm (as was later revealed suffering his only defeat by a visitor) comfortably outpacing Simmonds.
Nevertheless, one race further on and the match was all square, the fast starting Eagles duo of Nicholls and Bridger leading all the way, the latter having defied Johnston’s early back straight challenge again holding on, this time to anchor the 5-1 that restored parity, the totals now standing at 15-points apiece.
Swiderski looked to be heading for his second win of the night, however misfortune was set to strike the young Pole as lap two saw him spin around and fall as he sped into the first turn. The potential end scenario could have proved disastrous but both Kennett and Gustafsson, displaying lightning reflexes, laid their machines down, their prompt action (which was duly commended by referee Phil Griffin) undoubtedly preventing the stricken Swiderski from sustaining injuries.
The rerun saw Kennett roar into an early lead, but, the rider seemingly having forgotten to turn his fuel on, his machine spluttered and faded allowing Miskowiak a route through to take the lead that he wasn’t set to relinquish.
The sides remained deadlocked at 18-18 but the Witches were soon to forge ahead once more, courtesy of their second 5-1 in race seven. Prior to that, Swiderski was about to take another tumble, however on this occasion, Woodward was deemed the guilty party, the pair having collided on the final bend of lap two just as a thrilling duel looked set to ensue.
The first running had hinted at a home 5-1 but the restart saw them finish the job in fine style, Hampel forcing an early lead with fellow countryman Swiderski blasting down the back straight to get the better of Kennett and claim the maximum that saw them lead 23-19.
Heat eight revealed a further share of the spoils though surely not in the way that either team might have expected, Schramm taking the honours comfortably ahead of Bridger and Gustafsson with the previously unheaded Miskowiak surprisingly trailing the field throughout.
Race nine witnessed a runaway victory for Kennett but try as he might, Gustafsson couldn’t make any impact on the team riding efforts of Kroner and Johnston, the resultant 3-3 ensuring that the 4-point difference (now 29-25) remained in place.
That moment of would be controversy was then about to follow for Nicholls. Miskowiak hit the front out of the start but just as the Eagle (taking the rider replacement ride in the absence of the injured Lee Richardson) was poised to make his move, the camera flash was set to mute his challenge. Though the official intimated that any repeat would result in the meeting being halted, this was of little value to the Sussex side, the home 4-2 having already widened the margin to 33-27.
A further 4-2 to the Witches and 6-points suddenly became eight (37-29) as Hampel compounded Nicholls frustration by handing out a further defeat. With Swiderski similarly accounting for Bridger, the signs were starting to look ominous that Ipswich were now rushing headlong towards the win.
Heat 12 and Kroner found some form in his final outing of the evening and coupled with that was another effective ride for Schramm (taking his tally to paid 10) who took second place ahead of Woodward and Gustafsson to secure Witches third 5-1, one that stretched the difference further to 12-points, Ipswich now looking comfortable holding a 42-30 lead.
In an effort to halt the slide, the Eagles duly nominated Nicholls to ride for double points in heat 13 but although he duly obliged with 6-points, hopes of a greater reward or possible 8-1 were snuffed out as Kennett suffered a fall, slamming into the air barrier at the first turn of lap two as he gave chase to both Hampel and Swiderski. He was soon back on board his machine and the race continued but Kennett was now well out of contention, the Eagles 6-3, their third advantage of the meeting denting the home lead, which now stood at 45-36, only slightly.
The penultimate race saw the Witches back in the ascendancy, Johnston and Swiderski withstanding the wholesome and sustained challenge posed by Woodward for the 5-1 that ultimately saw them hit the half century mark.
Heat fifteen at least gave the Eagles followers some cause to smile as it witnessed another all the way win for Nicholls. Hampel, having come off the worst in a tight first bend tussle pulled up as the riders rounded the second turn leaving Miskowiak to give fruitless chase to the Eastbourne rider. Bridger rounded off what had been an impressive evening’s work with third place, albeit unchallenged to see the show close with an Eagles 4-2, one that narrowed the home lead to 11-points, 52-41
Scorers :
Witches : Robert Miskowiak 11(5), Piotr Swiderski 10+2(6), Jarek Hampel 10+1(6), Steve Johnston 8+1(5), Chris Schramm 8+2(4), Tobi Kroner 5(4), Rider Replacement for Chris Louis, - 52
Eagles : Scott Nicholls 15+1(6), Lewis Bridger 10+1(6), Edward Kennett 7+1(5), Cameron Woodward 5(5), Simon Gustafsson 4+1(5), Nick Simmonds 0(3), Rider Replacement for Lee Richardson, – 41
IPSWICH 52
Rider Replacement (Chris Louis)
R.Miskowiak 3 3 0 3 2 - 11
T.Kroner 0 0 2 3 - 5
S.Johnston 2 1 1* 1 3 - 8+1
J.Hampel 0 3 3 3 1* R - 10+1
P.Swiderski 3 X/F 2* 1 2 2* - 10+2
C.Schramm 2* 1 3 2* - 8+2
Team manager : Pete Simmons
EASTBOURNE 41
S.Nicholls 1* 3 R 2 6^ 3 - 15+1
L.Bridger 2 3 2* 2 0 1 - 10+1
Rider Replacement (Lee Richardson)
C.Woodward 1 X/F 2 1 1 - 5
E. Kennett 2 1* 1 3 R - 7+1
S. Gustafsson 1 2 1* 0 0 - 4+1
N.Simmonds 0 0 N 0 - 0
Team manager : Trevor Geer
Referee : Phil Griffin
HEAT DETAILS
1 Miskowiak, Bridger, Nicholls, Hampel (R/R), 59.6 (3-3)
2 Swiderski, Schramm, Gustafsson, Simmonds, 61.7 (8-4)
3 Bridger (R/R), Johnston, Woodward, Kroner, 61.1 (10-8)
4 Hampel, Kennett, Schramm, Simmonds, 59.9 (14-10)
5 Nicholls, Bridger, Johnston, Kroner, 59.7 (15-15)
6 (Rerun) Miskowiak, Gustafsson, Kennett, Swiderski (R/R) (exc.fell), 61.3 (18-18)
7 (Rerun) Hampel, Swiderski, Kennett (R/R), Woodward (exc.fell), 60.5 (23-19)
8 Schramm, Bridger, Gustafsson (res.repl.), Miskowiak, 61.4 (26-22)
9 Kennett, Kroner, Johnston, Gustafsson, 61.2 (29-25)
10 Miskowiak, Woodward, Johnston (R/R), Nicholls (R/R) (retired), 61.2 (33-27)
11 Hampel, Nicholls, Swiderski, Bridger, 60.8 (37-29)
12 Kroner, Schramm, Woodward (R/R), Gustafsson, 62.2 (42-30)
13 Nicholls^, Swiderski (R/R), Hampel, Kennett (fell.rem, retired), 60.7 (45-36)
14 Johnston, Swiderski, Woodward, Simmonds, 62.6 (50-37)
15 Nicholls, Miskowiak, Bridger, Hampel (retired), 60.7
