The Evening Star Ipswich Witches gained their first away win of the season in the Elite League this evening when defeating the Eastbourne Eagles 48-42 at Arlington Stadium.

Ipswich were operating the rider replacement system at number 1 for the absent Tobi Kroner whilst the Wolverhampton rider Freddie Lindgren came in a guest at number 3 in place of the injured Chris Louis. Eastbourne tracked the same team that rode at Foxhall on Thursday when the Witches were victorious 52-41 with rider replacement at number 3 for the injured Lee Richardson.

Eastbourne looked to be heading for an opening heat 5-1 until Scott Nicholls fell on the final lap whilst following his team mate Lewis Bridger to leave the race shared. Chris Schraam carried on from where he left off on Thursday by winning the reserves race with Piotr Swiderski a comfortable second. The Witches lead was increased to six points in the next race with Freddie Lindgren defeating Lewis Bridger and Steve Johnston just holding off Cameron Woodward for third place. Edward Kennett took the chequered flag in heat 4 but Nick Simmons who fell and remounted was unable to challenge Chris Schraam and Jarek Hampel so that the race was drawn leaving the Witches leading 15-9.

The home side roared back with a 5-1 in the next race. Both Ipswich riders fell on the second bend and Piotr Swiderski was excluded. In the rerun Robert Miskowiak could make no impression on Edward Kennett and Cameron Woodward. Heat 6 was shared after Scott Nicholls came from behind to pass Piotr Swiderski and Jarek Hampel. The next race was also shared with Edward Kennett racking up his third win of the evening in great style from Freddie Lindgren and Steve Johnston. Eastbourne then leveled up the meeting score at 24-24 with a good win by Lewis Bridger over Piotr Swiderski with Simon Gustafsson third.

Heat 9 was drawn with the referee ordering a rerun with all four riders after Scott Nicholls fell on the second bend. In the rerun Nicholls raced away to win from Jarek Hampel. Cameron Woodward fell whilst in third place to allow Piotr Swiderski to claim the extra point. The Eagles then took the lead for the first time in the meeting when Scott Nicholls defeated Freddie Lindgren with Lewis Bridger passing Steve Johnston to finish third. The Witches however reacted immediately to retake the lead with a 5-1 from the Polish duo of Robert Miskowiak and Jarek Hampel who inflicted the first defeat of the evening on Edward Kennett. Heat 12 saw the scores tied up again at 36-36 after a 4-2 to the Eagles. Cameron Woodward took the victory from Piotr Swiderski with Simon Gustafsson third after Freddie Lindgren retired on the third lap.

The Witches pulled two points clear again in heat 13 after a controversial decision by referee Christina Turnbull to exclude Scott Nicholls after Robert Miskowiak fell. In the rerun Jarek Hampel just held off Edward Kennett so that Ipswich gained a 4-2 heat advantage. The penultimate heat was drawn with Cameron Woodward winning but Simon Gustafsson was passed by both Steve Johnston and Piotr Swiderski. The last heat decider was settled in the Witches favour when Scott Nicholls was again excluded after falling. In the rerun Jarek Hampel and Freddie Lindgren sealed victory for Ipswich with a 5-1 leaving the away side victorious 48-42.

For the Witches Jarek Hampel led the way with twelve plus three bonus points supported by guest Freddie Lindgren with 11+1.

Edward Kennett notched 13 for the Eagles supported by Scott Nicholls and Lewis Bridger both with nine.

This victory takes Ipswich to within touching distance of the final play-off position of fourth place and the Witches Team Manager Pete Simmons was pleased with the victory when he said “all the boys have done well tonight and we had tremendous support from our fans. Hopefully this could be the turning point of our season as we were targeting an away win this week and we have got it in the first of our three away meetings.”

The next meeting is away at Wolverhampton on Monday evening in front of the Sky Sports cameras. With Tobi Kroner returning the Witches intend to use Eastbourne’s Edward Kennett as a guest in place of Chris Louis.

Eastbourne Eagles:
Scott Nicholls 9, Lewis Bridger 9, Lee Richardson rider replacement, Cameron Woodward 8+1, Edward Kennett 13, Simon Gustafsson 3, Nick Simmons 0.

Ipswich Witches:
Tobi Kroner rider-replacement, Robert Miskowiak 6+1, Freddie Lindgren (guest) 11+1, Steve Johnston 4+1, Jarek Hampel 12+3, Piotr Swiderski 10+3, Chris Schramm 5.