Speedway: Ipswich through to Premiership play off finals despite second leg loss at Belle Vue
They secured an aggregate victory over Belle Vue
Last updated 26th Sep 2023
Ipswich are through to the Premiership play-off final despite a 51-39 loss to Belle Vue last night.
The Witches secured a 93-87 aggregate victory over the Aces, allowing them to progress.
The Witches took an 18-point lead to Manchester after the first leg, with Jack Smith guesting for the injured Dan Thompson and Jason Doyle back from injury.
The Aces were using rider replacement for the injured Charles Wright and needed a strong start to try and work their way back into the tie, but it was Ipswich who went ahead early on.
The reigning champions battled back in fine style to pile the pressure on Ipswich and take it to a last-heat decider.
However, Emil Sayfutdinov and Doyle came up with a race to remember in heat 15 to secure the club’s progress into the play-off final.
Sayfutdinov top scored with 11.
Witches manager Ritchie Hawkins was pleased with the result: “What a night! It was only fitting that it came down to our top two to do the business in heat 15.
"What a ride from both of them and for Jason Doyle to step it up after what he has done for the club in the last two years showed what he is all about.
"It was phenomenal from them both and it is hard to put into words at the moment, but we need to enjoy tonight but we are only through the semis, and we have bigger meetings to come next week...
“It’s looking like the final will be against Sheffield, they are going to be running with three guests probably and it could be a very different side to the one we faced in the Knockout Cup final, but we start at 0-0 and we will need to carry on our performances of late.
"We have come such a long way we don’t want to let it slip now.”
Ipswich will next race in the Premiership play-off final where they will face either Sheffield or Wolverhampton over two legs on 2nd and 5th October.