Ipswich Witches suffer narrow home defeat against Belle Vue
The home side lost out in a final-heat decider
Ipswich Witches suffered a narrow 44-46 defeat to Belle Vue last night at a rain affected Foxhall.
Belle Vue led the meeting after five races, when the showers forced a delay in proceedings.
Witches somewhat recaptured the initiative after racing resumed but the Manchester side ultimately came out on top in a final heat decider.
Witches remain fifth in the Premiership table, five points adrift of the top four.
Ipswich promoter Chris Louis said: "It is obvious we have got holes in the team which we have been aware of for weeks, but it is very difficult to find solutions right now out there, there is a lack of options."
“Conditions were not conducive to racing the way (Doyle & Sayfutdinov) race and put everything on the line, it was very difficult to do that, and he (Kurtz) made the start in heat 15 and that was all he needed to do to get them the result.
"Emil and Jason have done everything for the team all year, they are completely faultless and have been all year. It is a shame because they have kind of been a bit let down by the team we have got, but we have got to continue to bang in the points.
"We understand now that we need someone to slip-up really badly which is unlikely to happen, but we can’t throw the towel in, and we need to keep looking for results.
“Erik has declared himself fit and has had the opportunity and it is not happening for him, I don’t know why, it is difficult to say.
“We can’t take notice of the criticism; at the end of the day, we have been very lucky to have the fanbase we have got, and they come to be entertained.
"Ok, that is generally done by Emil and Jason and a few other races but all we can respond with is to ask them as individuals to give 100%.
"They are in general, capable riders. As a unit, we are not good enough, we know that, but our options have been extremely limited.
"It is easy to say, ‘this rider is no good, that rider is no good, you’ve got to change him’ but you have got to come up with those solutions and we can’t find them at the moment.”
FINAL SCORES:
IPSWICH 44: Emil Sayfutdinov 12+2, Keynan Rew 5+1, Danny King 6, Erik Riss 1+1, Jason Doyle 14, Danyon Hume 3, Dan Thompson (RS) 3+1. Team Manager: Ritchie Hawkins
BELLE VUE 46: Dan Bewley 4, Norick Blödorn 6+2, Jaimon Lidsey 6+3, Charles Wright 8+1, Brady Kurtz 9, Tom Brennan 11+2, Connor Bailey (RS) 2+1. Team Manager: Mark Lemon