Ipswich 112 : Josh Brooke 18, Lewis Osborne 15, Jamie Chittock 14, Adam Peck 13, Chris Osborne 13, Richard Williamson 13, Leon Mower 10, Charlie Rumbold 10 , Ashley Hill 6.
Birmingham 67 : Chris Timms 20 , Mark Winwood 11 , Paul Timms 10 , Josh Herring 6, Olly Riley 6, Steve Hodginson 6 ,Phil Widdass 5, Richard Stevenson 3.
Referee : Dave Hill (Suffolk).
On a overcast afternoon at Ipswich the Eagles lined up to face the Monarchs of Birmingham with both sides still searching for that first elusive win of the season. Winter signings Adam Peck and Chris Osborne made their home debuts in a strong looking Suffolk side while their visitors looked under strength fielding several riders from their combination squad.
Heat
one started with a share of the spoils with Chris Timms taking the first win of the afternoon with Adam Peck and Chris Osborne splitting the Birmingham pairing. Ipswich then turned up the heat with L.Osborne and Williamson 6-4 in heat two, then Chittock and Brooke followed by Peck and Mower delivering 7-3s to open up a ten point cushion which the home side rarely looked like losing.
Heat five saw another drawn heat with C.Timms picking up his second heat win. ,heats six and seven once again went the way of the home team with Chittock and Brooke securing their second 7-3, and Peck and Rumbold helping themselves to an 6-4 in heat seven. A shared heat in eight then another 7-3 in nine gave the Suffolk side a twenty point lead at half time
Ipswich 55 Birmingham 35 .
Birmingham got off to the worst possible start after the break when Mark Winwood was excluded in heat ten and in the re run Brooke and Rumbold were too much for Widdass securing a 7-2 advantage. The next two heats saw the home team score another thirteen points to increase their lead to thirty one points . Heat thirteen saw Timms pull off a superb pass on Brooke to claim his fourth heat win but all his efforts were in vain as Chittock tied up third spot to share the heat. That was as good as it got for the away team as Ipswich claimed heat wins in heats fourteen to seventeen scoring twenty eight points in the process.
Chris Timms had the last laugh as he rode to a maximum with his fifth heat win holding off the attentions once again of Brooke who scored a superb eighteen points in his last match before he goes under the knife for his knee operation , a fine performance from Timms who carry’s the weight of the Midland outfit on still young shoulders .
Ipswich also had solid performances from Peck ,Chris and Lewis Osborne and Chittock and well supported by Mower Hill Williamson and Rumbold while being lead by Brooke .
A big thank you also must go out to Dave Hill for stepping in to referee after appointed referee was unable to commit and no replacement ref was appointed .
Its early days for the 2013 Ipswich team with a new team manager working on his best pairings and new squad members getting to know each others capabilities. Next up is Sheffield, a match the home team will relish as they build during the course of the season .