Ipswich Eagles 88.
Josh Brooke 18+1 (5) , Adam Peck 14+1 (5) , Matt Hill 13+1 (5), Ashley Hill 12 (5), Leon Mower 10+2 (5), Charlie Rumbold 10 (5) , Jamie Chittock 9 (5), Jordan Stant 2 (1) .
Wednesfield Aces 88 .
Chris Jewkes 16 (5), Rickie Johnson 15 (5) , Paul Heard 14+1(5), Matt Smith 14 (5) , Lee Aris 10+1 (5), Lee Kemp 7 (3), Mark Griffiths 6+1 (5), Mark Winwood 6 (3) .
Referee. Terry Ashford (Suffolk) .
The Eagles and Aces locked horns for the second time in as many weeks and another eagerly awaited titanic battle lie ahead for the home support .Both set of teams were depleted this afternoon with Roberts and Fellgett for the home side while Mould and Marchant for the away side all missing .
Heat one saw the Aces take the inside grids ,but it was the home team who were the happier securing a drawn heat. Heat two saw Brooke for the home team open the door for his team mate Rumbold to take a 7-3 but the lead was immediately reversed as Chittock was excluded at the tapes and the away pairing Heard and Johnson carved out a 7-2.
Wednesfield followed this up in heat three with Jewkes and Smith seeing off the Hill brothers 6-4 ,two more drawn heats in five and six , then Heard and Johnson were at it again securing a 6-4 and some daylight was starting to appear between these two evenly matched teams. A drawn heat in eight kept it to five point gap but Wednesfield finish the half in style with Aris and Jewkes taking a 7-3 just as it seemed the Ipswich pairing had recovered a 4-6 to a 5-5. Half time score 40 – 49.
Ipswich came out for the second half more determined and more aggressive than they were in the first half with some stern talking done at half time and this showed in the opening heat when Griffiths was judge to have brought Mower down with his leg , a slightly harsh decision and in the re run Ipswich took a 6-3 to cut the lead back to six points. Wednesfield hit back straight away 6-4 in heat eleven , another exclusion in the following heat saw Aris move at the tapes , Peck and A.Hill got the better of Winwood though the midland rider was able to split the home pairing for another 6-3. Again the away side came right back at their hosts this time Smith and Jewkes 6-4 and after thirteen heats seven points separated the two teams.
heat fourteen earned Griffiths a second exclusion, this time for moving while under orders, but Johnson did manage to limit the damaged by winning the heat from Rumbold and M.Hill. Ipswich were now six points down with four heats to go. Two 6-4’s in a row in heats fifteen and sixteen brought the home team to only two points behind and sensing a come back, but their dreams all seemed to be shattered when Aris and Johnson stole a 6-4 on A.Hill and Rumbold to move back to a four point cushion with one heat to go.
It was left to a old trusted partnership
in Brooke and Mower to deliver a 7-3 against Heard and Kemp, and as the race got under away it looked a tall order with Heard happy to sit in behind Brooke; but a do-or-die dive from Mower saw the Ipswich rider come out of bend two in front to secure a classic last heat 7-3 and with that a share of the spoils.
On reflection of the match overall a draw does seem a fair result with either team doing quite enough to win out right ,Ipswich will look at mistakes in the first half while the away team will look back at three second half exclusions. Chris Jewkes and Matt Smith were the pick of the riders for the away team while Ipswich’s Josh Brooke and Matthew Hill were outstanding for the home team and were well backed by team captain Adam Peck .
Paul Heard represented Ben Mould for the Elite match Trophy race. Ipswich nominated Josh Brooke, who lost the coin toss and found himself on grid 4 for a one-on-one for the second time in a fortnight. Home advantage showed with Brooke passing Heard in bend 1 of the third lap to take the Match Trophy.
Combination League.
Ipswich Eagles (49+25) 74 .
Matt Hill 12 , Phil Clarke 8 , Pierce Bacon 8 , Mark Debman 6 , Ben Harvey 6 , Jordan Stant 5, Alex Harvey 4 .
Wednesfield Aces (80+17) 97 .
Jordan Holdcroft 15, Dave Meanley 15 , Mark Griffiths 14 , Mark Winwood 13, Connor Dycke 13 , Lee Kemp 10 .
Referee Dave Hill (Ipswich ) .
Both teams went into this match conceding penalty points ,but with the home team very short in numbers and this was always going to be an uphill struggle against the league leaders who could call upon the likes of Griffiths, Winwood and the ever improving Holdcroft , and so it turned out to be with the Aces securing a comfortable win , with only one home rider scoring double figures .