Premier League
Ipswich 96 .
Daniel Pike 17 , Joshua Brooke 15 , Richard Williamson 15 , Leon Mower 12 , Jamie Chittock 12 , Daniel Chambers 10 , Lewis Roberts 9 , Jordan Stant 6 .
Poole 81 .
Greg Gluchowski 19 , Leyton Glover 15 , Sam Hearn 13 , Luke Armes 10 , Pete Young 8 , Jake Williams 8 , Aaron Smith 6 , Callum Albin 2 .
Referee . Terry Ashford ( Suffolk ) .
Ipswich finished their debut season in the Premier league with a convincing win at home to Poole Comets and doing so making sure they didn’t finish with the wooden spoon.
Poole may not have been at full strength this afternoon but still were able to field a decent top six riders . The first heat was shared ,heat two saw Poole draw first blood with the impressive polish rider Greg Gluchowski taking the flag and with Sam Hearn defending his third place 6-4 to Poole. Heat three was another shared heat ,then Ipswich took control of the match with young Lewis Roberts and Dan Chambers securing a 6-4 heat win. This was followed by a 7-3 from Ipswich pairing Josh Brooke and Jordan Stant thus giving the Suffolk outfit a four point lead. To Poole’s credit they hit back in the next heat with a 6-4 win to close it back to two points ,but Ipswich were in a determined mood and produced two maximum 7-3’s in heats seven and eight firstly through Chambers and Brooke ,then Chittock and Pike putting the home team ten points clear. Poole did managed to claw back two points in heat nine when Gluchowski and Smith saw off Roberts and Mower to cut Ipswich’s lead to eight points at the break .
Poole came out in heat ten firing in a 6-4 win and the come back was on, but this Ipswich team weren’t going to give their lead away without a fight and hit back in heat eleven with a 6-4 of themselves with Pike and Chittock making sure Poole weren’t going to build any momentum. Heat twelve was shared then came heats thirteen and fourteen where Poole saw exclusions to Pete Young and Aaron Smith ,Ipswich pairing firstly securing a 7-2 win for Williamson and Mower this followed with a 6-3 by Chittock and Roberts. This gave Ipswich a commanding lead which was to see the home team to victory ,fifteen was a shared heat, heat sixteen saw an unlucky exclusion for Brooke which cost him a paid maximum but team mate Mower was awarded the heat win 5-4 to Poole. Heat seventeen gave Poole their biggest success of the afternoon when Gluchowski and Glover saw off Chambers and Chittock 7-3. Not to be out done heat eighteen saw Pike and Williamson roll back the clock for an impressive 7-3 to give Ipswich a richly deserved victory by fifteen points.
A final note must go to referee Terry Ashford who had a fine match in the middle and was in control at all times .
Premier Combination .
Ipswich 96 .
Ashley Hill 17 , Lauren Jacobs 15 , Richard Fellgett 13 , William Clark 12 ,
Barry Copping 10 , Matthew Hill 9 , Charlie Rumbold 9 .
Poole 45 .
Aaron Smith 14 , Callum Albin 9 , Jay Briggs 8, Caris Glover 5 ,
Kristina Mines 5 , Niall Instone 4 .
With Poole already conceding eleven points it was always going to be tough for them against this strong Ipswich team who have lost only one match at home this season. So it turned out to be with Ipswich in complete control from the off with only Aaron Smith offering any joy for the Poole club scoring a well earn 14 points .
Ipswich recorded nine 7-3’s heat wins, winning eleven out of the thirteen heats on offer and sharing the other two. Ipswich’s Lauren Jacobs caught the eye and returned a fine 15 points to continue her good form. Ipswich captain Ashley Hill rode within himself and scored a paid max 17+3 from his five rides. Another Ipswich rider who done himself no harm for next season was Will Clark scoring 12+3 while evergreen and the popular Barry Copping can be pleased with his 10+1 from his three rides. Ipswich have finished their season on great form unbeaten in their last four outings with wins over Wednesfield ,Sheffield and Poole with a draw at Horspath to cap a good season – and with a little more luck at times would have been a real threat to the top sides .