LEICESTER’S terrific run continued with an empathic 54-36 win at Ipswich on Thursday as they became the first visiting side to be successful at Foxhall in over a year.
The Witches had won their previous 16 matches on their own circuit but the Watling JCB Lions took full advantage of the home side’s problems, as they moved to the very brink of securing play-off qualification in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
Lions are up to third in the table and will guarantee a top four finish if they defeat Oxford at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park on Monday.
Their top five delivered a truly awesome display in Suffolk, all being paid for double figures, with captain Max Fricke scoring a four-ride paid maximum, and his combination with Richard Lawson produced 5-1s in all three of their rides together.
Luke Becker added a hat-trick of wins, again showing real speed, and Sam Masters and Ryan Douglas both hit paid-10 as the Lions dominated against the injury-hit Witches.
Ipswich went into the meeting operating rider replacement for Jason Doyle, and with Scott Nicholls guesting for Emil Sayfutdinov, but they were reduced to five riders in the early stages as Adam Ellis crashed out of Heat 1.
It was an unusual incident as the Lions held a 5-1 going into the second lap with Fricke getting slightly out of shape on turn one, and as Ellis reacted to that his bike spat him off heavily and he was ruled out with mild concussion.
Fricke and Lawson raced to a 5-1 over Danny King in the re-run, and although that was cancelled out by the home reserves in Heat 2, Lions moved back ahead in a competitive Heat 3 with Masters hitting the front and Nicholls surging inside Becker going into turn three to split the visitors.
Ipswich had more trouble in Heat 4 when Keynan Rew made the gate only to spin and fall on turn one, with Douglas taking smart avoiding action, although King did win the re-run with a fast start from the outside.
But the Lions began to take control with a super 5-1 in Heat 5 as Lawson and Fricke both switched inside Nicholls off turn two, whilst Douglas got the better of King – in as a tactical substitute – in Heat 6 with Drew Kemp picking up third ahead of Jordan Jenkins.
And when Masters made a super start in Heat 7 and Becker quickly followed him into second place, Leicester were into a 12-point lead and already looking set for another away win.
Ipswich fought hard and narrowed the gap with 4-2s in the next two races, the latter as Nicholls moved inside Douglas going into the third bend, but the Lions ensured the comeback was short-lived as Becker and Masters carded a 4-2 of their own, split by Nicholls, in Heat 10.
Some excellent team riding followed as Fricke made the start in Heat 11 and looked immediately for Lawson, clamping his rival on the inside to allow Lawson the run around the outside for a 5-1 which all but guaranteed the result.
Masters defeated Nicholls in a shared Heat 12 before Fricke and Douglas collected another Leicester 5-1 in Heat 13, which was awarded after three laps when King slid off whilst chasing Douglas.
The last two races were shared with Becker, who won his races by a distance, taking the flag in Heat 14, whilst Lawson and Becker summed up the Lions’ spirit by battling their way past Rew for a 3-3 behind the evergreen Nicholls in the last.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “We came here at the right time, but I still thought we rode pretty well.
“We know Ipswich were pretty depleted tonight, but we can only do what we can do, there were some good performances and I’m very pleased to get the three points.
“Luke is beginning to show the form we thought we’d see when we signed him initially, and I think he’s been the catalyst over the last five or six weeks.
“Ipswich are a different team when they’ve got Doyle and Sayfutdinov, everybody knows that, and we just came at the right time when they weren’t here, although I think if they had been riding it would have been a good meeting regardless.”
Lions are now up to 32 points in the league table and Oxford, the only team who can deny them a top four finish, could make 33 – but the Lions can put matters to bed with a win when the sides meet on Monday.
IPSWICH 36: Scott Nicholls 13, Keynan Rew 8+1, Danny King 7, Jordan Jenkins 4+2, Dan Thompson 4, Adam Ellis 0, Jason Doyle r/r.
LEICESTER 54: Richard Lawson 12+1, Luke Becker 11+1, Max Fricke 10+2, Sam Masters 9+1, Ryan Douglas 9+1, Drew Kemp 2, Sam Hagon 1+1.
Leicester win the aggregate point
Photo credit: JEFF HIGGOTT
