Sheffield Tigers speedway: Sheffield bounce back to beat Ipswich and secure bonus point

The visitors heat leaders, former world champion Jason Doyle and ex-grand prix rider Emil Sayfutdinov, kept things close for much of the meeting, with Sayfutdinov scoring a paid maximum.

But in the end Tigers had more depth on the night on their home track.

Tigers led from heat two, when Kyle Howarth and Dan Gilkes secured and lead with a 5-1 heat advantage. Victory was secured in heat 13 when Jack Holder and Tobiasz Musielak held Doyle an Sayfutdinov to a 3-3 draw.

David Bellego and skipper Kyle Howarth, who was top scorer for Tigers on the night, then secured the bonus point for an aggregate win over two meetings with a 5-1 success in heat 14.

Ipswich had won the corresponding first round league fixture 47-43, back in April, which gave the Tigers the aggregate win. Ipswich also won when the two clubs clashed on Monday in Suffolk by 51-39.

The win puts Tigers clear of the Witches in the league table, in fourth place, but remaining behind Leicester, who also won on Thursday against leaders Belle Vue (52-38)

Tigers skipper Howarth said: “We bounced back from a poor performance on Monday with a solid performance here.”

“We got that bonus point as well which helps because every point counts; there’s five teams really going for those top four places and so there’s going to be one who misses out.

“Every point is valuable and we got them all tonight.

“Ipswich have got a good team and when you’ve got Emil (Sayfutdinov) and Jason Doyle in town you know you’re in for a tough night.

“It was another solid performance at home though, we’ve got a solid home record and we want to keep that going.”

Tigers travel to Wolverhampton on Monday (June 19, 7.30) for the deciding leg of their Sports Insure Premiership Knockout Cup Semi-Final before hosting Leicester in the league next Thursday (June 22, 7.30).

Sheffield: Tobiasz Musielak 9 (1), Lewis Kerr 5 (1), Adam Ellis 8 (1), David Bellego 5 (1), Jack Holder 9, Kyle Howarth 10 (4), Dan Gilkes 5 (1)

Ipswich: Jason Doyle 13(1), Danyon Hume 2 (1), Danny King 5 (1), Ben Barker 2, Emil Sayfutdinov 14 (1), Keynan Rew 0, Dan Thompson 3.