Speedway: Josh Pickering top scores as Sheffield rally to win big at depleted Ipswich

The Tru7Group Tigers ended up 52-38 winners away at Foxhall, to extend their lead at the top of the Rowe Motor Oil Speedway Premiership, after having trailed by eight by points by the end of heat four, against an Ipswich team missing star names Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutinov, as well as Adam Ellis.

It meant they also win the aggregate bonus point, having also narrowly beaten the Witches at Owlerton earlier this month.

Tigers, in turn were missing three time former World Champion Tai Woffinden, injured since the end of June after breaking his elbow, and rising star Dan Gilkes, who had to withdrawn late on with an eye infection. Teenager Luke Harrison, a member of the joint Sheffield-Scunthorpe National Development League team, stepped in for his first ride at Premiership level.

It meant both sides were using rider replacement, Sheffield for Woffinden and Ipswich for Doyle.

Tigers started a fightback when Pickering won heat seven ahead of team mate Chris Holder, in a 5-1 heat advantage, both finishing ahead of Dan Bewley, who was guesting for the witches after winning the British Grand Prix in Cardiff at the weekend.

Although Ipswich extended their lead to six points after a 4-2 advantage in heat eight, Sheffield did not lose another heat all night from that point

And in the second half of the meeting, Tigers recorded five 5-1 heat advantages, drawing the other two 3-3.

Pickering, who scored 20 for Edinburgh in the Championship last week, recorded five wins, a second place and a third, plus two bonus points on the night, to top score for Sheffield and continue a successful week.

He said afterwards: “It’s a track that I have struggled on in the past, but I always feel that I finish on a good race here. I went with a completely different set up tonight and it paid dividends.

“It’s one of those tracks, and me being able to turn a bike or anything like that has never been an issue for me .

“It was a great result for us. Obviously they were a weakened side not having Doyley (Jason Doyle) and Emil (Satfutdinov). Dan’s still come in and started off with a couple of wins, but tailed off in the end. But we had a job in hand and Steady (Simon Stead) made some good calls and at the right calls and put in tac subs and used r/r for Tai correctly, so we all got stuck in and we want to win that trophy again.”

He said he thought everyone came out with their “heads held high.”

Tigers’ number three Chris Holder, who scored his best score at Foxhall in Tigers colours, felt the first four heats were the same old Ipswich.

But he added: “It just needed a quick track grade, and after that we got set up all right and made some good gates, and had a good night. They’re missing obviously the two key riders, so they’re struggling a little bit with replacing those two boys but we have to make the most of that. It was a bit of a practice for us too, because we have to come here a few times”

He said the feeling among the Tigers this evening after they had fallen behind was that the track would get better. He said they thought after the first track grade it evened out and Tigers started making some starts

”It’s a different track when you’re in front,” he said.

The win extends Sheffield’s lead at the top of the table to four points.

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Ipswich 38: Dan Bewley 9+1, Danny King 8+2, Troy Batchelor 7, Jordan Jenkins 5+1, Keynan Rew 5, Dan Thompson 4+1, Jason Doyle r/r.

Sheffield 52: Josh Pickering 18+2, Jack Holder 12+1, Chris Holder 11+3, Kyle Howarth 9+2, Jason Edwards 2, Luke Harrison 0, Tai Woffinden r/r.

Sheffield win the aggregate point How they stand: Sheffield M21 Pts 38; Leicester 21 34 Ipswich 21 34; Belle Vue 20 31; Oxford 22 25; King’s Lynn 19 14; Birmingham 22 6