Speedway: Ipswich 59 Sheffield Tigers 34

The Window Centre Tigers were beaten 59-34 by their top six rivals on another disappointing night on the road.

They were condemned to their fifth straight away loss by the resurgent Witches, who are now just four points behind the Owlerton outfit with three meetings remaining.

Three Ipswich 5-1s in the opening four races instantly put the Tigers on the back foot – and they lacked strength in depth to mount a comeback.

Heat-leader Jason Garrity withdrew after just two rides having fallen on the opening lap of heat four, whilst No.3 Kyle Howarth experienced a tough night before claiming a heat 12 win.

While skipper and talisman Simon Stead Stead lowered the colours of British Champion Danny King for the first time in 31 races at Foxhall in the closing stages but Tigers were never really in the mix for a consolation point.

Dimitri Berge and Josh Bates both failed to defeat an opposing rider, plus Arthur Sissis managed only two points at reserve.

His lower order partner, Nathan Greaves, did provide a positive, pulling off the ride of the night to go from last to first and win heat two ahead of the in-form Joe Jacobs.

IPSWICH 59: Danny King 11, Morten Risager 10+3, Ben Barker 9+3, Nico Covatti 9+1, Joe Jacobs 8+2, James Sarjeant 6+2, Danyon Hume 6.

SHEFFIELD 34: Simon Stead 16, Kyle Howarth 7, Nathan Greaves 6, Arthur Sissis 2, Jason Garrity 2, Josh Bates 1, Dimitri Berge 0.