Thursday May 11, 2023
PETERBOROUGH went down to a 57-33 defeat against a powerhouse Ipswich side in the first leg of their KO Cup semi-final at Foxhall.

The Witches took full control of the tie as the Crendon Panthers struggled to land a blow on the home side’s upper order, with the Ipswich top four dropping just two points between them.

Whilst Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov have made the headlines this season, they were arguably upstaged on this occasion by captain Danny King with 17 points from six rides, and by Australian youngster Keynan Rew who scored an exciting five-ride paid maximum.

For the Panthers there were slim pickings, although they did take the lead briefly on the night when Jordan Jenkins was a fine winner of Heat 2 with Ben Cook in third place.

But Jenkins’ involvement in the meeting ended with a heavy spill on the third bend in Heat 4, and although he was able to return to the pits, he was withdrawn with a possible broken nose after going into the fence with his bike.

The King/Rew combination accounted for Ipswich 5-1s in Heats 3 and 5, whilst Cook worked hard to regain third place from Danyon Hume in a shared Heat 6.

Race of the night for Panthers came in Heat 7 when Richie Worrall got out in front of Sayfutdinov and rode four brilliant laps to keep the flying Russian at bay, whilst Benjamin Basso passed Hume for third spot.

Panthers trailed by just six points at the halfway stage but the Witches then hit a hat-trick of 5-1s including a forceful effort from Doyle to come from last to second at the expense of Worrall and Basso in Heat 10.

And then Hume went high into the dirt in Heat 11 to move around Hans Andersen and short-notice guest Frederik Jakobsen to team up with Sayfutdinov and put the home side 18 points up.

Basso ended King’s maximum hopes with a fine ride in Heat 12, squeezing round the Ipswich skipper on lap one and reading his every move, but with Ipswich’s power in Heats 13 and 15 the margin was only likely to be extended.

The home side duly took 5-1s in both races, Sayfutdinov coming from the back with a spectacular outside effort in the former, whilst Panthers’ night was summed up by the events of Heat 14.

Worrall and Cook initially held a 5-1 before Hume crashed on turn three, and in the re-run Worrall held a thrusting Rew at bay until the Ipswich rider pulled off a good move going into the final bend to take the win – and if seeing the race shared 3-3 wasn’t frustrating enough, Worrall then took a heavy fall after the end of the race when he clipped the rear wheel of Rew, although he too was able to walk away.

Panthers manager Rob Lyon said: “Every night is tough at the minute, and three heat winners tells its own story.

“Ipswich are a good side at home with the top two boys, and Danny is riding as good as I’ve seen him ride to be fair, so they were deserved winners tonight.”

PREMIERSHIP KO CUP, S/F, 1st Leg
IPSWICH 57: Danny King 17, Keynan Rew 12+3, Emil Sayfutdinov 12+2, Jason Doyle 11+1, Danyon Hume 4+1, Joe Thompson 1, Erik Riss r/r.
PETERBOROUGH 33: Ben Cook 6+2, Richie Worrall 6, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6, Benjamin Basso 5, Frederik Jakobsen 5, Jordan Jenkins 3, Hans Andersen 2+2.

*PETERBOROUGH Speedway are delighted to be supported by Crendon Timber as team sponsors and City Auction Group and PurpleRock as club sponsors.