Jason Doyle and Rohan Tungate won a dramatic Super Heat as Ipswich Witches came from eight points behind to beat Peterborough Panthers.
The Foxhall side never gave up in a meeting that saw them suffer injury to reserve Paul Starke, as Doyle, who rode in five of the last six races, and Tungate brought the Witches all level at 45-45 in heat 15, before then producing another maximum in a Super Heat run-off to decide where the points were heading
It was sensational stuff from the Witches who remain top of the table and no more than they deserved for a tremendous effort.
HOW IT ALL UNFOLDED AT PETERBOROUGH
The team's never-say-die attitude has seen them home on so many occasions this season and, in front of the Eurosport cameras, they did it again.
The return between the two sides is at Foxhall on Thursday.
Doyle was outstanding throughout, winning heats 13, 14, ,15 and the Super Heat and he was away and gone in the first race of the night, with Aaron Summers passed by Chris Harris down the back straight in a shared heat.
Scott Nicholls won the reserves race in another drawn heat, the former Ipswich rider now down at reserve at for the Panthers.
The shared heats continued as Tungate and Ben Basso had a good battle, with the home man coming out in front. Danny King went through the tapes in heat four, with Starke replacing him.
But Starke's race got not further than the third bend as Anders Rowe lifted and ran into his team-mate sending him catapulting down the track. It was a horrible-looking accident and it was good to see Starke walk back to the pits.
Rowe was excluded and Starke could do little in the re-run to stop the Panthers taking a four-point lead.
But the Witches hit straight back, Doyle and Summers gating to a maximum to level the scores up, Summers riding a fine race at the front, before Lambert got the better of King in the next as the Panthers took a 19-17 lead.
Troy Batchelor was passed by both Panthers in another drawn race as the home side remained ahead in what was proving a tight contest.
Lambert was proving an inspired guest for the Panthers, as he beat Summers, who had to pass Jordan Jenkins in heat eight and the home side went eight points up at 31-23 as Basso and Nicholls got the better of King in a thrilling heat that saw Basso and King pass and re-pass.
The Witches were on the backfoot, but Tungate and Batchelor brought them back to life with a 5-1 maximum return in heat 10, Batchelor superbly holding off Harris.
Josh Pickering gave Doyle a big nudge at the start of heat 11, with Nicholls coming through. Doyle passed Nicholls, before Summers also passed the former Witch on the final bend for a drawn race.
But again the Panthers hit back with a 5-1 in heat 12. Harris packed up on the start-line in heat 13 as the Witches led. But Pickering passed King and the Panthers were six up at 42-36.
Tactical substitute Doyle won heat 14 as Tungate passed Nicholls to set up the last-heat decider.
Doyle and Tungate battled their way to the front in heat 15 to set up the Super Heat, that the Witches duly won, Doyle and Tungate again superb.
Peterborough: Chris Harris (1*,1,1,e/f)=3+1; Simon Lambert (2,0,3,3,0)=8; R/R; Ben Basso (3,1,3,2*,2,0)=11+1; Josh Pickering (3,2,3,2,1)=11; Scott Nicholls (3,0,1*,2*,0,0)=6+2; Jordan Jenkins (0,2*,1,3)=6+1.
Ipswich: Jason Doyle (3,3,2,3,3,3)=17; Aaron Summers (0,2*,2,1*)= 5+1; Troy Batchelor (1*,0,2*,1)= 4+2; Rohan Tungate (2,3,3,1,2*)=11+1; Danny King (ex/t,2,1,1) =4; Paul Starke (2,1,0)=3; Anders Rowe (1*,ex,0,0,0)=1+1
*bonus point
Heat details
1. Doyle, Lambert, Harris, Summers 3-3
2. Nicholls, Starke, Rowe, Jenkins 6-6
3. Basso, Tungate, Batchelor, Lambert 9-9
4. Pickering, Jenkins, Starke, Rowe (ex), King (ex/t) 14-10
5. Doyle, Summers, Basso, Nicholls 15-15
6. Lambert, King, Harris, Rowe 19-17
7. Tungate, Pickering, Nicholls, Batchelor 22-20
8. Lambert, Summers, Jenkins, Rowe 26-22
9. Basso, Nicholls, King, Starke 31-23
10. Tungate, Batchelor, Harris, Lambert 32-28
11. Pickering, Doyle, Summers, Nicholls 35-31
12. Jenkins, Basso, Batchelor, Rowe 40-32
13. Doyle, Pickering, King, Harris (e/f) 42-36
14. Doyle, Basso, Tungate, Nicholls 44-40
15. Doyle, Tungate, Pickering, Basso 45-45
SUPER HEAT: Doyle, Tungate, Pickering, Basso.... Witches win 7-2 and take the points
Panthers 1 point Witches 3 points
Top Witch: Jason Doyle: Again led from the front with an awesome performance. Five rides in the final six heats! And he won four of them!
Premiership
Team Meetings Points
Ipswich 18 40
Belle Vue 17 35
Wolves 19 34
Sheffield 16 33
King's Lynn 16 21
Peterborough 18 12
*Top four into play-offs, where 1st will race 4th, 2nd will race 3rd. Two winners meet in the final.
Both semis and final are over two legs.
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