Ipswich Witches will face Edinburgh Monarchs and Workington Comets, home and away, in the semi-final stages of the Premier League play-offs.

The Witches, who face Newcastle in the first leg of the League Cup final at Foxhall on Thursday, lost the last meeting of their regular season, 46-44, at Somerset Rebels on Monday night and as a result, were pipped to finishing in top spot by their opponents.

Ipswich will host Workington on September 26 at Foxhall with the return date against the Rebels two days later. The Witches will then host Edinburgh on Thursday, October 3 before racing in Scotland the day after (October 4).

The Rebels have chosen to face Redcar and Newcastle in their group and the winners of each section will face off in the Grand Final.

Ipswich did the double over Workington this year in the league and lost one and won one against Edinburgh.

The Suffolk team’s clash against the Scots will be given more spice as it should see the Witches’ Ben Barker and Edinburgh’s Craig Cook line up against each other.

The exciting pair were involved in a heated altercation at Ipswich earlier in the season, which saw Cook excluded from the rest of the meeting as a result.

Edinburgh finished third in the league and Workington fifth.

For more reaction, see Thursday’s Ipswich Star and East Anglian Daily Times.