IPSWICH Evening Star Witches were beaten in their battle to overcome the weather at Foxhall Stadium last night.They suffered their second home Sky Bet Elite League postponement of the season when drizzle began just after 7pm.

IPSWICH Evening Star Witches were beaten in their battle to overcome the weather at Foxhall Stadium last night.

They suffered their second home Sky Bet Elite League postponement of the season when drizzle began just after 7pm.

Every effort was made to get the match against Peterborough on and it was not until 8.15pm that referee Richard Williams called a halt. The track stood up well to the weather and it was a problem with visibility that was the problem.

As one rider put it: “How would you like to drive on a motorway at 60mph in rain with drivers in front throwing up spray and no brakes or windscreen wipers?”

Both teams were keen to give it a go if the drizzle eased, but once the decision to postpone had been made, the rain got heavier.

Williams said: “I want to be responsible for 14 riders driving home after each meeting. It is not me that will have to suck through a straw if anything goes wrong on the track. Captains Scott Nicholls and Gary Havelock were superb and you listen to what a British champion and a former world champion have to say.”

Williams had praise for track curator Bob Ellis. The referee said: “Conditions were excellent even after an hour of drizzle and it was visibility that was the problem.

“I needed a window of an hour to get at least 12 heats in. It would not have been fair on fans or riders if we started without any real hope of getting a result.

“We gave it half an hour in a hope that the rain would stop.”

Ipswich's next meeting is at home to Oxford next Thursday, with the scheduled meeting at Arena Essex next Wednesday put back to June 30.

On Thursday, June 17, the Witches ride at Coventry and the following Monday they are at home to Swindon.