KING’S Lynn took another useful league point on Thursday – but were left frustrated from a 46-44 defeat at Ipswich.
The Minors & Brady Stars took the Witches right down to the wire in a meeting which frequently swung one way and then the other, but they just missed out on the win in a last heat decider.
Former World Champion Jason Doyle anchored the Witches to victory as he completed a paid maximum in Heat 15, but it was a 5-1 from former Stars Erik Riss and Ben Barker in the previous race which had put them back in the ascendancy.
Stars suffered an early setback as they conceded a 5-1 the opening race, but their determination was clear as they hit back immediately.
Richie Worrall won the reserves’ race with Jack Thomas passing Danyon Hume for a 4-2, and then the visitors took a big 5-1 in Heat 3 as former Riss came to grief due to mechanical failure, before Niels-Kristan Iversen and Thomas Jorgensen overcame Danny King in the re-run.
Ipswich turned things back around with a 5-1 in Heat 4 with Thomas this time coming down, before the Stars packed in behind Riss and Doyle for a pair of shared races.
The Iversen/Jorgensen combination put Lynn back ahead with a 5-1 over Troy Batchelor in Heat 7, but the Australian immediately returned as rider replacement in Heat 8 and levelled the scores at 24-24 with a win over Lewis Kerr.
The match turned back Ipswich’s way in Heat 10 as Jorgensen nearly came to grief after making a good start, with Doyle and Barker shooting through for a 5-1 – but once again the Stars responded in the next with Kerr and Richard Lawson clearing Barker after Batchelor had been penalised for exceeding the time allowance.
It was 33-33 with four heats to go, with everything to race for, and it was the Stars who made the first move with a 4-2 in Heat 12 as Worrall took the flag and Iversen retrieved third place from Barker.
Lawson and captain Josh Pickering held a 5-1 in Heat 13 only be undone by a fine ride by Doyle to hit the front, although they still kept Batchelor at the back – but then Riss and Barker stunned the Stars with a 5-1 in Heat 14, Riss passing Jorgensen on the third lap, to take their side into the decider two points up.
Doyle made the start from gate one to the relief of the home crowd, and from there Lawson and Iversen were unable to land a blow.
Stars boss Alex Brady said: “I said earlier in the day when we were discussing the meeting ahead that I’d be happy if we could come away with a point.
“But it’s actually a bit deflating because we certainly could have had three points if not four, but we just made a couple of mistakes and there were a few bits of bad luck.
“It’s another point, though, and if we can beat Ipswich at home next week we can make it 4-3 in our favour from those two matches, which would be a good outcome.
“We’ve always said if we can look to score at least a point whenever we race away, and win at home, we should be where need to be.”
IPSWICH 46: Jason Doyle 14+1, Erik Riss 12 Ben Barker 9+2, Troy Batchelor 7+1 Danny King 3 Danyon Hume 1, Paul Starke r/r. KING’S LYNN 44: Richie Worrall 10+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 9+1, Lewis Kerr 8, Richard Lawson 7+2 Josh Pickering 5+2 Thomas Jorgensen 4+2, Jack Thomas 1.
