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Craven Shield fixture: Friday 21st March 2008 @ 2:15pm
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The Hammers got their official campaign underway in stunning fashion with this Craven Shield victory at close rivals Ipswich.
The Lakesiders were never behind at any stage of the meeting and rode through a series of potentially difficult heats to grind out shared results before asserting their control on the meeting.
All seven of the Essex men got in the points with some heroic rides in the bitterly cold Good Friday climate - but the overall victory was enough to warm the large congregation of Hammers fans who made the trip.
The first six heats were shared as both sides battled for supremacy. Hammers number one Andreas Jonsson got the early jump in the opening heat but made a slight mistake to let Witches new boy Piotr Swiderski through.
There were no further mistakes from AJ, though, who produced the ride of the afternoon in heat five when he passed the team riding Chris Louis and Steve Johnston on the final corner to steal victory and prevent a Witches 5-1.
There were strong showings too, from Adam Shields and Joonas Kylmakorpi, with both men defusing potentially difficult heats with tape-to-flag wins in six and seven.
Jonas Davidsson's emphatic success in heat ten set the stall out for the Hammers to take victory. The 4-2 in that race put Lakeside four points up, a margin that was doubled in the next race when Jonsson team rode brilliantly with Lanham to keep out Jarek Hampel.
Shields kept Louis at bay in the twelth heat before more good action in the following race saw Kylmakorpi recover to pass Kroner for third place - only for Hampel to overtake Jonsson at the front.
With tactical efforts unavailable to the Witches as a result of the previous shared outing, the Hammers needed just a second place to be assured of victory. Davidsson duly obliged, passing Chris Schramm on the second lap to make the result a certainty.
Jonsson produced his party piece in the final race, passing Chris Louis on the third lap to prevent a Witches 5-1. The Swedish star wheelied across the line to celebrate an opening away success for his Hammers, built on the success of a strong team effort.
 Related Link:
A good Friday for Hammers with away success at Ipswich - Match Facts
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