|
Elite League B fixture : Friday 25th July @ 8pm
|
The Hammers survived an early scare to turn the tables in the second half of this meeting, cruising through the latter stages to register victory over local rivals Ipswich.
The Witches arrived in determined mood and fired a stunning opening salvo when Tobias Kroner and Piotr Swiderski out-trapped Andreas Jonsson to open with a 5-1.
Ricky Kling passed Chris Schramm to prevent a further Witches advantage in the reserves race - the Swede rounded his opponent in fine style on the final bend - and the Hammers began to build momentum against a difficult side that always performs well at the Arena Raceway.
Consecutive 5-1's for the Hammers in heats four and five put a little space between the sides before Witches team boss Pete Simmons nominated Swiderski for a rider replacement outing in heat eight. Teaming up with reserve switch Kroner, the duo raced to a 5-1 to reduce the deficit to just two points and signal a seemingly competitive finale to the meeting.
The Hammers, though, emerged from the turn equally fired-up and quickly slammed home two consecutive maximums before Swiderski donned the white/black helmet for a tactical outing. This was to prove only moderately successful as Kylmakorpi and Kling edged out Kroner at the first corner to split the Witches pairing and Swiderski to collect the solitary win.
The home side wasted no opportunity to assert their authority on the remainder of the meeting, quickly recovering to secure two consecutive 5-1's. Heat twelve was the pick of the bunch, a dynamic clash that saw both Shields and Tomicek come from the back to pass Kroner.
With the Elite League points assured, Hammers captain Shields lined up at the start with maximum aspirations. The initial running saw Kroner hit the deck on the second lap, but the replay saw a superb early tussle between Shields and Swiderski. The Aussie moved swiftly around the outside of the charging Polish star and held off any counter attack to assume control and collect a well deserved maximum.
 Related Link: Second half spree helps Hammers home : Match Statistics
| 
