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Elite League A Fixture : Friday 7th May 2010
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Lakeside made it four home wins out of four but missed out on an extra league point when Ipswich restricted their winning margin to six points.
It was a frustrating evening in many ways for the Hammers, who built up a commanding ten point lead after seven races but were pulled back pretty quickly and contained right to the finish. Their visitors from Suffolk were dogged to the end and ably led by Scott Nicholls, who dropped just a single point all night.
The Hammers had the Davidsson brothers to thank in part for the fact that they managed to win this meeting, for both were excellent with Daniel in particular magnificent. For the second week running he was completely in control from the gate and after a sticky opening ride recovered to record five superb victories. How the Hammers needed his starting prowess and scoring firepower from reserve as number one Krzysztof Kasprzak had a very disappointing evening and Adam Shields was feeling the effects of a crash earlier in the week in Sweden.
It was pleasing to see Jonas Davidsson back to something like his best form too, riding with more confidence than of late and scoring a well taken thirteen points. Sadly, though, it was a night to forget for Stuart Robson who suffered a multitude of machine problems and ended the night on borrowed equipment.
The Hammers opened up a ten point advantage with their third 5-1 of the evening in heat seven and this allowed Ipswich boss Pete Simmons to nominate Oliver Allen for double points in heat eight. Allen responded with a second place behind Daniel Davidsson but the Witches gained an advantage thanks for Chris Kerr's defeat of the beleaguered Robson.
A disastrous outing for Kasprzak in heat ten saw him trail Claus Vissing and Daniel King and unable to make any ground up on his opponents. This was quickly followed by a Nicholls/Allen 5-1 for the away side as they drew level on the night.
The Hammers quickly repelled with a maximum of their own through Kauko Nieminen and that man Daniel Davidsson and another through the dynamic "double D" alongside his brother was enough to secure the home win with a race to go.
The brothers were duly rewarded for their excellent efforts with a nomination in the final race, although they were beaten by Nicholls as the former Grand Prix star denied the home team their full points quota and ensured the Witches headed back home with some reward.
 Related Link: Witches snatch a point : Match Details
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