LEICESTER have finished as ROWE Motor Oil Premiership runners-up for a second successive season, despite a valiant effort at Ipswich in the second leg of the Grand Final.
Trailing by four points from Monday’s opener, the Watling JCB Lions were beaten 46-43 on the night at Foxhall as the Witches took the title by a seven-point aggregate margin.
Another tense meeting in front of a huge crowd in Suffolk contained several talking points, and the whole night saw the Lions fighting tooth and nail to stay in the tie, to such an extent that it was only in the very last race that the home side mathematically confirmed their victory.
There was a controversial start to proceedings with Leicester gating on a 5-1 in Heat 1 as home No.1 Emil Saytutdinov failed to leave the start-line, or to clear the track. It was stated there had been a failure of the green light, and whilst skipper Max Fricke still won the re-run, Luke Becker was kept at the back by Sayfutdinov and Danny King for a 3-3.
The Witches took a 4-2 in Heat 2 with Drew Kemp going inside Jason Edwards for second place at the end of lap one, before another significant moment went against the Lions in the next race.
Kyle Howarth and Ryan Douglas held a 5-1 only for Witches guest Keynan Rew to split them on the back straight. Then as Tom Brennan charged inside Douglas at the start of lap two, contact was made as Douglas went down, but it was the Leicester rider who was disqualified.
Worse still, the re-run saw Rew and Brennan race to a 5-1 over Howarth which put the Witches six points up on the night and ten overall.
However, Sam Masters steadied the ship with a fine win over Jason Doyle in Heat 4, and the next race saw fast starts from Fricke and Becker for the first Lions 5-1 of the evening to bring them back into contention at 16-14 down on the night.
Heat 6 was highly eventful with Masters gating and holding off King’s challenge before the home captain attempted to dive through on turn three of the third lap, taking Masters’ leg in the process. There was little doubt that King would be disqualified as Masters came to grief, but the Lions were restricted to a 3-2 from the race because Kemp had already retired.
There was more drama in Heat 7, this time with the Witches gating but as Doyle went wide off turn two, both Lions riders attempted to shoot through on the inside. Howarth made contact with Doyle, who came down heavily, and there was no disputing the Leicester rider’s disqualification – but the run of away race wins continued as Douglas took his second chance in the re-run to keep the gap on the night to one point.
Ipswich edged two points further ahead with a 4-2 in Heat 8, King taking the win over Becker whilst Edwards rounded Joe Thompson on the second lap after both Lions had initially passed the home reserve.
The Witches then took a big step towards the title with a 5-1 in Heat 9 from Brennan, who flew around the field on turn two, and Rew over Masters and Thompson, which put them 11 points up on aggregate.
At this point, it seemed a matter of time before Ipswich would secure victory overall, but the Lions then dug in superbly and ensured things would go virtually to the wire.
Douglas took his second win in Heat 10 with Howarth just losing out to Sayfutdinov, and the next race was also shared with Fricke delayed early on by Edwards and therefore being unable to quite get on terms with Doyle.
The Lions did gain an advantage in Heat 12 as Douglas and Kemp gated on a 5-1 only for Brennan and Dan Thompson to go either side of Kemp on the back straight – but the last two laps saw Thompson nursing a mechanical issue, and Kemp rounded him for third place off the final bend.
Ipswich needed a 4-2 from Heat 13 to be crowned champions and it looked like they could get it as Doyle, riding a machine borrowed by King, headed a battle between Fricke and Sayfutdinov. But after overcoming Sayfutdinov, Fricke then pulled off a brilliant move to go inside Doyle on turn three and then completed the pass on the exit of the fourth bend.
That meant the aggregate gap was still nine points with two races to go, and the Witches were not quite mathematically home, and the Lions kept them waiting still further when Howarth and Kemp hit the front in Heat 14 and did everything to keep Rew out, Kemp just holding on for second place on the line.
So there was an unusual situation heading into Heat 15 of the Witches simply needing one point, and therefore a finisher from the race, to clinch the title, and the race itself had an unusual climax as Sayfutdinov led ahead of Fricke and Douglas who were working to keep Doyle at the back. Unfortunately on lap three, Douglas clipped the back wheel of his team-mate and took an awkward fall, and Ipswich’s league title was confirmed with his disqualification and the race being awarded.
It therefore became a Grand Final of ‘what ifs’ for the Lions, who gave a far stronger overall performance than in the 2024 title decider against Belle Vue, and who can still look back on a tremendous season which also saw them lift the KO Cup.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “You will always look back at certain things over the two meetings, but I’m very proud of the team that we stuck at it and we kind of took it to Heat 15.
“We were seven points down on the night and we showed great energy and determination to come back, and you can say ‘what if this never happened,’ like when we were away on a 5-1 in the first race which would have been a perfect start and one you dream of!
“Last year we deserved to lose; this year, I think it was there for us if we wanted it, and we never grabbed it, which will make it difficult over the next couple of days.
“But that’s sport, and we’re not losers, we’re runners-up, and well done to Ipswich. They will get the plaudits and rightly so, they will celebrate and enjoy their night, but I’m very proud of my team for getting to the Final two years running.
“I was desperate not to roll over and lose 55-35 tonight, and the guys kept it going and did their best. We’ve had a good season, it just could have been a great season!”
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL, 2nd leg
IPSWICH 46: Jason Doyle 10, Emil Sayfutdinov 9+2, Tom Brennan 7+1, Keynan Rew 7+1, Danny King 6+1, Dan Thompson 5+2, Jason Edwards 2.
LEICESTER 43: Max Fricke 13, Ryan Douglas 9, Sam Masters 7, Luke Becker 5+2, Drew Kemp 5+1, Kyle Howarth 4, Joe Thompson 0.
Ipswich win 93-86 on aggregate
Ipswich are 2025 ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Champions
Photo credit: JEFF HIGGOTT
