Wolves speedway end hoodoo

Ipswich 44 Wolves 46

Wolves' speedway team have finally ended their losing run at Ipswich.

Last night was the 13th Elite League encounter between the two at Foxhall since Wolves last won in 2004 and it proved to be a lucky number for the Monmore men.

Fittingly it was Wolves top scorer Frederik Lindgren whose second place in the final race sealed the win.

All looked well with Wolves four points ahead when the Swede and captain Tai Woffinden gated in the minor placings behind home number one Scott Nicholls.

But the hearts of the travelling fans sank as Robert Miskowiak bored his way through on the inside.

However, Nicholls' machinery faltered briefly and that was enough for Lindgren to finish the job.

A match which ended dramatically had started bizarrely when Olly Allen fell in heat one and Ty Proctor laid down his machine, only for referee Dale Entwistle to allow racing to continue.

Fans were then treated to a Le Mans-style racing getaway as the two prone riders gathered their wits and machines, remounted and set off again.

Proctor was the quicker of the two while Allen - with recently broken ribs - retired from the heat soon after.

Aussie Proctor was also in the thick of the more conventional action. Curiously the only visiting rider not to win a race, he was pivotal to his side's success.

A last-bend dive up the inside from way, way back dislodged Miskowiak from third place in heat seven. A crunch 5-1 with Ludvig Lindgren - the only one of the night from either side - in the next race put Wolves level, but heat 11 proved the pivotal moment.

Ipswich looked good for a 4-2 which would have put them on level terms only for Fredrik Lindgren to overhaul Miskowiak while Proctor, winding on the throttle going wider and wider in the dirt, finally accounted for Dawid Stachyra with a home straight pass of absolute commitment.

That put Wolves four points to the good and they closed out the meeting successfully, the racy Nicolai Klindt taking the penultimate heat on his way to double figures.

Klindt was distraught not to take Nicholls' scalp in the tenth, leading all the way but the classy Witch reeled him in before pouncing on the final lap.

By Tim Hamblin