SHEFFIELD took a significant step towards play-off qualification with a hugely important home win over Ipswich.

They beat the Witches 51-39 at Owlerton - before claiming the aggregate point in a dramatic Super Heat.

It means the Tru Plant Tigers are now five points ahead of Ipswich, who sit outside the top four, and they also still have a meeting in hand over the side from Suffolk.

The Tigers’ night got off to a far from ideal start when Lewis Kerr spun around and crashed out of the opener.

The Brit was withdrawn from the remainder of the meeting with a collarbone injury, with injury rider replacement only allowing reserves Kyle Howarth and Dan Gilkes to cover his remaining outings.

Jack Holder won the re-run before a hat-trick of 4-2s saw them open up a six point lead.

Adam Ellis led Emil Sayfutdinov for the first lap of Heat Five - that was until the Ipswich No.1 came diving underneath the Sheffield man into bend one, a move which saw Ellis disappear under the air fence.

It was Ellis who was thrown out of the race however and Ipswich struck a 5-1 in the re-run.

The visitors were level when they got a 4-2 in Heat Six - but Tigers responded with a fourth 4-2 in the seventh with Tobiasz Musielak and Howarth split by former Sheffield racer Danny King.

The hosts bagged their first 5-1 of the night in Heat Eight courtesy of Dan Gilkes and Howarth - but with the gap back to six, that allowed Ipswich to introduce Sayfutdinov as a tactical substitute in Heat Nine.

He cleared off out in front while Josh Pickering successfully kept Witches’ Jason Doyle behind him.

Howarth teamed up with Holder and then Ellis in Heats 10 and 12, with a 5-1 in the latter giving the Tigers an eight point advantage on the night and within four on aggregate.

Sayfutdinov again flew to victory in Heat 13 - but Musielak and Holder recorded second and third over Doyle.
A 5-1 from Pickering and Howarth in the penultimate programmed race not only secured the two match points - but also meant the scores were tied on aggregate heading into Heat 15.

That saw Doyle receive a 15 metre handicap after he touched the tapes in the original attempt - and Holder and Musielak again had to settle in behind Sayfutdinov to send the aggregate point to a Super Heat for the very first time since it was introduced.

Sayfutdinov again proved untouchable as he reeled off his sixth straight success, but with the 4-3-2-0 scoring system coming into play, another second and third from Holder and Musielak was enough to see the Tigers claim all three points that were up for grabs on the night.

Sheffield are back in action this Thursday (July 13, 7.30) when they travel to Peterborough.

SHEFFIELD 51: Kyle Howarth 12+3, Jack Holder 11+1, Tobiasz Musielak 11+1, Josh Pickering 7, Adam Ellis 6, Dan Gilkes 4, Lewis Kerr 0.
IPSWICH 39: Emil Sayfutdinov 16+1, Danny King 7, Jason Doyle 6, Keynan Rew 5+1, Danyon Hume 3, Erik Riss 1, Dan Thompson 1.
Aggregate scores tied – Sheffield win the aggregate point after winning a Super Heat 5-4