SHEFFIELD will take a slender six point lead to Ipswich for the deciding leg of the Premiership Knockout Cup on Thursday (September 14, 7.30).

The Tru Plant Tigers picked up a hard fought 48-42 first leg success at Owlerton on Monday in a contest where no more than eight points ever separated the two sides.

It was the visitors who got out of the blocks the quickest, winning three of the opening four races to establish a 14-10 lead with a 5-1 in Heat Four.

But the hosts responded magnificently after the first track grade to get themselves ahead and create a little bit of breathing space.

Chris Holder and Josh Pickering instantly levelled the scores once again in Heat Five as they grabbed an impressive maximum over Witches’ No.1 Emil Sayfutdinov.

That was before a run of four 4-2s in a row saw them move 31-23 in front.

Ipswich claimed the next three races though - but were only able to claw a couple of points back with a 4-2 in Heat 11.

Tobiasz Musielak showed plenty of speed to win Heat 13 before Pickering and guest reserve Kyle Newman were split mid-race in Heat 14 by Ipswich’s Danyon Hume as they were denied a 5-1.

The visitors responded with a 4-2 of their own in Heat 15 though to leave the tie nicely poised ahead of the decider.

PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL, 1st leg
SHEFFIELD 48: Josh Pickering 11+1, Kyle Howarth 10, Tobiasz Musielak 9, Chris Holder 9, Kyle Newman 4, Jason Edwards 3+2, Max Fricke 2+1.
IPSWICH 42: Danny King 10, Emil Sayfutdinov 9, Jason Doyle 8+2, Erik Riss 7, Keynan Rew 6, Danyon Hume 2, Joe Thompson 0.