Stars suffer defeat in East Anglian derby

King’s Lynn again suffered defeat at the hands of local rivals Ipswich with a 49-41 reverse to the league leaders at the Adrian Flux Arena.Despite a superb showing from captain Niels-Kristian Iversen and several battling performances elsewhere in the team, it wasn’t enough to contain the Witches who inflicted a first home loss for the PSH Environmental Stars since mid-April.The Foxhall side had won a Super Heat after a 45-45 draw on their previous visit, but this time they had the points wrapped up with a race to spare, although the Stars had given them a scare with a mid-meeting fightback to level the scores having been six down.Iversen piled up paid-16 from seven rides, including a hat-trick of race wins, and Jan Kvech also hit paid double figures, but the injury absence of Benjamin Basso and the ongoing issue at No.1 proved costly, where Lewis Kerr suffered a disastrous night.For the Witches, Emil Sayfutdinov was as strong as ever, dropping his only point to Kvech in an excellent Heat 5, whilst captain Danny King won four races and Keynan Rew made a key contribution at reserve after failing to score on his previous visit.Stars manager Rob Lyon said: “Any defeat is always disappointing, but it was backs to the wall with the team we had out, with all due respect to the boys we brought in.“Everybody gave it a lot of effort, and with some decent races from most of them, but it’s tough to ride against a team that are top of the league and the way they’re set up with the best rider in the league.” The sides traded 5-1s in the opening two races with Patryk Wojdylo and Anders Rowe securing another Heat 2 maximum for the Stars, but the Witches then picked up two 4-2s with Kvech relegated to the back in Heat 3. Kvech’s win over Sayfutdinov raised the Stars’ spirits but that was quickly dampened when King and Rew took a 5-1 in Heat 6 to extend the Witches’ lead to six points.Lynn hit back with Iversen defeating Adam Ellis in Heat 8 whilst Rowe added third place, and then when Iversen and Kvech combined against Rew and King in the next, the scores were suddenly all square at 27-27.However, it was Ipswich who came strong again with a 5-1 from Sayfutdinov and Dan Thompson in Heat 10 as Kerr crashed out, and they extended the margin back to six with a 4-2 in Heat 11. The visitors had clear breathing space when Sayfutdinov headed up another 5-1, this time with Rew, against Kvech and Rowe in Heat 12, but the Stars battled on as Iversen replaced Kerr as a tactical substitute in the next and collected a 4-2 with guest Zach Cook, split by Ellis.However, Rew’s win in Heat 14 made the match safe for the visitors, who rested Sayfutdinov from Heat 15 which was also shared as King took the win over Kvech, Iversen and reserve Jordan Jenkins. Stars have little time to dwell on the defeat as another of the Premiership’s powerhouse sides, Sheffield, are in town on Monday (July 29).However, with only one other fixture taking place, guest options are at least a little more plentiful, with Luke Becker and Richard Lawson booked to stand in against the Tigers. King’s Lynn 41: Niels-Kristian Iversen 15+1, Jan Kvech 9+2, Patryk Wojdylo 6+2, Anders Rowe 5+1, Zach Cook 5, Lewis Kerr 1, Benjamin Basso r/r.Ipswich 49: Emil Sayfutdinov 13+1, Keynan Rew 13+1, Danny King 12, Adam Ellis 7+1, Dan Thompson 3+1, Jordan Jenkins 1, Jason Doyle r/r.