Ipswich Witches 41, Oxford Silver Machine 49: Oxford Silver Machine recovered from an inauspicious start to record a notable victory in the away leg of their Knockout Cup tie at Foxhall Heath on Monday.

Todd Wiltshire

The afternoon looked as though it was going to turn into disaster with Oxford making the worst start imaginable.

In the first heat, Todd Wiltshire shot through the tapes to earn himself a starting penalty of 15 metres.

Although he made up the ground, he could not find a way passed the Ipswich pairing of Chris Slabon and Jarek Hampel.

The second heat then saw Oxford's Charlie Gjedde excluded for a first-bend incident, which should have seen all four back.

Gjedde picked up some drive which pushed Tom Madsen wide and left him high and dry at the back.

Seeing his plight, Madsen dropped his bike down to get the re-run, which he achieved. To make matters wsorse for Oxford,the referee also saw fit to exclude Gjedde.

With Jernej Kolenko still struggling to find his form, it gifted the Witches their second maximum and saw the Silver Machine eight points down after just two heats!

Many teams would have given up the fight at this point. but not the Machine. Their engine-room pairing of Craig Boyce and Sebastian Ulamek hit straight back in the third to claim a 5-1 of their own

Nicki Pedersen then made an electric start in the fourth todefeat home hero Scott Nicholls. With Gjedde safely tucked in for third, the Silver Machine were just two points down.

The Witches pulled ahead by another two in heat six, while Ipswich's Scott Nicholls tasted defeat for the second time in heat seven. This time it was the impressive Seb Ulamek who claimed the scalp.

Oxford pulled level in heat ten as Ulamek and Boyce bought home the bacon.

They finally took the lead in heat 12 thanks to Craig Boyce and a sparkling ride from Gjedde.

Sensibly Oxford settled for a draw in heat 13 to avoid any tactical substitutions in the 14th, when Gjedde was instrumental in another maximum to clinch a great away win.

Pedersen won the final heat to maintain Oxford's eight-point advantage.

Ipswich visit Oxford this Friday in the return leg of the tie, with the overall winners facing Poole in the semi-finals.

Ipswich: S Nicholls 12, C Slabon 10+1, J Hampel 5+1,D Nermark 5, P Hurry 4+2, T Madsen 3, D Bird 2+1

Oxford: N Pedersen 13, S Ulamek 12, C Gjedde 7+2, C Boyce 7+1, T Wiltshire 6+2, T McGowan 3+1, J Kolenko 1.