LAKESIDE co-promoter Jon Cook was left praising the performance of his side after they beat Ipswich 51-42 at the Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday night.
"It was a very professional display and it needed to be because we saw how effective Ipswich could be around our circuit when they won here on Good Friday," he stated.
"All eyes were probably on Lubos Tomicek to see how he would perform in the main body of the team, but he did extremely well and you can't ask for more than eight points from the number four in your team.
"Four of our riders got six points and our top two were undefeated right up to the nominated heat and that solid scoring right down the line says it all."
Thanks to their generally superior gating technique, the Witches provided an entertaining evening of racing with the Hammers forced to rely on trackcraft to win a series of points from the back.
Andreas Jonsson and Adam Shields both recorded four wins apiece but were denied maximum hopes by the Witches' impressive captain and one-time Hammer Steve Johnston and the all-action Piotr Swiderski.
Trapping quickly, the visiting duo soon established a useful lead to dent the record of the Hammers' heat leaders, but the race result was insignificant as the home side had guaranteed the match points when Jonsson raced to a trap-to-line heat 13 victory.
Three heat maximums in the opening six heats gave Lakeside a 24-12 advantage, although the Witches responded with a 4-2 and then a 6-3 after Johnston was given a tactical ride in heat eight.
That left Hammers with a 29-22 lead but successive 5-1s from Shields and Tomicek - who picked off Jarek Hampel in similar manoeuvres on successive bends - and then the highly-impressive Jonsson and Leigh Lanham pairing set-up a significant advantage.
The teams traded 5-1s with Jonas Davidsson and Ricky Kling on the wrong end of the scoreline behind Johnston and guest Edward Kennett, before the hosts nabbed a 5-1 when Kylmakorpi slowed to allow team mate Shields pass on the home straight as the Australian collected his fourth win of the night that all but guaranteed the two league points to maintain the pressure on leaders Swindon.
Jonsson recorded a stylish victory from the tapes in heat 13 but the Witches prospered in the final stages through the entertaining Swiderski, who won heat 14 before his final race runners-up position.
It proved an expensive night for the Hammers promotion with 13 bonus points claimed from the 15 races including six race maximums from the home side.
Scorers for Lakeside: Andreas Jonsson 13, Leigh Lanham 6+2, Adam Shields 12, Lubos Tomicek 6+2, Jonas Davidsson 6, Ricky Kling 2, Joonas Kylmakorpi 6+4. For Ipswich: Edward Kennett (guest) 6+3, Steve Johnston 14+2,Robert Miskowiak 11, Piotr Swiderski 11, Jarek Hampel 4, Tobias Kroner 5, Chris Schramm 1.
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