Plymouth Devils lose 51-41 to Ipswich Witches

Plymouth Devils lost for the third time in a row after being beaten 51-41 at home by Ipswich Witches.

The Devils were missing their top two riders in Ben Barker and Ryan Fisher through Grand Prix commitments and lost Nicki Glanz through injury.

Barker's guest replacement Ricky Wells (16) top scored for Plymouth, supported excellently by regular Devil Cory Gathercole (15+2).

However the rest of the home side could only muster 10 points between them.

The meeting was tightly contested early on but Ipswich took control following four consecutive race advantages in heats five to eight.

That opened up a 10-point lead for the visitors which, despite their best efforts, the Devils could not pull back.

The Premier League Cup match was in effect a dead rubber for the Devils as they were already unable to progress in the competition but Ipswich are through to the semi-finals.

Meanwhile Barker and Fisher both failed in their quest to be permanent Grand Prix riders for the 2013 season over the weekend.

Fisher finished 13th with four points in his semi-final in Denmark whilst Barker finished a creditable seventh with 10 points in his semi in Italy.

Barker proved the best of the British riders as current Grand Prix star and fellow Cornishmen Chris Harris and Danny King also failed to qualify for the final.