UNDER normal circumstances, dropping a home point to a team without any away success so far this year would be seen as a point thrown away.
But these were far from normal circumstances as the loss of Rory Schlein in his first ride left the Buildbase Bees desperately working to keep in touch throughout the meeting.
And the credit for the fact that their chances remained alive into the closing stages had to go to reserves Josh Auty and Filip Sitera, who both took extra rides and kept scoring, preventing major Ipswich advantages.
It seemed remarkable given some of the race line-ups that the Witches never managed to record a 5-1, despite a succession of race wins.
Most bizarrely, Coventry riders won the first two races and the last three - with Ipswich taking the ten in between!
With Robert Miskowiak and Troy Batchelor both putting up impressive displays to go alongside their new No.1 Scott Nicholls, the Witches looked like they would have enough to overcome their problems at reserve.
But Coventry's captain Chris Harris came good right at the end, and the Bees came through in dramatic fashion when Nicholls was disqualified from Heat 15.
The clashes between Harris and Nicholls were eagerly-anticipated, and it was the current Bees skipper who came out on top over his predecessor every time - starting in Heat 1 when Harris made a fast start from the outside leaving Nicholls with no momentum, his only option being to follow Tobias Kroner home for third place.
Bees had been highly optimistic of having the advantage at reserve, and that already looked like being the case when Auty and Sitera recorded a routine 5-1 in Heat 2 to put them into a four-point lead.
But things were about to get a lot less straightforward, first when the returning Olly Allen piled into the fence on turn four of his comeback ride as he attempted to move around Daniel King.
The Witches held a 5-1 position but the race had to be stopped with Allen disqualified, and the re-run saw Edward Kennett edge out King on turn two, although he had no answer for Robert Miskowiak.
Heat 4 turned out to be the race which shaped the meeting, and for all the wrong reasons. It was already a long-runner, being stopped twice due to first bend incidents between Auty and Carl Wilkinson, the second seeing both riders go down as Schlein contested the lead with Troy Batchelor.
On both occasions Schlein held the advantage and he did so again in the second re-run, with Auty in third and Wilkinson falling on turn two of lap three.
But just at the same time, Schlein picked up at the start of the back straight and impacted the fence, then falling heavily over the handlebars and being collected by his bike once more. With the following riders just managing to avoid him and Wilkinson having re-mounted just before the race was stopped, a lengthy delay ensued whilst Schlein was assessed and attended to. He was then taken from the track and sent to Walsgrave Hospital for x-rays, in a great deal of pain.
When racing resumed, Ipswich levelled the scores with a 4-2 in the re-run, Auty making up for a poor start by moving around Wilkinson at the start of the last lap.
Nicholls was a clear winner of Heat 5 with Kennett and Allen packing in for a 3-3, but the Witches moved in front with an unexpected 4-2 in Heat 6 with Batchelor outgating Harris and making no mistakes, whilst Jordan Frampton was left out of shape by a clash with Jerran Hart going into the first bend, and was unable to make up the lost ground in the laps which followed.
With Schlein ruled out, Heat 7 looked to be one in which the Witches could capitalise - but Sitera rode a strong first bend to ease King out wide, and although Miskowiak romped to his second win, Auty and Sitera held King at bay for a useful 3-3 which prevented the visitors from extending their lead.
The next race was also shared with Kroner showing good speed when he made the first bend ahead, and just when Bees looked set to level the scores they were hampered by Batchelor in Heat 9.
Allen had ridden a good first lap to take the lead around the outside, and for much of the race it looked like Kennett would be pressing Batchelor for second place - but off the final bend, Batchelor made his move on the inside and snatched the win from Allen on the line, to remain unbeaten from three outings.
And the Bees' Heat 10 2-4 concession looked truly ominous with Harris pegged at the back as King raced clear and Miskowiak negotiated Frampton to move into second place. Harris then forced the error from Miskowiak going into the last lap to split the pairing, and the Pole was fortunate to retain control when he lifted on the straight, but Ipswich's 32-28 lead looked more than defendable over the closing races.
Heat 11 was another in which Bees were pleased to emerge with a 3-3, once again thanks to the efforts of their reserves in riding well to make sure there was no chance of Kroner repeating his Heat 8 win.
The next race was also shared, which would have pleased the Witches more, as Miskowiak just made it to the first bend ahead from a position in between Allen and Sitera, and then moved away for his third win of the night.
The second Harris/Nicholls clash turned out to be far more explosive than the first, with Harris riding a magnificent race to probe on the inside for two laps and then storm around the outside at the start of the third lap for a brilliant victory.
Auty's understandable last place in that heat was the only zero recorded in 13 combined outings for the Bees reserves, but they still needed something unexpected in Heat 14 - and they got it, with Kennett and Sitera both making excellent starts with King missing out. Hart then fell on the fourth bend and deserves great credit for sportingly clearing the track, and then it was all about whether Sitera could hold off King. The Bees reserve got his lines spot-on to bring in a 5-1, and a grandstand finish was set up with the scores at 42-42.
Harris and Kennett was the only realistic choice for the Bees, whilst the Witches had the option of two from three, and paired Nicholls with Miskowiak. It was Miskowiak who made the best start as Nicholls was squeezed out into turn one - but he quickly switched for the inside, only to collect Kennett on his way through, and after a brief delay referee Margaret Vardy excluded the Ipswich rider.
That effectively guaranteed Bees a draw and heaped the pressure on Miskowiak to keep on gating - which he duly did in the re-run, but Harris, having changed bikes after his third ride, always appeared to have the speed to reel him in. With Miskowiak slightly out of shape on the second lap, Harris hit the front down the back straight and brought Bees home to the win, with Kennett re-mounting for third place after a last-bend fall when trying to follow his team-mate through.
A long and difficult night therefore at least provided a good result for the Bees, but the injury to Schlein could prove to be a major setback if confirmed, and the World Cup break will come as a slight relief in that it does give time for all options to be considered.
BUILDBASE BEES 46 Chris Harris 3 2 2 3 3 = 13 Jordan Frampton 0 0 1* 0 = 1+1 Olly Allen X 1* 2 1* = 4+2 Edward Kennett 2 2 1* 3 1 = 9+1 Rory Schlein X = 0 Filip Sitera 2* 1* 2 2 2* = 9+3 Josh Auty 3 2 2 2 1* 0 = 10+1
IPSWICH 44 Scott Nicholls 1* 3 3 2 X = 9+1 Tobias Kroner 2 0 3 0 = 5 Robert Miskowiak 3 3 1 3 2 = 12 Daniel King 1 0 3 1 = 5 Troy Batchelor 3 3 3 1* = 10+1 Jerran Hart 1 1 0 0 F = 2 Carl Wilkinson 0 1 0 = 1
