OXFORD Spires were beaten 45-39 at Ipswich Witches, as the hosts leapfrogged them to the top of the Premiership table.

Spires were reduced to six riders after Rohan Tungate was left stranded in Poland, when he missed his flight due to heavy traffic, but managed to take the lead three times in the meeting, and were only two points adrift heading into Heat 13.

Scott Nicholls guested for Spires in place of the injured Lewis Kerr, and top scored on 12 points, while Charles Wright was Oxford’s sole representative in three races, but still scored 10 points.

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Erik Riss, on his Spires debut, won his opening two rides and scored seven points, while 16-year-old Ashton Boughen won his first-ever race at Premiership level. That came in Heat 4, when Boughen defeated 2017 world champion Jason Doyle in the process.

The rain arrived halfway through the meeting, and after Ipswich took a match-winning 3-3 in Heat 14, the meeting was abandoned before the concluding Heat 15.

Team manager Peter Schroeck said: “Rohan did everything he could to get over here. There was a traffic hold-up in Poland and as a result, he missed his flight.

“After that, he drove 200km to another airport, only for the same to happen to him again.

“We contacted every rider we could of a suitable average. No-one was available, and in the end Jacob Clouting agreed to do it, but he couldn’t get away from work early.”