Leicester boss Stewart Dickson set up a date with champions Ipswich in the Premiership Knockout Cup Final and insisted, “We owe them one for last season.”
The Lions triumphed 46-44 at home to Sheffield to top the Northern Section table, while the Witches defeated Northampton 47-43 at Foxhall to win the Southern Section with a meeting to spare.
Former SGP2 rider Dan Thompson starred on 11 paid 12 for the Lions, with Kyle Howarth collecting 10 paid 11. Speedway GP rider Jack Holder led the Sheffield scoring on 15 paid 16, with Josh Pickering adding nine paid 11.
This sets up a rerun of the 2025 Rowe Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final, which Ipswich won to end their 27-year search for a league title.
Knockout Cup holders Leicester won a fiery affair at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park, which saw in-form Aussie international Ryan Douglas crash out in heat six, withdrawing from the meeting.
The action then reached boiling point when Sheffield skipper Pickering and Howarth were involved in an altercation after heat nine.
Despite a few mishaps, Lions clung on to set up a Knockout Cup Final showdown. Dickson said: “The objective was to get to the Final, and we’ve done that. We had one or two problems, including Dougy coming off after he’d looked really good in his first race, and that did have a bit of an effect on us.
“But the team mucked in to cover for him reasonably enough, and obviously we’d have been eight points up if Drew Kemp’s chain hadn’t come off in heat 14, but these things happen in speedway.
“I thought we were the better team, although it was disappointing to be eight and then 12 points up and for them to still come back into it, so that’s something we need to sort out as the season goes on. But we’ve qualified for the Final against Ipswich, and we owe them one for last season, don’t think I’ve forgotten about that!
“Tonight, there was drama and theatre, you get it at ice hockey and wrestling, and as long as it doesn’t go over the top, it’s okay. It created an atmosphere, but everybody is going home safely, even Dougy who’s just a bit second hand and shaken.”
Sheffield team manager Simon Stead said: “Obviously as a group we’re disappointed to bow out, but the reaction from last Thursday was all you can ask. As the manager, as a supporter in the stands, they wanted us to come here and give it our best shot, and I think they can see that we gave it everything out there.
“This is always a tough place to come, and we know their riders are going particularly well at the moment – we saw that with how they rode at Sheffield last Thursday.
“We knew it was going to be a difficult task, but when the effort’s there you can’t ask for any more.
“We came up a little bit short, congratulations to Leicester and best wishes to them for the Final, but we now go again, and we concentrate on the league, and I think there’s plenty to build on.”
Ipswich boss Paul Hurry saw his side go 15-9 down on Northampton’s first visit to Foxhall as the Witches were caught out by track conditions.
He was pleased to see them fight back to win 47-43 and reach the Knockout Cup Final, inspired by a 12-point haul from Polish racer Tobiasz Musielak. Aussie ace Jaimon Lidsey impressed on 13 for the Foxes. Hurry insists there is more to come from his team. He said: “We all feel, and every one of them said, ‘There is still something we need to work on.’ Everyone went away thinking they are still chasing that goal, which is good.
“Team spirit is good, and everyone is happy. But everyone is still feeling there’s a little bit missing at the moment. We’ll see what happens and keep working on it. But onwards and upwards – we’re into a cup final! It was only our second home meeting, so to achieve that is really good. We can’t become too complacent. Now we move on to the league. This is when the serious business starts.
"The track was a little bit wetter to start with. The boys just thought the track was going to be grippier than it was. But no excuses – it’s the same for everyone. It’s our home track and once the boys got dialled in, they made improvements.”
IPSWICH TRU7 GROUP WITCHES 47: 1. Tom Brennan 5+1, 2. Danny King 9+1, 3. Richard Lawson 6+1, 4. Scott Nicholls 6+1, 5. Tobiasz Musielak 12, 6. Philip Hellstrom-Bangs 5+1, 7. Jason Edwards 4+2.
NORTHAMPTON FOXES 43: 1. Jaimon Lidsey 13, 2. Troy Batchelor 3+1, 3. Matej Zagar 8+1, 4 Niels-Kristian Iversen R/R, 5. Nicolai Klindt 6, 6. Kye Thomsen 10+1, 7. Luke Harrison 3+1.
LEICESTER LIONS 46: Dan Thompson 11+1, Kyle Howarth 10+1, Nick Morris 6+1, Sam Masters 6, Joe Thompson 5+3, Drew Kemp 5, Ryan Douglas 3.
SHEFFIELD TIGERS 44: Jack Holder 15+1, Josh Pickering 9+2, Leon Flint 7, Anders Rowe 6, Chris Holder 5, Luke Killeen 2+1, Jye Etheridge 0.