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| |  | BIRMINGHAM have it all to do in their Knockout Cup Semi-Final after a disappointing 46-44 home defeat against depleted Ipswich.
The Curtis Sport Brummies let an eight point lead slip despite the visitors only being with three of their regular riders.
The hosts got off to a lively start when Tom Brennan and Wiktor Lampart opened with a 4-2 before Piotr Pawlicki took the chequered flag in a share of the spoils in Heat Two.
The Pole then came in as a replacement for Zach Cook in Heat Three, who had been disqualified for touching the tapes, and he led home ahead of Justin Sedgmen for a first 5-1 of the night.
The visitors responded with a maximum of their own in Heat Four before back-to-back 4-2s saw the Brummies re-establish a six point lead.
Successive shared races followed before Sedgmen rode superbly to keep Emil Sayfutdinov at bay as he and Cook got the 4-2 that created the eight point gap.
But 5-1s from the Witches in Heats 10 and 13 saw the reigning holders draw level.
Sedgmen recorded a third win of the night in Heat 14 - but Sam Ermolenko’s decision to replace Pawlicki with the struggling Leon Flint didn’t pay off with the Rising Star finish at the back and the scores tied at 42-42.
Sedgmen made another beautiful getaway in the last heat decider before another stunning ride from Sayfutdinov saw the stand-in Ipswich skipper hit the front - and with Norick Blodorn getting the better of Brennan, the Witches had done enough to take a two point lead back to Suffolk for Thursday’s second leg.
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP S/F, 1st leg
BIRMINGHAM 44: Justin Sedgmen 15+1, Piotr Pawlicki 10+2, Tom Brennan 9, Zach Cook 5+1, Wiktor Lampart 4, Leon Flint 1+1, Steve Worrall R/R.
IPSWICH 46: Emil Sayfutdinov 15+1, Keynan Rew 13+2, Norick Blodorn 12+1, Jordan Jenkins 4+1, Scott Nicholls 2, Freddy Hodder 0, Jason Doyle R/R.
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