Ipswich Witches raced to another comfortable victory when they defeated Coventry Bees 52-38 in the Craven Shield - a meeting marred by a series of crashes.

By far the most frightening was in heat 14 when Coventry's Danish star Brian Andersen and the Witches' Ben Howe tangled as they left the start and were sent cart-wheeling towards the first corner.

There was silence as both riders lay motionless, but after a short while a groggy-looking Howe was able to get back to his feet and take his place in the re-run.

Andersen though was not so fortunate and was taken to hospital with a suspected broken collar bone.

For the second successive meeting home skipper Chris Louis was unbeaten by an opponent, although he also tumbled in the final heat.

A re-start with all four riders was declared with Louis following home team-mate Tomasz Gollob for a Witches 5-1, ahead of former world champion Greg Hancock.

It was another solid showing from the Witches with co-promoter Magda Louis expressing her delight with the team's performance.

She said: "Chris was again magnificent whilst Tomasz suffered with his machinery in a couple of races.

"I would though like to single out both Tony (Svab) and Brett (Woodfield) who are both doing great jobs for us."

After two home wins the Witches face a big test on Monday when they travel to Wolverhampton for their first away fixture.

Ipswich scorers - Chris Louis 13+1, Savalas Clouting 6, Tony Svab 9, Ben Howe 5+1, Tomasz Gollob 12, Jason Bunyan 2+2, Brett Woodfield 5+2.

Coventry: Greg Hancock 12, Shaun Tacey 4+1, Brian Andersen 6, Charlie Gjedde 1, Andreas Jonsson 4+1, Stuart Robson 8, Rene Madsen 3+1.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.