Leicester Lions returned to winning ways with a 48-44 success over Ipswich Witches at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium on Sunday.
After three consecutive away defeats, the Lions will have been pleased to get some Premier League points on the board.
However, they must be kicking themselves for not taking a maximum three-point haul after being 46-34 ahead with just two heats to go.
Credit to Ipswich for battling back with two 5-1s to gain a losing bonus point but this was a missed opportunity for the Harry Jordan Haulage-sponsored Lions.
Early rain, which turned to drizzle, appeared to give the Lions an edge over the visitors.
The opening heat set the agenda when Ben Barker made up for a sluggish start to pass Leicester's pairing and, with team partner Ritchie Hawkins in third, Ipswich were all set to take the lead until Jan Graversen passed Hawkins on the final bend.
The second race took three attempts to complete due to a double exclusion for the two Ipswich reserves.
It meant Simon Nielsen and James Sarjeant were able to cruise around for five gift points, although Sarjeant set the home fans' nerves on edge by falling, only to remount to finish the race.
Lasse Bjerre, who had flown in that day from competing in the World Under-21 qualifier in Poland, was at his daring best to catch Morten Risager on the exit of the fourth bend to win heat three.
The momentum continued with Magnus Karlsson, Kevin Doolan and Jan Graversen winning the next three heats to put Lions 26-9 ahead.
Ipswich made their second attempt for double points in heat eight and Cameron Heeps won by a comfortable margin to bank a 7-2.
On the face of it, there was still no cause for concern in the pits for Lions. Karlsson had the measure of Barker in heat 11 before the Ipswich rider fell and, with Nielsen finishing second, Leicester were 12 points ahead with four heats remaining.
The points were shared in heats 12 and 13 but then Heeps and Risager both out-gated the Leicester pairing in the penultimate race. Worse was to come for the home side in the final race when Karlsson fell attempting to overtake on the outside of bend two.
Bjerre tried all racing lines to find a way past the Ipswich riders but his endeavours came to an abrupt halt when he collided with the safety fence on the exit of turn four.
Leicester 48: Kauko Nieminen 6+1, Jan Graversen 8+1, Lasse Bjerre 10+1, Kevin Doolan 7+2, Magnus Karlsson 10+1, Simon Nielsen 5+1, James Sarjeant 2+1.
Ipswich 44: Ben Barker 9, Ritchie Hawkins 2, Rohan Tungate 4, Morten Risager 11+2, Leigh Lanham 2+1, Adam Ellis 4+1, Cameron Heeps 12.
