The Witches were without their two star riders, former world champion Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov, because of injury.
Keynan Rew was Ipswich’s main contributor with 14, while Jason Pickering – named beforehand by Witches promoter Chris Louis as a big threat to the team’s chances – scored 14+2 for the Tigers.
Ipswich now face a two-leg play-off against Leicester Lions – who they beat in the Cup quarter-finals – after qualifying for the Premiership title play-offs by finishing fourth.
“Everyone wrote us off (against Sheffield) but they didn’t write themselves off and it’s the sort of performance we can take heart from. We’ll come back on Monday and try and get in another play-off final,” Hawkins added.
“We’ve won at Leicester a lot (in) the last couple of years. We need to attack from the off like we did Sheffield and then keep the ball rolling – but the improvement was massive on the last few weeks.”
The Witches have not won British speedway’s league title since 1998.
