Wolverhampton Wolves v Belle Vue Aces

Report

WOLVERHAMPTON took four Sports Insure Premiership points to Belle Vue’s two after an epic day of racing between the top two in the league table.

The sides fought out a dramatic 45-45 draw in Manchester with the Aces winning a Super Heat, before Wolves edged the evening contest 46-44 at Monmore Green to take the aggregate point.

Belle Vue fought back from eight points down at home with Dan Bewley dominating the closing stages of the meeting – but he and Brady Kurtz were split by Ryan Douglas in Heat 15 to leave the scores level.
Douglas then won the Super Heat after another battle with Bewley but the crucial factor was third place, and Kurtz steamed around Luke Becker on the final bend to win it for the Aces.

The evening fixture in the Black Country saw Wolves race into a ten-point lead before once again being reeled in by their opponents.

Three advantages out of four for the Aces between Heats 11 and 14 took it down to a last-heat decider – and that’s where home skipper Sam Masters stepped up to the plate to keep Kurtz and Bewley at bay to seal victory on the night as well as the aggregate point.

Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It was tremendous entertainment. They were two really good top-flight matches.

“It was a good day all-round and we are really pleased. Sam Masters produced two captain’s rides in Heats 13 and 15 to get us over the line.

“We took four points and we’re very near the top of the league now.”

Bewley said: “Things were pretty tight for a while, especially in the morning fixture but we found a few things towards the end and we got a fantastic win.

“Similar kind of story for the team in the evening meeting. We didn’t maybe start out the best but as the night went on we got to grips with conditions and pulled things back.

“We gave ourselves a great shot of the win and the aggregate point but hats off to Sam. He knows the Monmore track better than most and it just wasn’t to be for us that time.”

WOLVERHAMPTON 46: Steve Worrall 11, Sam Masters 10+1, Luke Becker 9+1, Ryan Douglas 5+1, Zach Cook 5, Rory Schlein 4, Leon Flint 2+1.
BELLE VUE 44: Brady Kurtz 14+1, Charles Wright 8, Dan Bewley 7+1, Tom Brennan 6+1, Paco Castagna 5+1, Jaimon Lidsey 4, Jake Mulford 0.
Wolverhampton win aggregate point

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Photo credit: PAUL ROSE