Belle Vue Aces v Sheffield Tigers

Report

BELLE Vue sent out a serious statement of intent to their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off rivals with an impressive 54-36 win over Sheffield at the National Speedway Stadium.

Brady Kurtz scored a 15-point maximum for the Aces in front of a bumper Bank Holiday crowd, as the home side only just fell short of the mark required for the aggregate point after a 20-point defeat at Owlerton earlier this month.

Kurtz was backed up by 10+2 from Dan Bewley and strong contributions in the middle order, whilst reserve Tate Zischke gained two confidence-boosting race wins.

Jack Holder scored 13 for the Tigers with his efforts in Heats 11-13, where he took two wins and a second place, ensuring the visitors would add to their points total.

Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “We always know these War of the Roses clashes will be hotly contested.

“We lost the aggregate point, which is disappointing. But we gave them a pretty good shake-up to miss out by just two points.

“When you win a meeting by 18 points you generally get the bonus. We’ve still got work to do, but there were some really encouraging signs today.”

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “Credit where it’s deserved, Belle Vue were on fire making great starts and making us work really hard.

“The fact that we did such a good job on them at our place goes to show how important that is in getting the aggregate point.

“But we draw a line under this one because anything can happen, and at the end of the day it’s one bad meeting.”

BELLE VUE 54: Brady Kurtz 15, Dan Bewley 10+2, Zach Cook 9+1, Jaimon Lidsey 8+1, Tate Zischke 7, Norick Blodorn 4+1, Jake Mulford 1.
SHEFFIELD 36: Jack Holder 13, Leon Flint 6+1, Josh Pickering 5, Chris Holder 4, Nick Morris 3+1, Jye Etheridge3, Anders Rowe 2+1.
Sheffield win the aggregate point

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Photo credit: IAN CHARLES