Sheffield Tigers v Belle Vue Aces

SHEFFIELD secured the aggregate point from their Roses clashes with Belle Vue on Bank Holiday Monday, whilst a home win meant the Aces remained top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership table.

The injury-hit Manchester side fought back from six points down to take the honours at lunchtime 50-40 for a fourth successive league victory.

The Tigers turned the tables at Owlerton with a 54-36 result, although that didn’t fully reflect the meeting as the gap was just four points with four heats to go before the hosts came up with a big finish.

Guest Jaimon Lidsey (10+2), Brady Kurtz (10+1) and Zach Cook (10) all reached double figures for the Aces at lunchtime, with Chris Holder putting in a vintage display for the visitors with 16 from six rides.

The return fixture saw Jack Holder score a paid maximum (14+1), and both he and skipper Josh Pickering (12+2) battled past Kurtz in an excellent Heat 15. Cook, with 9+1, was top scorer for the Aces.

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “We were disappointed not to take advantage of Belle Vue’s situation in the away meeting with them missing three of their regular line-up – but we headed back to Sheffield knowing we’d got an opportunity to put things right quickly.

“It was another big crowd at Owlerton, the lads served up some outstanding passing moves and it’s another home win so we can’t ask for too much more really.”

Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “I thought it was a tenacious performance, and the guests came in and fitted in nicely.

“We were pretty happy with the ten-point victory at home considering we were six points down early on. We made some changes, the boys got dialled in and it was a good result.”

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1
SHEFFIELD 54: Jack Holder 14+1, Josh Pickering 12+2, Leon Flint 9+1, Jye Etheridge 8, Chris Holder 6+2, Anders Rowe 5, Freddy Hodder 0.
BELLE VUE 36: Zach Cook 9+1, Brady Kurtz 8, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6+1, Kye Thomson 5, Tate Zischke 4+1, Will Cairns 4+1, Justin Sedgmen 0.
Sheffield win the aggregate point

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Photo credit: MIA DURKIN