Belle Vue Aces v Sheffield Tigers

Report

BELLE Vue returned to form and turned the tables on Sheffield with a 54-36 victory in their latest Roses battle in Manchester.

The scores were close at the halfway stage with only two points between the sides, but the Aces were much the stronger side in the closing part of the meeting.

Dan Bewley led the way with a paid maximum (14+1) and skipper Steve Worrall put his Bank Holiday problems behind him with 12.

British Champion Adam Ellis scored 11 for the Tigers, who were in no mood to celebrate despite King’s Lynn’s defeat at Wolverhampton securing the Owlerton side’s place in the play-offs.

Worrall said: “I think we sent out a big statement tonight with this performance. Everyone in the team clicked which is something we’ve been lacking at home this year.

“But all the lads pulled their weight. It’s a massive confidence boost, especially after last week, and this just proves that we belong in the play-offs.”

Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “Not good enough, simple as that. We were beaten by a better team and it’s disappointing, I’m left frustrated again.

“They were better than us and I’m not going to offer any excuses, we just weren’t good enough.

“We need to lift ourselves for Thursday when we go to King’s Lynn, and we know the areas of the team where we didn’t perform as we should expect.”

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Photo credit: IAN CHARLES