Sheffield Tigers v Belle Vue Aces

Report

BELLE Vue are through to their third top-flight Grand Final in four years after getting the better of rivals Sheffield in a tense semi-final this week.

The Aces will battle it out with Leicester for the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership title after a 91-89 aggregate win over the defending champions.

They led by 12 points heading into the second leg at Owlerton and defended superbly, with the aggregate gap never falling below six points until they became mathematically uncatchable.

Skipper Brady Kurtz pulled off a big ride to defeat Jack Holder and guest Chris Harris in Heat 13, and reserve Antti Vuolas then held his nerve to take second place in the penultimate race to seal the Aces’ progression.

However, their victory was marred by a heavy crash for Ben Cook in Heat 10, with the Australian rider taken to hospital.

Kurtz and Dan Bewley both scored ten points for the Aces whilst Harris (12+1) and Josh Pickering (11) led the way for the Tigers.

Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “The rivalry between us is huge, and the boys really dug deep to come out on top.

“We knew how tough Sheffield are, they’ve been superb all year and credit to them, and it’s harsh that someone has to lose and their season is over.

“But we can fight another day and take on Leicester, and we look forward to that challenge, although my thoughts are with Ben, I hope he’s good. None of us want to see an accident like that.”

The Aces will host the first leg of the Grand Final against Leicester on Monday (September 23) with the return in the East Midlands on Thursday September 26.

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF, SEMI-FINAL, 2ND LEG
SHEFFIELD 50: Chris Harris 12+1, Josh Pickering 11, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Chris Holder 6+1, Jack Holder 5+4, Dan Gilkes 5, Jason Edwards 2+1.
BELLE VUE 40: Dan Bewley 10, Brady Kurtz 10, Jaimon Lidsey 9, Antti Vuloas 7, Ben Cook 2+1, Norick Blodorn 1+1, Jake Mulford 1.
Belle Vue win 91-89 on aggregate

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Photo credit: IAN CHARLES