Victory for the Aces in the War of the Roses
The Belle Vue Aces have come away from the ROWE Oil Premiership with a 100% home win streak after a dominant 53-37 victory over the visiting Sheffield Tigers.
Close for the first half of the contest the score sat at 25-23 after Heat 9 but a string of 5-1 heats for the Aces saw them run clear to a 14 point match.
This finishes their normal season, before the play-offs kick off (dates to be announced), at the top of the table - 12 points clear of the Leicester Lions in second.
It was a star night for a host of Aces riders, particularly the Aussies as Jason Doyle (11+1), Brady Kurtz (11), and Zach Cook (11) rode home with double figures.
It wasn’t without contest however as the Tigers put up a fight with guest Ben Cook (10) who normally rides for the Kings Lynn Stars and Tigers captain Josh Pickering (11) raking in some strong points albeit to no avail.
Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “It’s been a fantastic job by the boys. To top the table is a mighty effort, they’ve been solid all season, and the confidence is really there for everyone to see."
“Again tonight we worked hard behind the scenes because the conditions were slightly different and the bikes weren’t working how they normally would."
“The boys found it quicker than Sheffield which is a fundamental bonus to our riders that they were pretty dialled in and knew what they were doing.”
Brady Kurtz did say during an interview over the PA that the shale was sparse in the high lines that he is accustomed to riding; but this didn’t seem to hinder his abilities as the currently placed 3rd in the world championship rider won three of his 4 heats.
On the other side, Sheffield’s manager Simon Stead said: “The way it got away from us in the second half of the meeting was disappointing but trying to focus on some positives, it does show that we can keep it close and push them here if we look at that first half with an eye on the play-offs."
“Ben stepped in and did a good job, but we were lacking in a couple of places.”
The Aces are yet to find out their opponents or their schedule for the play-offs, but with the announcement coming soon, all will be revealed.
Belle Vue Aces - 53
1. Brady Kurtz (11), 2. Norick Blodorn (3+1), 3. Peter Kildemand (5+1), 4. Zach Cook (11), 5. Jason Doyle (11+1), 6. Tate Zischke (8+1), 7. Will Cairns (4)
Sheffield Tigers - 37
1. Ben Cook (10), 2. Anders Rowe (3+1), 3. Chris Holder (5). 4. Leon Flint (3), 5. Josh Pickering (11), 6. Jye Etheridge (2), 7. Luke Killeen (3)
Comments