Aces close in on Premiership title

Belle Vue are on the verge of claiming a third Premiership title in five years as the National Speedway Stadium prepares to stage its biggest ever domestic meeting on Friday (7.30pm).

The Aces go into the second leg of the Play-off Grand Final leading by 4 points after a stunning performance at Sheffield on Monday night saw them take the first leg 47-43.

A packed house is expected on Friday as the Aces look to end a 54-year wait to see the league trophy lifted on home shale.

Incredibly, every Aces league title since 1972 has come either at an away circuit or off-track due to results elsewhere.

But that could all end on Friday if the Aces can maintain their season-long 100% home record, which would be enough to secure the title.

Monday’s win was all the more impressive since Belle Vue had to overcome the blow of losing Danish star Peter Kildemand with a broken wrist sustained in a crash at Plymouth on Saturday.

With guest replacement options extremely limited, the Aces drafted in Northampton’s teenage reserve Mitch McDiarmid, although the youngster found the going a little tough, failing to score from his three rides.

But big guns Brady Kurtz and Jason Doyle led from the front magnificently, dropping just one point each, and combining in heats 13 and 15 to land huge 5-1 wins which turned the tie around and gave the Aces the lead at the halfway stage of the two-legged tie.

There were also top class displays from Zach Cook with 9 points, and Tate Zischke who battled away all night to score 7+1 points from six rides.

Sheffield started strongly with three 4-2 wins to open a 12-6 lead, which could have been worse. Kurtz had to pass Anders Rowe in heat 1, while Cook forced his way between the Sheffield pair to avoid a 5-1 in heat 3.

Doyle gave the Aces their first heat winner as they pegged back 2 points in heat 4, and things were back all square when Kurtz and Norick Blodorn claimed a maximum in the next.

Sheffield guest Max Fricke restored a two-point advantage for the home side in heat 6, but the Aces were happy to see the next three races shared 3-3. Cook and Zischke were again in the thick of the action, scrapping their way from the back in heat 7.

Fricke made it three wins out of three in heat 10, doubling the Tigers’ lead to 4, and a further 4-2 win in heat 12 stretched the advantage to six, giving the Yorkshire side hope that they could still build a useful lead to take to Manchester ahead of a crucial heat 13.

But it was Kurtz who made the gate, and he was soon joined by Doyle who blasted around the outside of the second bend to join the skipper in a maximum win, as the Aces unleashed a devastating finish to the meeting.

Cook completed a top-class night’s work winning heat 14, with Zischke battling his way past Leon Flint and levelling the scores to the delight of the large travelling Aces’ support.

All that was left was for Kurtz and Doyle to wrap up the meeting with a 5-1 which puts the Aces firmly in the driving seat for Friday’s second leg.

Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “We’ve never come into a play-off series without an injury hanging over our head, and this year turned out to be no different.”

“It was a hard one to swallow on Saturday night to lose Peter Kildemand, in his final year, but the boys just rallied and rode like they have done all season.”

“All of the boys, as a unit, feed off each other and the confidence is there to see – but the job is not done yet.”

“We have a four-point lead, but I’ve been in this game too long to take it for granted. Sheffield will come out fighting on Friday, but we know what we’ve got to do.”