Belle Vue To Face Ipswich In Play Off Semi-Final

Belle Vue will face Ipswich in the Premiership Play Off Semi-Finals – home leg on October 3 – following their 57-33 defeat at Sheffield on Thursday night.

The ATPI Aces travelled to Owlerton Stadium safe in the knowledge that their top four position was secure, while also aware that their actions would influence the overall finishing order of the top four.

Already missing Max Fricke, who was side-lined after a nasty incident in the Swedish GP at the weekend, the Mancunians set to work against a full-strength TruPlant Tigers side. 

With the weather closing in, both teams weren’t beating about the bush but it was the home side who were quickest to dial in and take control of proceedings.

And despite a valiant offensive, the ATPI Aces had no answer to the might of their War of the Roses rival and, on this occasion, had to settle for second best.

Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “The boys rode their hearts out tonight but I think, in places, we were definitely missing Max’s [Fricke], influence.

“While this result doesn’t affect our position as regards to the top four, we approach every meeting with the intention of winning and we are disappointed to have fallen short.

“But at the same time we now know where to shift our focus, and our focus now turns to our Premiership Semi-Final against Ipswich in just over a week’s time.

“We’ve been saying for a while that we’re not overly concerned about whom we meet in the semi-finals and I think the boys are quite looking forward to this one.

“With that said, we’re not about to take anyone for granted. We’re move into the business end of the season now, the slate is wiped clean and everything that came before is irrelevant.” 

The ATPI Aces will face Ipswich on Monday, October 3 when the Premiership Play Offs arrive at Manchester’s National Speedway Stadium. 

Meeting tickets, hospitality, race day programmes and stadium parking are now available to reserve online at bellevue-speedway.com. 

Pictures by Ian Charles