It was a dominant display from Manchester’s speedway team, the Belle Vue Aces on Monday night as they showed skill away from home to beat play-off rivals the Ipswich Witches 52-38.
A night for 5-1 scorelines at the Foxhall Stadium, there were a total of nine throughout the match with the Aces crucially having the majority of the largest score possible in a heat.
The most impressive run came after Heat 9 where the Aces had a mighty 4 5-1s in a row stretching their lead from only a 2 point game to an insurmountable 18.
It was Peter Kildemand who was the star of the night in his final season before retirement. The 37 year old rode to a score of 11+1 with teammates Jason Doyle not far behind on 10 at his old home track and captain Brady Kurtz picking up 10+1.
Not without a fight, Witches rider Tobias Musielak led the scoring for the home side with a haul of 10 points.
Recounting the night, Aces gaffer Mark Lemon said: “It went better than expected. Obviously in play-off speedway you know it’s going to be a tough challenge for the boys.”
“But we were here less than a fortnight ago and we pretty much got off to the same start as last time and finished strong. We just rode the track really well.”
“The boys have had a lot of confidence building up over the course of the season, and once again that was evident tonight.”
On the other side of the pits, the Witches boss said: “They just weren’t reacting out of the start. Tobi was and Danny (King) gave it his all. So did Tom Brennan. But when Belle Vue have two current GP riders in their team and another former GP winner, they raise the bar that much higher.”
“We didn’t have the manpower to do it. I’m not saying they’re not capable of doing it; they all are.”
“We have said that all the way along this season. At the end of the day, we were just beaten by a better side.”
It is now all eyes to next week and the return leg at the National Speedway Stadium. Ipswich will have to come and overturn a 15 point margin. A difficult feat at a shaleway where the Aces have remained unbeaten in the league all season.
Ipswich Witches – 32
1. Richard Lawson (3), 2. Scott Nicholls (6+1), 3. Danny King (9), 4. Tom Brennan (6+1), 5. Tobias Musielak (10), 6. Kevin Juhl Pedersen (3+1), 7. Jason Edwards (1+1)
Belle Vue Aces – 58
1. Brady Kurtz (9+1), 2. Norick Blodorn (6+1), 3. Peter Kildemand (11+1), 4. Zach Cook (4+2), 5. Jason Doyle (10), 6. Tate Zischke (8+3), 7. Will Cairns (4)