Belle Vue are far from daunted at the prospect of recovering the 14-point deficit imposed on them by Somerset in leg one of their Premiership KOC semi-final, insisting it’s a manageable margin.
The Rentruck Aces endured a frustrating evening plagued by mechanical problems at the Oaktree Arena last Wednesday which has left them playing catch up ahead of the decider in Manchester.
The aggregate scores stand at 52-38 in favour of the Rebels, who have been hitting good form lately, but there’s confidence in the Belle Vue camp that it’s far from over ahead of the home leg.
The visitors line up at full strength and are targeting a similar performance to that which they put in two weeks ago when the Rentruck Aces narrowly won at the National Speedway Stadium.
Meanwhile the home team continue to run R/R for Dan Bewley at No.2, with Jonas B. Andersen stepping in to cover for Mark Riss at No.6 following his decision to finish his season early.
Team No.3 Steve Worrall said: “We start things off with work to do but it’s far from impossible. Ideally we wanted things to be a little closer but it is what it is and that’s what we’re working with.
“We know what Somerset are capable of at our place so we do air on the side of caution. But we’re still very much in the hunt and I see no reason why anyone can possibly rule us out.
“It’s still anyone’s game at this point and we’re a strong team at home. The lads are fired up and we don’t need anymore motivation that the want to defend our Knock Out Cup trophy.”
Words: Hayley Bromley,Images: Ian Charles
Fans are urged to turn out in force for this and all remaining key fixture to be the team’s eighth man, with their play off campaign commencing with a visit from King’s Lynn on September 24.
They then head to Norfolk for leg two at the Adrian Flux Arena on October 1. Tickets for both home fixtures are available at www.bellevueaces.co and at the stadium box office on race night.
