Photo: Ian Charles A full house at Belle Vue watch (l-r) Jack Smith (Blue), Nathan Greaves (Yellow/Black) Steve Worrall (Red) and Kyle Howarth (White) leave the start Belle Vue 'Rentruck' Aces v Wolverhampton "Parrys International' Wolves, SGP Premiership, 14 April 2017

It’s a case of third-time lucky for the Belle Vue Aces as they now prepare to stage the second leg of their play of semi-final on Friday, September 29; just days before the running of the Grand Final.

An inclement weather forecast on Wednesday night resulted in club officials taking the early decision to postpone the original rescheduled date, after the original fixture was also washed out.

The Parrys International Wolves bring a 13-point advantage from the first leg at Monmore Green, but they remain short of Jacob Thorssell who has a confirmed fractured T12 vertebrae.

They will operate Rider Replacement at No.4 while the Rentruck Aces do likewise for Max Fricke at No.3, with Colts powerhouse Rob Shuttleworth taking the place of the injured Jack Smith at No.7.

Club No.6 Dan Bewley said: “We’re so pumped up for this meeting. Everyone is so anxious to get back on track because we know that, at full strength, it’s well within our abilities to pull this back.

“Wolves really gave us a hammering on Monday but, over two legs, we’ve proved we’re a tough team to beat so this is far from over, and we’ve got a lot to prove when we do finally meet.

“Whatever happens, its going to be an epic semi-final but after three years of chasing gold we want to realise our ambitions of being Premiership champions, and we’re fired up to make that happen.”

At the same time, the Belle Vue Colts will launch their National League Play Off campaign against Lakeside in Purfleet, where they hope to make an impression ahead of the return leg onOctober 6.

The Cool Running Colts have enjoyed an unblemished home record at the National Speedway Stadium and have been one of the strongest performing teams away from Manchester.

They are determined to put those credentials to good use, even despite being without top guns Dan Bewley, Lee Payne and Jack Smith, to build a healthy margin over their title contending rivals.

Team boss Steve Williams said: “This is a two-legged meeting so we’ll need to draw on every ounce of our strength in the first leg to ensure we give ourselves a fighting chance at home.

“Lakeside aren’t here to make up the numbers. They’re a good team with tremendous ambition and us likewise. But you don’t win a title on merit and our boys know they have two tough nights ahead.

“It’s going to be tough without Dan, and with Jack and Lee both out injured it means we’ve had to bring in a couple of guests. But in putting our faith in them, we hope to achieve the result we want.”

Words: Hayley Bromley,Image: Ian Charles

Tickets are available for Friday’s rearranged Premiership semi-final at www.bellevueaces.co, while ticket information on next week’s National League semi-final second leg will soon be available

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