Belle Vue closed the gap on league leaders Swindon and Wolverhampton to just 1 point after a sterling 50-40 win over the CFS Filtration Robins at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday.
There were no easy races for the Rentruck Aces, particularly with the reigning league champions setting out their intentions right from the start by hitting the home team with a 5-1 right off the bat.
But the Mancunians proved just as feisty and were quick to respond to even the score in Heat 2, and from there it was a case of fiercely defending what little advantage they established.
Try as they might, Alun Rossiter’s men were never able to retake the lead once they lost it early doors which enabled Belle Vue to preserve their unbeaten home record live on BT Sport.
Rohan Tungate topped the score charts with an impressive 11+3 from his five appearances but sat out of Heat 15 after clutch problems plagued his machinery, prevented him from going out.
It left the task of stopping Swindon from claiming a consolation point to Dan Bewley and Max Fricke, with the former producing another of his “Bewley Specials” to seal the deal.
Club No.1 Craig Cook said: “We expected nothing less of Swindon. They’re the reigning league champions and they’ve started this year in brilliant form so it was a classic Robins performance.
“They certainly made us work for our points. They gave us something to think about pretty quickly which forced us to respond likewise, and from there it was a case of staying one step ahead.
“It’s not an easy thing to do but our boys dug deep and rose to the challenge. Dan [Bewley] and Jye [Etheridge] were fantastic, Rohan [Tungate] was awesome. All the boys did their bit.
“We do still have some work to do in terms of getting everybody firing at once but we’re getting there. We’re settling down at home and so we’ll be looking to replicate our home form away.”
Words: Hayley Bromley,Images: Ian Charles
The Rentruck Aces return home to the National Speedway Stadium next Monday, May 21 to face off against Norfolk rivals the King’s Lynn Stars.
Tickets for this fixture are now available online at www.bellevueaces.co, and at the stadium box office on race night.
