Belle Vue were left to take stock of a tough night after going down 54-36 at King’s Lynn, and team boss Mark Lemon has called for a rapid response ahead of his side’s journey to Poole on Thursday.
The stakes were against the Rentruck Aces from the get-go at the Poultec Stars took control of the Premiership action, establishing a 12-point lead after seven heats while the visitors played catch-up.
Max Fricke and Kenneth Bjerre were the stand-out men for their side, scoring 12+1 and 10+1 respectively, while Dan Bewley offered last-gasp redemption by charging to victory in Heat 15.
Team boss Mark Lemon said: “There were no excuses tonight. The track was great, it rode really well but we just weren’t good enough. It’s very frustrating to find ourselves in this position once again.
“It was a tale of two teams for us on the night. One half were on fire and scoring well, but the rest had a poor night by their own high standards, and we know we can’t let this continue to happen.
“We can’t take anything away from King’s Lynn because they were the better team on the night. But we can’t keep sacrificing points on the road. We need to be picking them up at every opportunity.
“We had quite a frank team talk afterwards and laid down our expectations for Poole on Thursday. The boys know they need to deliver to their full potential if they want to make the Play Offs.”
The Cool Running Colts, meanwhile, enjoyed a stupendous evening at Kent as they charged through to the National League KOC Semi-Final after triumphing 43-45 and defending their aggregate lead.
It was a strong start for the visitors, who proved they had learned the lessons from their previous visit at Easter by taking the early advantage which the home team found difficult to counter.
After bringing the scores level with just two heats to go, Ben Rathbone and Ben Woodhull gave their team a shot at the win with a vital 4-2 in Heat 14, with Leon Flint completing the job in the final race.
Team boss Graham Goodwin said: “We had plenty of confidence in the boys to defend the 12-point lead we built up at home, but I don’t think we expected to come away with the win on the night!
“We’re always cautious when we travel but the lads were absolutely phenomenal. We knew the more heats we could share between us it was one less race where they could close the gap.
“By the time we got to Heat 13 we knew we had the aggregate win sealed, but the lads were determined to keep fighting to the end and that resilience won them the meeting overall.”
The Rentruck Aces head to Poole on Thursday, June 27 before the Pirates make the trip to Manchester on Monday, July 1 when the two sides clash at the National Speedway Stadium.
Tickets are available at the stadium box office on race night, or online at www.bellevue-speedway.com.
