A tough night at the office saw the Belle Vue ‘Cool Running’ Colts fall just short at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, after going down 51-39 against the Leicester Lion Cubs.
Manchester’s finest made a promising start to their evening in the Midlands, opening with a strong offensive that saw them take a 6-point lead after four races.
But the reigning NDL champions responded with equal strength after the first track grade to first significantly narrow the deficit, before taking control themselves.
A closely contested battle ensued, with the Cool Running Colts making every effort to prevent the home team from making headway in the meeting.
And it wasn’t until the later stages of the night that they managed to do so, ultimately taking the overall victory and the two league points on offer.
Colts co-boss Graham Goodwin said: “The track was quite wet to begin with because of the amount of water that had been put down due to the heat of the day.
“That caught the Lion Cubs off guard early doors and was something we were able to capitalise on to get an early lead, but there were other challenges that ultimately went against us.
“The sun beating down onto turns three and four caused a problem for both sides and it did cause the meeting to be a little bit stop-start, which it made it tough to get into a rhythm.
“But it was the same for both sides and there were a few incidents that also caused problems for us, for example in Heat 2 when Luke Muff fell, and Paul Bowen laid it down while on a 5-1.
“Paul, unfortunately, hurt his ankle in that incident but the rest of the boys rallied him for the re-run, and he went out there and won the race. I mean, overall, we can’t grumble.
“We’re 12 points down on aggregate which is a good position for us in terms of the aggregate bonus, and the attitude of the boys was, again, exemplary.
“Not once did they let their heads drop. They battled on right to the end and put everything they had into their performance and that, for us, was very pleasing to see.”
The ATPI Aces are back in action at the National Speedway Stadium this Monday, June 5 when they take on the Ipswich Witches in Manchester, tapes up 7:30pm.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes, south stand parking and hospitality are now available to pre-book online at bellevue-speedway.com.
RESULT – LEICESTER V BELLE VUE – SATURDAY, JUNE 3 @ 7PM [NDL]
Leicester ‘Watling JCB’ Lion Cubs 51: Joe Thompson 15, Ashton Boughen 9, Max Perry 8+1, Tom Spencer 7+1, Adam Roynon 6+2, Max James 5+1, Kai Ward 1+1.
Belle Vue ‘Cool running’ Colts 39: James Pearson 9+1, Sam Hagon 8+1, Jack Smith 8, Matt Marson 5, Freddy Hodder 3+2, Luke Muff 3+2, Paul Bowen 3.
Image: Ian Charles