A challenging night at Owlerton saw Belle Vue struggle to gain a foothold on the Sheffield Tigers, with the hosts taking a 54-36 win over the ATPI Aces.
The reigning League Champions were a dominant force right from the off, taking three heat advantages to put them 10 points ahead 14-4 going into heat 4.
Triple British Champion Dan Bewley responded with Connor Bailey to gain a 2-4 in favour of the visitors, but that was quickly quashed by the Tru7 Group Tigers.
With Brady Kurtz still absent with torn ligaments in his right ankle, the club called on British No.4 Chris Harris to deputise at No.1 for the night.
It was far from the result the ATPI Aces were seeking, with Bewley shining for the club with 16 points from six rides, while Haris and Jaimon Lidsey followed up with 5 points each.
Bewley said: “I honestly don’t know what happened. The boys really like Sheffield, it’s an awesome track to ride but we just didn’t seem to get going at all and it just wasn’t our night.
“In the past, we’ve been able to carry each other but it’s one meeting. It’s not ideal because we want to win them all so we are disappointed with the result.
“It was awesome to have Chris [Harris] with us but I think we are missing Brady quite a bit now so hopefully it won’t be long before he is back with us.
“I had a pretty decent night but at the same time I’ve had poor nights here as well, and our away form is something we absolutely need to work on in the second half of the year.
“We’re all capable, we know we’re capable but now we really have to prove it and action it.”
The Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces take to the shale at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday, June 24 against the Leicester Lions, commencing the second half of their top flight campaign.
Meeting tickets, race day programmes, hospitality and south stand parking are now available to pre-book online at bellevue-speedway.com/events.
RESULT – SHEFFIELD V BELLE VUE – THURSDAY, JUNE 20 @ 7:30PM [P1]
Sheffield ‘Tru7 Group’ Tigers 54: Chris Holder 13, Jack Holder 11, Tai Woffinden 8, Kyle Howarth 7+2, Dan Gilkes 7+1, Josh Pickering 5, Jason Edwards 3+1.
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces 36: Dan Bewley 16, Chris Harris 5, Jaimon Lidsey 5, Norick Blodorn 4+1, Ben Cook 3+1, Connor Mountain 2, Connor Bailey 1.
Aggregate Score: Sheffield 89-61 Belle Vue
Image: ©Belle Vue Speedway