Sheffield Tigers with 'no complaints' as Belle Vue Aces run out Grand Final winners
SHEFFIELD TIGERS boss Simon Stead said there were no complaints after his team were well-beaten by Belle Vue Aces in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final.
Trailing 47-43 from the first leg at Owlerton on Monday, the Tigers were up against it when they headed over to the National Speedway Stadium on Friday night looking to overturn the deficit.
In the end, they struggled throughout, losing the second leg 53-37 as the Aces ran out 100-80 aggregate winners.
Stead said: “I think a silver medal is probably as good as we could’ve hoped for with the season that Belle Vue have had; they’ve been absolutely unbelievable all season and credit to them.
“They’ve been at the top all year and you can’t take anything away from them.
“After a positive opening couple of races, it quickly got away from us and of course we’re disappointed.
“We can’t really have too many complaints; it’s a shame we couldn’t run Belle Vue closer than we did but as I said, we’ve been beaten by the better team and that’s just how it is.”
The Tigers made an encouraging start when Anders Rowe and guest Max Fricke kept home No.1 Brady Kurtz at the back in a shared opener, before a 5-1 from Luke Killeen and Jye Etheridge in Heat Two levelled the scores overall.
But the hosts immediately hit back with a maximum of their own in the first of seven straight races to be won by a home rider with five of those resulting in advantages.
Fricke ended that run in Heat 11 before Aces guest Nicolai Klindt mathematically confirmed Belle Vue as Champions with three races to spare.
Belle Vue Aces - 53: Nicolai Klindt 11+1, Jason Doyle 11, Norick Blodorn 10+2, Zach Cook 10+1, Brady Kurtz 8+1, Tate Zischke 3+1, Will Cairns 0.
Sheffield Tigers – 37: Josh Pickering 8+1, Luke Killeen 7+2, Max Fricke 6+2, Chris Holder 6, Anders Rowe 5, Jye Etheridge 3+2, Leon Flint 2.
Belle Vue win 100-80 on aggregate.