LEICESTER opened their home campaign with a 50-40 Knockout Cup win over Belle Vue – although the aggregate point proved a step too far after a larger defeat earlier in the day in Manchester.
The Watling JCB Lions were beaten 57-33 at the National Speedway Stadium giving them a mountain to climb to win overall across the day, with the brilliance of Dan Bewley proving the difference for the Aces.
That said, the Lions will be pleased with a very solid home performance with last places kept to a minimum and clearly more to come from several riders.
The midday meeting threw up an encouraging start with Ryan Douglas and Drew Kemp winning the first two races – but remarkably those proved to be the Lions’ only two successes of the meeting.
Youngster Will Cairns notched a surprise 5-1 with Bewley in Heat 4 over Leicester skipper Sam Masters, and the margin went above ten points when Kyle Howarth was disqualified from Heat 7 for bringing down Tate Zischke.
When Peter Kildemand and Zach Cook collected maximum points over Masters and Kemp in Heat 9, the Aces’ lead was up to 16 points, before the Lions pegged matters with three successive shared heats.
However, an attempt to claw points back in Heat 12 was thwarted when Peter Kildemand defeated Douglas who was taking a tactical substitute ride, and it was the Aces who came up with a big finish.
They took advantages in each of the last three races, including a 5-1 in Heat 14, whilst Bewley completed his maximum with a late passing move on Douglas in Heat 15.
Back at home in the evening, the Lions suffered an early setback when Douglas fell on the third bend of Heat 1 and Aces guests Tom Brennan and Jonas Jeppesen raced to a 5-1 in the re-run.
But Joe Thompson and Drew Kemp hit back in Heat 2 after Tate Zischke had come to grief, and a 5-1 from Nick Morris and Howarth in Heat 5 put them ahead for the first time.
Bewley received good support from Kildemand, who won Heats 3 and 7, but Dan Thompson produced an excellent move to squeeze inside Jeppesen on the third bend of Heat 8 to put the Lions six-up.
The lead could have been extended in Heat 9 only for Bewley to superbly pass Howarth and Morris on laps three and four respectively, but Douglas and Thompson did card a 5-1 in Heat 10 to take the Lions clear.
Masters and Kemp backed that up with another fine maximum in Heat 11, but any lingering thoughts of the aggregate point went away when Bewley came into Heat 12 as a tactical substitute and partnered Kildemand to a 5-1.
The Aces’ stand-in skipper then produced two more terrific rides, appreciated by the large crowd, as he got the better of Douglas and Masters from the back in Heat 13, and shot between Howarth and Masters to win Heat 15, although the Lions’ win on the night was already in the bag.
Douglas said: “We just wanted the win, it’s early days in the season and to get the win is nice. A few of us know we can still be better, but we can get rid of a few cobwebs and hopefully move forward from here.
“I haven’t ridden a tighter track like this for a while and in Heat 1 I saw the gap and probably got halfway into it and realised it was a bit ambitious!
“But I sorted it out and felt like I started to get something working better in the end, so it’s going in the right direction.
“I’m No.1 at the minute and I feel I can do a job, and I know Sam can do a job against anyone around here. We’ll concentrate on doing our best, and if we work as a team we can definitely take it to anyone.”
With two points on the board in the KO Cup section, the Lions’ destiny will be decided in the upcoming matches against Sheffield, starting at Owlerton a week on Thursday (April 16).
LEICESTER 50: Sam Masters 9+2, Kyle Howarth 8+3, Nick Morris 8, Dan Thompson 7+2, Drew Kemp 6+4, Kyle Howarth 6+3, Ryan Douglas 6+1, Joe Thompson 6.
BELLE VUE 40: Dan Bewley 17+1, Peter Kildemand 10, Jonas Jeppesen 6, Tom Brennan 3+1, Zach Cook 3, Will Cairns 1, Tate Zischke 0.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point
