In the words of the Backstreet Boys “Oh my God, we’re back again!” as for the fifth time in the playoff era, and a second straight season, the Belle Vue Aces find themselves in a yet another, Playoff Grand Final facing a new opponent in the Sheffield Tigers. After finals losses to Coventry, Poole, Wolves and Peterborough between 2005-2021, it sees the alternating ‘North and South’ trend continuing with the Tigers making the trip from over the Pennines.
Last Monday saw the the Aces booking their place in the final with a fairly one-sided semi against the Ipswich Witches by a overall score of 107-73, while new boy Robert Lambert recorded a 15-point maximum on home debut.
Playoff Final victories for Belle Vue are like ‘Chalk n Cheese’, ‘Ham and Pineapple’, and ‘Gravy on Pasta’ – they don’t go together. While the Aces have the second most playoff semi final leg wins behind Poole, it is their blind spot of finals or winning legs in finals that are there stumbling block. One could say that they are the Jimmy White of Speedway, by making finals and but then never getting over the hump of winning the title, that despite them finishing top of the league standings twice come playoffs but not going on to win.
In the four previous finals, Belle Vue have won only 25% of their legs (two out of eight legs) with wins over Wolves in the 2nd leg of the 2016 Grand Final; then last year in their home leg against Peterborough, of which they were very lucky to win in fairness. I’ve said on twitter that for me personally, I feel that this side is a very good set of individuals and maybe equal to the 2016 side to have rode at the NSS.
However, I think the 2021 side last year was a better ‘team unit’ compare to this years’ side, though on paper they don’t match up at all. The 2021 side was vastly were better on the road with only two meetings that they failed to take a point from away from home, whilst at home they lost to Wolves and Peterborough. This season they beaten a poor Peterborough side twice, and picked up a single point at Ipswich in a 47-43 defeat.
My controversial hot/bad take for some is – that this side based on past finals, is maybe one of the weakest Aces sides, which sounds mad to say when you have the likes of Lambert, Zagar, Kurtz in your side. But I judge it only how the other sides could performance home and away, and had a chance to win away from home, this side to me doesn’t give off the vibe that they could go to Sheffield and win. That said, with the previous teams, they have effectively ‘crapped the bed’ so to speak when they reached the Grand Final and froze on the big stage. So perhaps this year may bring change of luck?
In the four finals to date, the Aces have yet to put in a decent performance in any of their first legs. As the ties have pretty much been a case of them being virtually over by the end of the first meeting.
In 2005 the six man side lost 54-41 down at Coventry, to which they had to make up a 13pts deficit and would lose both legs. 2015 saw them ten down at home, before pulling it back and securing a late 46-46 draw with Poole, with the second leg going down to a last race decider and lost out 46-44. The next year they faced Wolves and were dead and buried by heat 5 of the first leg, as they trailed 21-9 and saw the tie over there and then, even though they won 50-42 at home. Last year the side lead by 10 pts after ten races in the opening leg, but then collapsed to just hold out for a two-point lead, before going on to get thrashed 51-39 in the away leg.
There are four riders in the side that have been losing finalists with the Aces in a playoff final: Matej Zagar twice (2015, 2016) Charles Wright, Jye Etheridge, Tom Brennan (all three in 2021). Robert Lambert was a losing finalist in 2018 with the King’s Lynn Stars, while Brady Kurtz has been a squad member of two teams that have reached the Grand Finals, with Poole back in 2018 and Belle Vue last year; but Kurtz has never ridden in a Playoff Final himself.
For the opposing side in the Sheffield Tigers, they were the bookies favourites at the start of the season with their strong lineup on paper, but like a few Aces sides in the past, titles aren’t won on paper. The Owlerton club have perhaps underachieved in the regular season despite finishing top of the standings and level on points with Ipswich, with the Tigers having more wins than that of the Witches by one match. Sheffield bossed their semi final against the Wolverhampton Wolves, as they destroyed the West Midlands side in the second leg by the score of 61-29 at Owlerton.
While the averages have Belle Vue 1.7 higher than Sheffield, there isn’t too much you’d say between them based on lineups. On their day, the top 3 heat leaders on both sides can be world beaters, but on other days they can have stinkers too. Ellis and Holder have had a few bad meetings for the Tigers, with the flip having Fricke and Zagar and Kurtz having shockers too.
What is interesting is splitting the heat leaders scores from the second string & reserves in the six meetings this year. Looking at the numbers, Sheffield’s top 3 outscored the Aces top 3 156-146; while at second string and reserves, Belle Vue came out on top 124-117, albeit there was rider replacement involved for both sides too. If you look solely at the reserves berths, then the Aces pairing of Jye Etheridge and Norick Blodorn outscored Connor Mountain and Justin Sedgmen 23-20 over the three meetings.
Both sides have their own style, as for Belle Vue they are a team of racers who love the big wide open tracks; For Sheffield, they have an excellent team of gaters and makes trying to pass them is hard for any opponent especially at Owlerton. Matches against Sheffield for me are very much trying to outgate them, as that is their biggest threat and around Owlerton passing will be very limited unless they make an error. Where the 2022 Playoff title goes is anyone’s guess (editor note: probably Sheffield) but hopefully both legs are exciting and that the Aces can become league champions for the first time since 1993 come Thursday night!
A Track With A VUE 