Belle Vue ACES – Sheffield TIGERS – Monday 27th March 2023
Following the rained off Peter Craven Memorial Trophy meeting last week, this coming Monday night will be the opening fixture for the 95th season of Speedway in Manchester. As it sees a rematch of last year’s Playoff Grand Final between the Aces and the Sheffield Tigers, where the South Yorkshire club will be looking to gain revenge for Belle Vue lifting the league title in their back yard last season. It was back in October last year when the Aces travelled over to Owlerton to defend a ten-point deficit and saw youngsters Tom Brennan and Norick Blodorn knocking off the points needed to win the league title in Heat 14. The whole Aces side – even guest Simon Lambert for the night played their part that night for Belle Vue. However, that was last year and this is now – and Simon Stead has once again put together another solid looking side over in Sheffield.
Sheffield have kept the core of last years’ side – with Jack Holder, Adam Ellis and Tobiasz Musielak spearheading the Tigers attack in 2023. While having the likes of Kyle Howarth and new signing former Swindon Robins rider David Bellego in the main body makes them more solid than last year. Plus down at reserve there is Lewis Kerr who is quite a handy person to have at Number six, with the only unknown quantity in the side being the new ‘Rising Star’ rider in Dan Gilkes, as riding in the top league is always a challenge and can take a whole season to fully adapt. On first look, the side looks far stronger on paper with the inclusion of Bellego and its sure to have Tigers fans looking forward to the new season.
For the defending champions, it saw the pack being shuffled with half the title side disappearing, and for once, not due to the averages taking affecting. Those riders that have departed are Max Fricke (Leicester), Matej Zagar, Robert Lambert and Jye Etheridge; while the new rising star rider is that of Jake Mulford – who rode for the Colts last year, with the additions of former World U21 champion in Jaimon Lidsey and one certain Dan Bewley, both of which make welcome returns to the NSS. They’ll join the remaining members of last years’ title winning side in captain Brady Kurtz, Charles Wright, Tom Brennan and Norick Blodorn. The three uncertainties for me are Lidsey who didn’t really find any form on the road back in 2019 when he was an Ace previously; plus will Blodorn build on the back of his late bloom year, and of course how Mulford copes at a high level.
The tale of the tape since the Tigers returned to the top flight back in 2021 has saw the Mancunians on top in the 13 league meetings so far, including four Playoff meeting – in which Belle Vue leads 7-6, though Sheffield did win both of the Premiership Cup game last season, and includes their only win at the National Speedway Stadium to date. If the two grand final meetings are anything to go by, then the upcoming meeting between the two should be crackers. UPDATE: Thursday night saw the Aces losing by six points in Sheffield to keep the bonus point alive, as the Tigers won 48-42 with Brady Kurtz top scoring with 12 on what was a heavy track with the weather at this time of year.
Belle Vue Aces
- Dan Bewley
- Norick Blodorn
- Jaimon Lidsey
- Charles Wright
- Brady Kurtz (Cpt)
- Tom Brennan
- Jake Mulford
Sheffield Tigers
- Jack Holder
- David Bellego
- Adam Ellis
- Kyle Howarth
- Tobiasz Musielak
- Lewis Kerr
- Dan Gilkes
A Track With A VUE 