Wolves 48 Belle Vue 44

Wolves' busy Easter weekend came to a successful conclusion last night as they battled through changeable weather to defeat Belle Vue in the Craven Shield at Monmore Green.

On a very dry track which perhaps suited the Aces better than the Wolves, the home side displayed some gritty performances throughout a bitterly cold evening which saw a flurry of snow in the second half of the match, with skipper Freddie Lindgren and Niels Kristian Iversen heading the scorechart.

Iversen enjoyed something of an up and down evening, hitting the deck in heat five after a heavy challenge from Billy Forsberg, resulting in the Swede's exclusion, and then being slowed by engine trouble in the re-run. But the Dane bounced back to win heat 12 after a superb scrap with Charlie Gjedde.

The highlight of the night was definitely David Howe's defeat of former world champion Jason Crump in heat 11.

With the visitors 10 points down, Aces manager Chris Morton nominated Crump for a tactical double ride, and the result looked a formality.

Howe, however, produced his best ride of the season so far to hold off the Australian for four nail-biting laps.

He said after the meeting that the victory had been a real boost to him.

"It was certainly a relief, as I made some mistakes at Coventry last Friday," he said.

Lindgren was fast from the gate throughout the night and came close to defeating Crump in the final heat after heading the Belle Vue superstar for three and a half laps.

A pass by the skipper on Joe Screen in heat five saw the England international take a tumble on turn one, but referee Jim Lawrence correctly excluded Screen as there had been no contact.

Danes Nicolai Klindt and Kenneth Hansen showed occasional turns of speed, the former passing Michal Rajkowski on the run to the line in heat two.

Christian Hefenbrock gave his usual maximum effort at reserve, but struggled against troublesome opposite number Steve Boxall, who looked impressive on the way to paid 10 points.

Wolves will be hoping for warmer conditions next Monday as they take on pre-season title favourites Poole at Monmore Green.