Wolverhampton Wolves reach speedway Premiership final

In a tense and dramatic night in Manchester, Parrys International Wolves lost 51-39 to Belle Vue but secured a narrow 90-89 aggregate success.

While captain Freddie Lindgren stormed to four stunning straight wins, it was his withdrawal following a controversial incident in heat 13 which almost proved to be a huge turning point.

But thankfully for the Monmore men, a strong start – winning five of the first seven races – turned out to be important. Just as he did in last year’s grand final, Lindgren made a textbook start in the opener to hit the front while Kyle Howarth shoved Steve Worrall wide on the first bends as Wolves extended their aggregate lead.

Two shared races followed as Mark Riss rode a mature ride in the second to hold off a fast-charging Dan Bewley, before Rory Schlein dealt with Worrall on bend one as Howarth did well to stay on his machine after almost clipping the back wheel of Rohan Tungate.

The hosts registered their first heat advantage of the night in the fourth but Sam Masters limited the damage as he worked his way past home reserve Jack Smith on the first lap.

Both heats five and seven saw Belle Vue skipper Craig Cook get away with flying starts, but he wasn’t able to handle the class of Lindgren who easily rounded his old enemy on the opening lap on both occasions. In between that though, the men from Manchester turned a 5-1 on its head before following it up with another 4-2 in heat eight to reduce the gap to nine on aggregate.

Masters finally got his first race win of the night in the ninth as he took advantage of mechanical gremlins for Rohan Tungate. But as Masters hit the front, Riss was passed by Bewley around the outside as the Wolves had to settle for a 4-2.

But the tension rose in heat 12 when the Aces reduced the overall deficit to just five points. Schlein led out of bend four before Tungate worked his way around his Aussie compatriot. Exciting talent Bewley then wound it on and cut back up the inside off the final corner to snatch second place.

But the ultimate key turning point came in heat 13 when Lindgren and Bjerre tangled on lap two. The Wolves No.1 leant in the direction of the home man as their machines locked together before Bjerre then again clattered into Lindgren, causing him to land heavily on his neck.

In a brave call by referee Phil Griffin, he disqualified Bjerre, much to the disgust of the home faithful, while Lindgren was ruled out of the remainder of the meeting on medical grounds. But Schlein used all his experience to make the best start off the inside in the penultimate race before fending off the charge from Tungate.

Wolves travel to Swindon for the grand final first leg on Monday, before hosting the Robins at Monmore Green on Wednesday (7.30).

Belle Vue 51: Craig Cook 15, Kenneth Bjerre 10+1, Dan Bewley 8+3, Rohan Tungate 8+1, Steve Worrall 7+2, Jack Smith 3+1, Max Fricke R/R.

Wolverhampton 39: Freddie Lindgren 12, Sam Masters 10, Rory Schlein 9, Mark Riss 4, Kyle Howarth 3, Nathan Greaves 1+1, Jacob Thorssell R/R.