Super Wolverhampton Wolves storm to crucial win over Aces
Wolverhampton boss Peter Adams dubbed his side’s 54-36 home win over Belle Vue last night as their best performance of the season, writes Ryan Guest.
The Parrys International Wolves jumped back into fourth in the Premiership standings as they fired out yet another strong warning to their rivals.
Things didn’t start as they’d hoped though as they conceded a maximum in the opener but looked on for an instant response in heat two.
A strong move from Belle Vue reserve Jaimon Lidsey on bend three forced an error from Ryan Douglas though and Wolves had to settle for a shared race with Kyle Howarth taking the chequered flag.
They were level in the third though as new middle-order pairing Rory Schlein and Nick Morris roared away from the starts to secure a 5-1 of their own after Frenchman Dimitri Berge was thrown out of the race for a tapes infringement in the initial staging.
Aussie ace Sam Masters provided another victory for the hosts in the fourth with Douglas coming down on the final bend as he attempted a last-ditch charge around Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen.
Wolves hit the front for the first time in heat five as skipper Schlein made it two out of two with Morris coming through for third after a fine cutback under Steve Worrall.
The Aces pulled level with a 4-2 of their own in the sixth before Wolves stamped some authority on the fixture with three 5-1 maximums in four races.
Howarth first worked his way into second in the seventh after some fine work from Masters in the opening bends created an open path before hitting the front as a reserve switch in the eighth with team-mate Luke Becker producing a stunning move around the outside on the entry to lap three as he went from last to second.
Schlein’s unbeaten start was ended in a shared ninth race after a good tussle with Danish champion Kenneth Bjerre, before Becker and Jacob Thorssell caught Belle Vue guest Tobiasz Musielak unawares down the back straight with one going either side to go 12 up.
But Bjerre was the party pooper once again, this time winning heat 11 as a tactical substitute with Max Fricke alongside him to this time end Howarth’s run and close the gap back to eight.
Wolves finished super strongly though, denying the Aces any more race winners and found three more advantages to wrap up three big league points and send the visitors back to Manchester empty handed.
They now head to Swindon on Thursday (7.30pm) for another huge clash as the play-off race well and truly hots up.
Wolverhampton 54: Rory Schlein 14, Kyle Howarth 11+2, Jacob Thorssell 9+1, Sam Masters 8+1, Nick Morris 7+2, Luke Becker 5+1, Ryan Douglas 0.
Belle Vue 36: Kenneth Bjerre 14, Max Fricke 6+2, Tobiasz Musielak 5, Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen 4+2, Jaimon Lidsey 4+1, Steve Worrall 3, Dimitri Berge 0.
