Wolves triumph in a final-heat decider
Captain Sam Masters led by example once again as he won a final-heat decider for Wolverhampton Wolves against Premiership leaders Belle Vue Aces.
A nip-and-tuck encounter never had more than six points between the sides – a deficit Wolves had to overturn to keep their 100 per cent home record intact.
After a share of the spoils in the opening heat, won by Masters, the hosts took a 5-1 in a battle of the reserves with Leon Flint superbly passing Tom Brennan and Connor Bailey to take second behind Zach Cook.
Race wins were exchanged between the sides before a first 5-1 of the night for Belle Vue in heat seven brought them level at 21-21.
Steve Worrall got Wolves’ noses back in front, only for the visitors to punch in back-to-back 5-1s and take a six-point lead after heat 10.
However, Wolves scored a pair of maximums themselves – either side of a 4-2 for Belle Vue – to level it up at 39-39 with two heats remaining.
Rory Schlein and Cook took advantage of a mistake from Dan Bewley to take the first of those, before Schlein backed up Masters in heat 13.
Wolves got their noses in front thanks to a win for Ryan Douglas in heat 14, with Cook bringing home an extra point in third to set up a final-heat decider. And after Jaimon Lidsey was excluded, Masters brilliantly held off Brady Kurtz to secure victory for Wolves.
