Aces pull a 3 card trick over top 3 sides

CAPTAIN Craig Cook:  pic via MEN.co.uk

WOLVERHAMPTON WOLVES   42  -  48   BELLE VUE ACES 

It was a Captain`s performance that saw the Belle Vue Aces on Bank Holiday Monday carry on their recent winning streak, With the Aces taking it 4 matches unbeaten home & away, as they beat the Wolverhampton Wolves 48-42 at Monmore Green without their two big hitter`s scoring 2 between them!

The Aces in recent weeks have seen them beat fellow struggler`s in the Elite League the Coventry Bees 59-35 along with victory over the league leaders the Birmingham Brummies at home 49-41 then followed it up with a win at the home of the current league champions,the Swindon Robins 48-42.

Belle Vue have been riding more for pride than anything, while their opponents they have defeat in the last two outings, have battled it out for the top 2 places in the table that guarantees home advantage come playoff time. 

In the Bank Holiday meeting at Wolverhampton things didn`t start off the way the Aces would have liked it to. As Wolves Swedish Number 1 star, Freddie Lindgren was joined at the front by his team mate in Polish rider Robert Miskowiak for a opening maximum 5-1 win for the Wolves.

Belle Vue`s guest pairing at reserve in place of the injured Ales Dryml & Kauko Nieminen ,were Andrew Tully from the Newcastle Diamonds and rising Australian youngster Max Fricke from the Edinburgh Monarchs both from Premier League clubs. However they were more than Premier the way they rode as with Cook in the side they helped the Aces massively in the match, with them scoring a 4-2 in the reserves race for the Aces, with the Scottish rider Andrew Tully picking up victory.

Belle Vue nearly got on level terms in heat 3, when Aces Captain Craig Cook and Kevin Wolbert both got out of the gates on a 4-2 advantage, only for Wolbert to then have an engine failure on the first lap and led to him retiring in the race , but Cook held on to first place beating Adam Skornicki and Ricky Wells for a 3-3.

Heat 4 saw a huge crash and involving all the riders on the first bend , with Fricke and Thorssell getting tangled together and taking the rest of the field down too, in Tai Woffinden & Magnus Zetterstrom in the race.

Thorssell picked up a suspected broken arm in the crash and saw him withdrawn from the meeting and being replaced by fellow reserve Ludwig Lindgren in the re-run.  

Zetterstrom was struggling to ride too after the crash and he pulled out after only one lap in, with the Wolves taking a 4-2 heat win and increase their lead to 4 points, with the score 14-10 in favour of the Black Country side.

With the next four races being shared between the sides, the score line was 26-22  for the home side heading into Heat 9.

Max Fricke came in to replace the now Withdrawn Magnus Zetterstrom from the meeting, as Zorro had picked up a shoulder injury in the collision.

It was the reserve pairing of Fricke & Tully that drawn the scores level at 27 all, with the scot forcing his way past the Wolves pair to see him join his team mate at the front for a big 5-1 for the away side.

Belle Vue then scored another big maximum win, with Craig Cook and Kevin Wolbert grabbing first and second position beating as they beat "Fast Freddie" Lindgren round the Monmore track, not many can say they have done that over the years. 

The Wolves though responded in kind, with Woffinden and Lindgren`s brother Ludwig getting a 5-1 over Ostergaard and Zagar in following race, to level the score up one more time in this sea-saw match.

Andrew Tully was enjoying himself on the Wolves track as he and Cook helped edge the Aces back in front with 4-2in heat 12 to make it 40-38. Heat thirteen saw the strong pairing for the home side in the way of Tai Woffinden & Freddie Lindgren, up against the Aces of Matej Zagar and Andrew Tully.

Lindgren wasn`t going to lose twice in a row, as the Swede shown the Belle Vue boys a clean pair of heels, with the Swedish GP star zooming off for a shared 3-3 race.

Wolves needed to get a result out of heat 14, if they were to have any chance of beating Belle Vue and avoid defeat. However this was to be Belle Vue`s night and the German rider Kevin Wolbert and Max Fricke combined to hammer home advantage and shock the Wolves fans into silence, as they crossed the line in 1^st & 2^nd for a third 5-1 of the night for the travelling Aces and gave the Manchester club victory with a heat left to go. 

It was the Captain that would have final say in the match, when Craig Cook finished off the Wolves showing Woffinden and Lindgren round the Monmore Green circuit, as he took the chequered flag for a 3-3 race and made the final score 48-42 in the Belle Vue Aces favour and gave moved them off the foot of the table and up into 8^th position.

Wolverhampton will get a chance at revenge very quickly, as they travel up the M6 motorway to Kirkmanshulme Lane next Monday evening.

Wolverhampton Wolves = 42 

1. Freddie Lindgren -3, 3, 1, 3, 1* - 11+1
2. Robert Miskowiak - 2*, 0, 0, 0 - 2+1
3. Ricky Wells - 1*, 3, 1, 2 - 7+1
4. Adam Skornicki - 2, F, 0, 1 - 3
5. Tai Woffinden - 3, 2, 3, 0, 2 - 10
6. Ludvig Lindgren - F, 1, 1*, 3, 2*, 0, 0 - 7+2
7. Jacob Thorssell - 2, F-Withdrawn





Belle Vue Aces = 48 

1. Matej Zagar - 0, 1*, 0, 1* - 2+1
2. Ulrich Ostergaard - 1, 2, 1*, 1 - 4+1
3. Craig Cook - 3, 3, 3, 1, 3 - 13
4. Kevin Wolbert - EF, 0, 2, 3 - 5
5. Magnus Zetterstrom - EF, Withdrawn
6. Andrew Tully (Guest) - 3, 2, 2*, 3, 2, 0 12+1
7. Max Fricke (Guest) - 1, 2, 1*, 2, 3, 2* - 11+2

LEAGUE TABLE:

                                             PLD      PTS

1. Birmingham Brummies      25         53

2. Swindon Robins                26         48

3. Wolverhampton Wolves    26         48

4. Lakeside Hammers            25         43

5. Poole Pirates                     25         39

6. Peterborough Panthers     25         38                     

7. Kings Lynn Stars             24          33

8. Belle Vue Aces                 24          31*

9. Eastbourne Eagle             25          29 

10. Coventry Bees                27          28

*=Belle vue deducted 3pts after SCB hearing.