Belle Vue sunk by Pirates

Belle Vue hopes of a playoff place took a blow Monday night as the Poole Pirates came to Manchester and plundered the points from the Aces, as a makeshift line up of guest riders including an Ex-Aces rider and an Aces asset in their team saw the Pirates take the spoils 50-40.

Things started off fantastic for the home side though, as Matej Zagar got the jump on fellow Grand Prix star Chris Holder in the first heat as he pulled away from the Poole number one to beat the World Champion with a very quick time, as the Aces got a 4-2 heat win and hoped to build on it.

Sadly for the Aces, two heats in a row saw a home rider touch the tapes and having to start off 15 metres back. First off it was new signing Danish rider Ulrich Ostergaard touching the tapes and in the re run the Guest riders for the Pirates in Ex- Aces rider Josh Grajczonek and Micky Dyer saw the Australian duo score a 5-1 heat win.

Then in Heat 3 it saw exactly the same situation, as this time it was Craig Cook that broke the tapes and was put back in to go 15 metres back as well.

In the rerun Kauko Nieminen took a heavy tumble as his bike locked up on first bend and he went high side over it landing heavily on the track.

The Finnish rider was excluded in the race but was ok to get up and walk away within a minute of the accident.

The second re-run of heat 3 saw Richie Worrall make the gate along with Rohan Tungate as the Pirates scored a 5-1 for a 12-6 lead.

Belle Vue then started to chip away at the visitors lead, as they picked up a 4-2 with Magnus Zetterstrom and Ales Dryml in heat 4 and in heat 5 saw a fortunate 4-2 score line for the Aces as well.

As Poole were on a 5-1 with Holder shepherding Tungate round the track till he fell on the second bend with Holder having to take action in which to avoid crashing into his team mate.

Craig Cook had been all over Holder for the whole race and had the speed on him too.once Holder took action to avoid Tungate Cook happily swooped by to take the lead and gifted the Cumbrian the race win as Nieminen took 3rd place, as the Aces turned a 1-5 into a 4-2 heat advantage.

Three shared heat scores made it still a 2 point match till heat 9, When Maciej Janowski took the heat win as Ulrich Ostergaard battle hard to try and gain on the Polish rider, but lacked the speed and power of Janowski to catch up as Dyer came in third place and meant the Pirates extended their lead in the meeting to 4 points.

Heat 10 got better for Poole, as Chris Holder came in as a Rider replacement for the "Injured" Przemyslaw Pawlicki and Poole grabbed a 5-1 advantage, with Richie Worrall blocking off fantastically Matej Zagar for the whole four laps and earned his second place as the advantage grew to 8 points now in Poole`s favour with 5 races to go.

Heat 11 seen Zetterstrom have a great ride as he looked like his old self, when he  went neck and neck with Holder down the back straight,  before Grajczonek, who then made the error of looking behind to see where his opponent was till he saw Zorro speed past him and take the lead.

Heat 12 the Pirates came back with Richie Worrall showing Aces fans want they hope to see from him next season in an Aces Bid, as he is pencilled in to ride for the Manchester club in the 2014 season at the planned new stadium. Worrall took the race ahead of Cook as Dyer filled in third place for a 4-2 score line. 

The final 3 remaining heats saw a share of the points as Poole had the winners in the rest of the heats with Chris Holder getting the better of Zetterstrom and Zagar on two consecutive occasions.

The Aces now travel to Wimborne Road on Wednesday night to face the Pirates in what looks like a very tall order to get anything from the meeting at all. But the Pirates will be delighted to take the 4 points back down to Dorset and hope to add the 3 points on their track when they have the return fixture there.

Belle Vue Aces: 

1.Matej Zagar 3 3 1 1* 1* =9+2
2.Kevin Wolbert 1 0 3 0 =4
3.Craig Cook 1 3 2 2 =8
4.Kauko Nieminen EXC 1 0 1* =2+1
5.Magnus Zetterstrom 3 1* 3 2 2 =11+1
6.Ulrich Ostergaard 0 2 0 2 =4
7.Ales Dryml 1 1 0 0 =2

Poole Pirates:

1.Chris Holder 2 2 3 1* 3 3 =14+1
2.Rohan Tungate 0 2* f 1* =3+2
3.Przemyslaw Pawlicki (R/R) (RT 2* MJ 3 CH 3 RW 3)
4.Richie Worrall (G) 3 0 2* 3 0 =8+1
5.Maciej Janowski 0 2 3 3 1 0 =8
6.Micky Dyer (G) 2* 1* 1 1 =5+2
7.Josh Grajczonek (G) 3 2 2 2 3 =12

THE LIONS ROAR DOWN UNDER..but only just!

PIC : Reuters

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS   23                  AUSTRALIA   21

Brisbane`s Suncorp Stadium was the sight for the opening test match of the British & Irish Lions series with Australia, As Warren Gatland`s men took victory in the first test of the three match series. Winning an enthralling and heart stopping match, beating the hosts Australia 23-21. Though it could have been all so different after Beale last gasp kick.

The British & Irish Lions tried to get over their 14-12 loss to the Brumbies on Tuesday; But the Lions welcomed back to the line up George North and picked Alex Corbisiero ahead of his England team mate Mako Vunipola.

For Australia they had three players making their debuts, with Christian Leali`ifano, Israel Folau and Ben Mowen.

After the Australian national anthem was played the anticipation for the game grown, Johnny Sexton kicked off and we got the First test underway.

Sadly it didn`t start the way anyone wanted to see, As Debutant for the Wallabies Christian Leali`ifano was stretchered off after he collided with Jonathon Davies elbow, when he tried to make a tackle on the Wales star.

Davies noticed as soon as he got up for the play that the Aussie player was badly injured and so Davies alerted the referee, getting his attention to let him know that he was hurt bad and ask for the medical team to come on.

After a delay, everyone in the stadium gave him a good applause as he was being driven off the pitch on the medical buggy and he put his thumb up to acknowledge the crowd as he went off the field wearing a neck brace to be checked out by the medical staff.

Play resumed with Australia or James O`Connor in particular, missing two chances. O`Connor missed two penalties both coming from Brian O`Driscoll being penalised for playing the ball off his feet.

The Lions were having the majority of possession and were camped in the Wallabies half as they pushed the men in gold back in there half.

PIC :ESPN SCRUM

Match official Chris Pollack from New Zealand then gave the hosts a penalty at the breakdown, with Will Genia then taking a quick tap kick and flying up field on a counter attack.

He was joined in attack with Israel Folau while he turned the Lions defenders inside out with his zig sagging down the right channel. Genia then put a weighted little grubber kick through and Folau picked up and ran it over for a try giving the Home side first blood.

James O`Connor finally made a successful kick count as he made it a 7-0 score for the hosts.

The Lions then got awarded a penalty themselves, when Aussie Captain James Horwill came in at the side of the ruck and so “MR 100%” Leigh Halfpenny was given the task to kick the first points on the board for the Tourists as he made it 7-3.

Moments later Berrick Barnes put a high kick up and was caught by George North just inside the Lions 22metre line.

North then proceeded to run it back at the home side, as he beat the attempted ankle tap of James O`Connor and then used his pace to beat Barnes ,before seeing off Genia with his ankle tap too as went over for the try.

It will go down as one of the greatest Solo tries in British & Irish Lions history too, Leigh Halfpenny then added the conversion for Gatland`s men as they took the lead 10-7.

PIC :ESPN SCRUM

They nearly added to the lead minutes later too, when the Lions had possession right near the Australian try line and so they worked among the short side, as they played it left to George North who crashed over the line, with Folau trying to hold the ball up and Genia holding on to North`s leg trying to stop his momentum too.

The Touch judge wasn`t completely sure if he had hit the white line before grounding it, so it was left to the TMO to review the play and based on the replays show, North`s elbow touched the whitewash just before the ball carrying arm came down also he didn`t manage to ground the ball either.

Result was a penalty to the Lions as advantage was being played prior to the try incident, so Halfpenny took the ball and started to set up for the penalty. Lions Captain Sam Warburton then decided to go for the three points, much to the disappointment of his forwards who wanted to go the try, but the Lions captain made the correct decision in taking the three points on offer.

Halfpenny kicked over and gave them a 6 points lead now for 13-7.

Australia responded straight away as the Wallabies play drawn the Lions players over to one side leading to them spraying the ball out wide to Ben Mowen, Whose pass found Folau waiting by the touchline.

Folau then ran at the Lions defence skipping past Johnny Sexton and then fending off two Lions challenges before going over, Folau scored his second try of the game and he was having a debut to remember.

It went upstairs to check for a forward pass, but replays shown it was fine and the conversion was once again missed by O`Connor who was having a shocker of a game with his kicking.

PIC :ESPN SCRUM

Australia then found themselves with more injury problems as this time Berrick Barnes was on the floor injured, as a collision with his team mate Folau knocked him down and out. It was caused when North chased a ball with Folau and the Lions player gave a slight shove to him to in the back, causing the Aussie debutant head and shoulder to connect with Barnes, knocking him to the deck and as he lay injured on the touchline.

He was replaced by Kurtley Beale as he was stretchered off down the tunnel and the Wallabies players were dropping like flies now.   

The Lions then had a great chance to extend their lead once again as the Aussies were penalised with feet off the ground, as they took Davies out of the play by the Wallabies 5 metre line.

Leigh Halfpenny was given the role of kicking over but pushing it just wide of the uprights, so as the hooter sounded the players went off the pitch to a massive ovation by all supporters inside the Suncorp stadium as the Lions held a slim 13-12 lead over the hosts at half time.

Second half got underway, with Australia having the lion share of possession in the early stages as they were camped in their opponent half.

Wallabies then found themselves with yet more injury problems as McCabe was then hurt, when an accidental stray knee from Alex Cuthbert went right in between the shoulder blades of McCabe and the stretcher bearers were called out yet again, as he was the third Wallaby victim to be carted off in this game.

PIC :YAHOO SPORTS

Moments later the Lions exploited the frailties in the Australian back line with players in foreign positions to what they normal play in, When they extended their lead with some good play lead to the red shirts spraying the ball wide to where huge gaps were appearing.

Johnny Sexton then spotted Alex Cuthbert after O`Driscoll had made a decoy run for the Lions and so Cuthbert spotted the gap and ran into it going over for the Lions Second try of the game. The Referee asked for the Video ref to make sure there wasn`t any problem with it, to which their wasn`t and so with the added points it was 20-12 score and the Lions were Roaring!

Australia responded from the restart when they won a penalty straight away, giving James O`Connor the chance to kick the Aussies right back into this game and his kick was successful and made it a 5 point ball game with the score 20-15.

The Lions then wasted a great opportunity with quick passes and good movement, when a move with a “Celtic connection” gave them the opening. It was Mike Phillips of Wales who started the move before finding Irish duo Sexton & Heaslip before playing to Welshman Jonathon Davies his Ball was then played to Tom Croft, who tried a pass over the head of an oncoming Wallabies player but his pass went slightly forwards and O`Driscoll couldn`t handle the pass and knocked it even further on to which North took it, but about 3 yards ahead of him and so play was brought back.

Australia then got awarded a penalty to which Kurtley Beale took over kicking duties from James O`Connor and his kick from 46m out which was straight and in front of the posts went over, to cut the lead down to 2 points for an 18-20 score line.

Johnny Sexton then created a chance, as the Irishman collected a long kick down field to which he then put a little chip kick over the head`s of the Australians and the ball bounced kindly for Sexton, who continued his run passing to his Ireland team mate Paul O`Connell and the from the following play brought a Lions penalty.

With less than 15 minutes remaining Halfpenny took resulting kick from just outside the Australian 22 metre line. Halfpenny dispatched it for a 23-18 lead and restores the 5 point advantage.

Kurtley Beale then ran at the heart of the Lions defence cutting them open and if it hadn`t been for Halfpenny`s intervention, then the Aussies would have had an almost certain try.

The ref then awarded a penalty to the Home side as play was slowed down and killed by the Lions as they stopped the Wallabies from playing, but gave them a kick to which Kurtley Beale stepped up and kicked over.

That meant the final 10 minutes of this riveting contest would be more tense with the team with the better composure would see them over the line.

Sexton who had a great game at Number 10, then put up a great up and under kick in the Wallabies half with Davies unable to take the catch and with the men in Green & Gold quickly pounced upon by the Lions forwards the official then awarded the tourists a penalty near the 5m line giving the Lions great field possession to try and close out the game with under 10 minutes left.

The Lions somehow managed to produce a horrible scrum as Genia stole the ball for Australia and his kick up field was chased by a Lion and Folau, To which Folau collected on the bounce and Australia poured forwards as the Lions defense had to hold firm now.

Australia then won another penalty when Vunipola was adjudged to have come into the ruck from the side. That meant it gave Beale the chance to kick the Wallabies into a lead with 7 minutes left on the clock.

Beale`s kick went horribly wide of the posts and the Lions breathed a huge sigh of relief at being let off. Australia then knocked on and gave the Lions the chance again to try and kill the game off once again.

As the players set up for the scrum formation there was 4 minutes left to play in this absorbing game and after two collapsing scrums, time was ticking away now and it looked like the Lions were nearly home and dry now.

However there would be one more twist to come. The Lions pack once again shot themselves in the foot as the Australian pack drove the Lions back and the tourist got in to a tangle causing them to concede a penalty with 2 minutes on the clock.

With the whole build up to the kick, it meant Beale would use up the whole time left in the game to full use as it came all down to this one last kick.

Surely this wouldn`t be a repeat of the Second test 4 years ago in South Africa, When the Lions were in a similar situation, they had done the hard work pulling level only to concede a penalty right at the death lose to Morne Steyn kick.

This was similarly in the same position that Steyn kicked over to condemn the Lions to defeat back in 2009, Would history repeat it`s self 4 years on. Beale composed himself as he walked up to the ball and just at the point of contact on the ball. He lost his footing and slipped over causing his kick to drift towards the posts but fall short and roll out of play for a dead ball.

PIC :YAHOO SPORTS

Lions fans and players urged the referee to blow his whistle and he did meaning the wave of red shirts could celebrate the victory and gave the Lions a step closer to history, as they took a 1-0 series lead with the Second test match to be played in Melbourne next Saturday.

The Lions will know they have to play better and equally know, the Aussies will come back harder next game to draw the series up and force a decider.

British & Irish Lions hope to ROAR in Australia

pic via BBC SPORT

This Saturday will see the British & Irish Lions face Australia for the first time in 12 years, as they look to win their first series in 16 years since the Lions of 1997 in South Africa won 2-1. They will hope to defeat the Wallabies down under, as the tour back in 2001 saw the Lions lose 2-1 to the Aussies after they had won the opening test match.

This time around though the Lions hope to avenge the series loss and see them win a series in Australia for the first time since 1989 when the British Lions beat the Australians 2-1 on home territory back then.

The Lions of 2013 had been on an unbeaten run till this past week, when their winning streak was broken by the ACT Brumbies of the Australian Super Rugby, as the Lions fell 14-12 to the league leaders of Super rugby and put in a pretty poor performance by the Lions .

They had found themselves 14-3 down, till they clawed their way back in the match making it a 2 point game with Scotland`s Stuart Hogg and England`s Owen Farrell kicking penalties for the tourists, as they crawled inch by inch closer to the Brumbies total but they never looked like beating them.

WARREN GATLAND   pic via Guardian.com 

It will be the second successive tour for a Lions touring party to have a New Zealander in charge when playing the Aussies, as back in the last tour there in 2001 the British and Irish Lions were coached by Graham Henry and the tour was dogged by unrest in the camp as players voiced concerns over preparations for the series which they lost.

On this current tour though the man in charge of the Lions is New Zealander Warren Gatland, who is head coach of the current Six Nations champions Wales.

So far on this tour the Lions have played against inferior opposition and build up to the test series has been hampered by the Australian sides resting key players instead of playing stronger squads in the warm up games.

Australian management have said during this tour that they are not in position to help their opponents out before the series, as it`s not their prerogative to help them out.

Gatland`s men started out this tour with a couple of comfortable victories over the Barbarians in Hong Kong, before flying over to Australia where they faced Western Force and thrashed them both fairly easily.

The first test they faced while down under was against the Queensland Reds in Brisbane, where they were given a real game winning 22-12 against the hosts as they overcame a very spirited Reds side. 

pic via getty images

They then faced a Combined New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (QLD) Country side in Newcastle, That contained a Medical student, engineer, Electrician and an apprentice plumber in their ranks alongside a few players from Super rugby too.

It came as no surprise when the Lions torn their opponents apart as they led 38-0 at half time and should have piled the points on more, however that never happened in the second half as they became complacent and sloppy as they started to be over confident.

It led to Gatland being displeased with the performance of the second 40, as they should have been aiming for nearer the 80 to 90 points mark due to the quality of the side they were playing. Also the side they had out on the field too should have put that type of score up to.

With all due respect to the their opponents, they did try their utter most to make it as competitive as they could but they weren`t in the same league as the Tourists as experience and quality shown, as the Lions hit 64 points and shut out the opposition in the process.

pic via getty images

There second real test of the tour came when they faced stern opposition against the New South Wales Waratahs.

Previous encounters against the Waratahs had seen fireworks take place between both sides including the last meeting back in 2001.

Ronan O Gara was punched 11 times by full-back Duncan McRae with an unprovoked attack on the Irish player as he was pinned him down and rained blow after blow upon O Gara, As it looked liked he had been in a boxing ring with Mike Tyson after the beating was stopped.

O Gara had sustained a cut below his eye and bruising too around the eye, as the beating he took told the full story. McRae was given his marching orders as the referee shown him the red card and the match even involved a few yellow cards handed out to both sides too. 

In this contest Warren Gatland’s men came out flying from the start and had put 10 points on the scoreboard after 7 minutes of play as they looked to get into a rhythm a week before they faced Australia in the opening test.

Every time the Waratahs seemed to get closer to the Lions score, the tourists then pulled away again.

pic via getty images

As we went into the break the Tourist went 23-10 up, in the second half the Lions then carried on their good play and upped their work rate as they went from 30-17 to 47-17 up. They were playing some great rugby along the way as well as scoring some well worked tries too. 

pic via yahoo sport

As mentioned the recent loss to the Brumbies in Canberra this week be looked upon as a setback for Gatland and his men, but will also add to the argument that that been mentioned a lot over this Lions tour, as maybe they will be coming into this 3 match series under-prepared due to the way Australia have treated the touring Lions. A Lions tour is looked upon by people in the rugby world as a famous tradition and one to be excited about and celebrate, as it only happens every four years.

But the way Australia have treated this 2013 tour along with the organisation of putting fixtures together, especially as this is the 125th anniversary of the British Lions this year has been disgraceful to the Lions name. 

It`s also been discussed in some corners that maybe future series down under in Australia maybe stopped due to the lack of competitiveness of sides there and the distinct lack of interest shown by the them down under. 

In the test match starting this weekend, If the British Lions can use their power in the scrums and use the turnovers wisely then there is no reason why the Lions can`t roar to victory come full time at Brisbane. Plus with the two new comers to the squad in Shane Williams coming out of retirement to help the injured Lions out he will miss out on the first test. England Prop Alex Corbisiero who joined the squad late is a shock inclusion to the starting line up for the game. 

Aces play "Get out of Jail" card!

BELLE VUE ACES 46

SWINDON ROBINS 44

Belle Vue engineered one of the most unlikeliest of comebacks, as they beat the reigning league champions the Swindon Robins 46-44 in a last heat decider at Kirky lane Monday night.

Champions Swindon were without their number 1 rider Hans Andersen as the Danish rider had been injured riding for his Polish league club on the Sunday, so they swiftly brought in guest rider Rory Schlein to replace Andersen.

It was good move as the Australian rider Schlein was Belle Vue Aces number 1 rider last year and had suffered from mixed fortunes in the 2 year spell at the Manchester club.

Swindon drew first blood in the contest, after winning the opening race when Rory Schlein and Nick Morris scored a shock maximum 5-1 heat advantage with Matej Zagar struggling to find any drive against the Robins pair at all.

Swindon extended their lead on a very slick track early on in the meeting it has to be said, Edward Kennett and Peter Kildemand made a fantastic gate to get away from Craig Cook and Kevin Wolbert as the visitors scored another maximum heat win to lead 13-5 after 3 heats.

Heat 4 saw the Aces finally put up a brief reply, as Magnus Zetterstrom and Ales Dryml got out ahead of the two Swindon riders, however Troy Batchelor came under Dryml and then went around Zetterstrom like they were in slow motion as the Aussie took the race win.

Belle Vue were poor as they struggled to make any gates and when they did they couldn`t make advantage count, as Swindon were too fast and aggressive for them. 

In the following heat, heat 5 it saw an almost identical race as in the previous race, as the Aces once again got out on a 5-1 with Cook and Wolbert, But Morris and Schlein got in front of the German rider on the back straight of the first lap and as much as Morris tried to chase the Cumbrian rider down, it was neon impossible due to lack of material on the track.

Matej Zagar then made up for his opening race taking victory in his next one, as  Troy Batchelor and Ashley Birks made the start on the Slovenian but Zagar moved Batchelor out towards the fence and then cut up the inside of Birks and then pulled away for the win, while his partner Artur Mroczka struggled once again as twice he passed both Swindon riders due to them making mistakes. Mroczka it seemed ,just kept giving up his place easily on both occasions which will set alarm bells ringing for the Team manager Jason Attwood.  

Belle Vue started to mount a comeback in heat 8 as Attwood made a change to the line-up taking Mroczka out and putting Kauko Nieminen in his place instead. It was a move that paid off , as the Belle Vue got their first heat advantage of the evening with Nieminen and Dryml teaming up for a 5-1 to cover the damaged of a 4-2 they had suffered in the previous heat.

It was the turn then of Wolbert and Cook to continue the road to recovery as they got a 4-2 with Troy Batchelor passing Cook into second spot on the first lap ,but the German held on to first place and so reduced the gap to 4 points on the Robins lead now.

Matej Zagar shown once again that he has come on leaps and bounds on his return to British speedway this season, as he was out gated by the Robins best pairing of Kildemand and Kennett.  The Slovenian however then cut through them both and never looked back now, Mroczka trailed off by a distance at the back of the field once again with the Pole looking disinterested , as it summed up his performances this season as he has been the biggest weak link for the Aces this year.

Swindon hit back in the next race,with Nick Morris and Rory Schlein getting an easy 5-1 maximum heat win to open up a 8 point lead for the Robins, as they were still in no danger at all of losing this meeting , as they looked to have full control of it.

Heat 12 then saw Great Britain`s rising star Craig Cook split the Robins pair before he passed Peter Kildemand on the fourth bend of the first lap, then Ales Dryml battled his way past Ashley Birks and saw him move into third position as the Aces held onto a 4-2 position and cut the lead back down to 6 points.

Belle Vue then had the advantage in the heat 13 when Zagar and Zetterstrom got out ahead of Schlein and Batchelor from the gate, it looked like at one point the Aces would be just two points behind with two races to go in the meeting.

Then Zorro hit a hole on the third bend and narrowly missed colliding with Schlein on the fourth bend and so the Pairing of the visitors passed him by and while the following lap saw Rory Schlein do the exact thing as Zetterstrom had done, in hitting the same hole he managed to control the bike and carry on. 

It looked like the meeting was all but over now, as Swindon now just needing three points to win the meeting from the final two remaining heats and it seemed a nailed on certainty from the way the match had gone on that it would be a foregone conclusion.

However Belle Vue wasn`t going to lie down to the champions and they produced a comeback of Lazarus proportions to get back. The Home side needed two 5-1`s to win the meeting and it was an extremely tall order to do that in all honesty, but they completed part of it, as Nieminen or "NEMO" dubbed by speedway fans, led from the gate with Kevin Wolbert joining him at the front after he passed Eddie Kennett on the third lap to grab second and held onto it, to give the Aces maximum points in the penultimate race and set up a deciding heat. 

Heading into the final race the score was 41-43 in favour of the Swindon Robins, Robins team manager Alun Rossiter , decided to put Troy Batchelor in ahead of Peter Kildemand. Kildemand seemed the most nailed on choice for Swindon along with Schlein as they were the best two riders for the away side.

Aces Team manager Jason Attwood put his faith in Craig Cook and Matej Zagar in the final heat to try and get the maximum heat win needed to give Belle Vue the most unlikeliest of victories.

As the riders approached the tapes, the atmosphere had grown as the home fans greeted the home riders to massive cheer and support. This meant a lot to the home fans generated a surge of noise as the Aces fans hadn`t been this vocal for a long time,due mainly to not much to get a excited in recent season.

As the tapes flew up the home side riders flew away from the gate and was greeted with an amazing roar by the Aces supporters as they encouraged their heroes round on every lap and as they both came off the last bend they were cheered home by the fans as they crossed the line in first and second place to give the Belle Vue Aces as 46-44 win and was a played the biggest Get out of jail card possible with this match in particular, the victory will be a welcome boost ahead of the meeting next week against the Poole Pirates. As the Dorset side are struggling this season too, due mainly to the injury of Darcy Ward.

However a great victory by the Aces and moves them to 6^th in the table and 6 points outside the playoff places with still over half a season left to run.

Belle Vue 'Rentruck' Aces:

Matej Zagar 13;

Craig Cook 10+1;

Kauko Nieminen 10;

Ales Dryml 5+3; 

Kevin Wölbert 5+1;

Magnus Zetterström 3

Artur Mroczka  0

Swindon 'Excalibur Communication' Robins:

Peter Kildemand 9+1; 

Troy Batchelor 8+2;

Rory Schlein (G) 8+2;

Nick Morris 8+1;

Edward Kennett 6+1;

Ashley Birks 5;

Kacper Gomolski 0

HEAT 15 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JhfpNRrwZw&feature=youtu.be