BELLE Vue enter the crunch phase of the season as the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-offs get underway with a trip to Ipswich on Monday (September 21).
The Witches host the ATPI Aces in the first leg of the semi-final in a repeat of the meeting between the sides at this stage last season.
In fact, it is the fourth time in the last five years that the sides have met in the semis, with the Witches having gone through on two occasions compared to the Aces’ one from those encounters so far.
Form this season is very much in Belle Vue’s favour, though, having topped the regular league table, finishing a massive 14 points clear of their semi-final opponents.
The Aces also have the confidence of their recent trip to Foxhall to reflect back upon, having produced a storming comeback in that meeting to win 49-41 with reserve Tate Zischke in outstanding form.
But to be fair to the Witches, they fashioned a tremendous response to that setback by winning at Leicester last Monday to secure their place in the top four.
And both sides will be only too aware that at this stage of the season the slate is wiped clean, and anything can happen.
Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “Racing play-off speedway is the ultimate, and it’s tough. There are no gimmies.
“We searched for 29 years before we won a league title at Belle Vue and hopefully now maybe three are coming along in five years.
“But we fought really hard to get those two recent ones, and this is going to be no different. I would never underestimate or disrespect any other club and what their capabilities are.
“Ipswich will come out fighting, and play-off speedway is definitely another level. I know what we’ve got, I know what I’m working with, and I’m pretty confident with that – but let’s not get carried away just yet.”
Both teams have named full-strength line-ups with familiar riding orders, and the first job for the Aces will be to leave the tie in a winnable position ahead of the return in Manchester one week later.
For fans not making the trip to Suffolk, the semi-final will be live streamed by BSN at https://www.britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk/ , whilst live score updates will be available from https://live.britishspeedway.co.uk/ along with our own social media content.
The second leg of the semi-final takes place at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday September 28, and tickets/hospitality are available from https://www.bellevue-speedway.com/tickets .
IPSWICH: Richard Lawson, Scott Nicholls, Danny King, Tom Brennan, Tobiasz Musielak, Kevin Juhl Pedersen, Jason Edwards.
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Peter Kildemand, Zach Cook, Jason Doyle, Tate Zischke, Will Cairns.