IT’S another massive meeting for reigning premiership champions Belle Vue on Thursday night when they travel to Owlerton Stadium to face local rivals the Sheffield Tigers.
The two sides last met in Yorkshire in the very early season when the TruPlant Tigers pipped the ATPI Aces top the post to claim a very close 48-42 victory.
Since then, Manchester’s finest have established themselves as one of the front runners for this year’s league title and currently lead the Premiership a full 10 points ahead of second place Leicester.
Their form on the road has seen a significant improvement since March and with the new British U21 Champion, and the Swedish SGP winner in their ranks, the ATPI Aces are feeling confident.
The Tigers, meanwhile, occupy fourth in the table and are battling hard to secure their spot in the 2023 Play Offs and have shown themselves to be formidable opponents at home.
German racer Norick Blodorn said: “This will be a tough one for sure. Sheffield are very strong at home but we’re in pretty good form ourselves on the road so anything is possible.
“We won the Premiership at Owlerton last year and we have beaten them there before so who’s to say we can’t go there and get the job done? We’re feeling good about our racing right now.
“I think it’ll be a very close match. They’re fighting to stay in the top four and we’re fighting to finish as high up the table as possible so both sides will be feeling competitive.
“Winning over Ipswich the way we did on Monday was a massive boost for the team and I think if we just keep our heads down and focus on our business we are capable of getting the win.”
The ATPI Aces head to Sheffield on Thursday, July 20 to face the TruPlant Tigers in the Sports Insure Premiership, tapes up at 7:30pm.
SHEFFIELD V BELLE VUE – THURSDAY, JULY 20 @ 7:30PM [P2]
Sheffield ‘TruPlant’ Tigers: Jack Holder 8.58, Lewis Kerr R/R, Adam Ellis 6.09, Josh Pickering 5.79, Tobiasz Musielak 8.17, Kyle Howarth (C) 5.50, Dan Gilkes RS; TM: Simon Stead
Belle Vue ‘ATPI’ Aces: Dan Bewley 8.28, Norick Blodorn 5.69, Jaimon Lidsey 7.25, Charles Wright 6.67, Brady Kurtz (C) 8.28, Tom Brennan 5.66, Connor Bailey RS; TM: Mark Lemon
Image: Ian Charles