West Cumbrian star Dan Bewley was in awesome form last night as he helped Belle Vue to a 54-36 home win over Leicester Lions.
Bewley swept to an imperious 15-point maximum for the Aces as they hold an 18-point advantage at the halfway stage of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final.
Bewley was unbeatable as the Aces came up with a strong finish to the meeting after their lead had been pegged at eight points with three races remaining.
The home side adapted better to conditions as rain moved in during the second half of the meeting, with Brady Kurtz (10+2) and Jaimon Lidsey (10+1) also in double figures, while Niels-Kristian Iversen made a strong guest appearance with 8+1.
It means the Aces will travel to the East Midlands as favourites on Thursday, although their visits to Beaumont Park this season have resulted in defeats by margins of 16 and 20 points.
Bewley said: “It was a good night for me but more importantly a good night for the boys, but the job’s not finished yet. We go again in a couple of days at Leicester and that’s a big one.
“They’re good at their place just as we are here, and they kept us honest for a time. The track was really good, it’s just a shame the rain came when it did, but we knew we’d have to make it work.
“Brady and myself had a plan ahead of Heat 15. We knew what lines we wanted and we made it work.
“We take 18 points into the next leg. Hopefully it’s enough but we’ll see what we can do.”
Workington’s young Finnish rider Antti Vuolas was second in the reserves race but was only able to add a third pace in his final outing.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson has vowed his side will approach the second leg with all guns blazing after they were only able to provide two race wins in Manchester.
Dickson said: “Eighteen points is a lot when you hear it out loud, but the boys battled away in tough conditions and I can’t point fingers at anybody.
“The home riders managed to cope better than us, they had their tails up and Heats 13 and 15 hurt us unfortunately.
“It’s been a difficult night for us but we’re not throwing the towel in, I can assure you. We’ll give it a go on Thursday and we’ll see what happens.
“We need to come out all guns blazing there, and after six or seven races we’ll know if we’re in with a chance.”
