West Cumbrian ace Dan Bewley top-scored for Belle Vue in the first leg of their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final last night.
But the reigning champions will only take a six-point lead to Ipswich on Thursday for the second leg.
The Aces provided 11 of the 15 race wins at the National Speedway Stadium, but they were held to a 48-42 margin after a determined showing from the league leaders.
Ipswich led early on after a 5-1 in Heat 2, and even when Belle Vue went six up at the halfway stage, the visitors cut the gap back to two points with a crucial series of wins from Tom Brennan and Jason Doyle.
The Aces’ top duo of Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley took 4-2’s in Heats 13 and 15 but were denied full rewards as Emil Sayfutdinov finished ahead of Bewley in the first of those, with Doyle defeating Kurtz in the finale.
Bewley scored 13 points with Kurtz on 12 and Zach Cook won three of his four rides to finish on 11, whilst Doyle raced to 11+2 for the Witches with all of his team-mates chipping in.
Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “We didn’t get the lead we wanted, but we can still go there and reach the Grand Final.
“We’ve been here before and it’s not unfamiliar to us. We are under no illusions, we need a big performance on Thursday.
“The boys are capable of it and I’m backing them, and I’m sure the fans are too.”
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins is a former Workington rider and he says that he left Manchester satisfied with his side’s overall position in the semi-final.
Hawkins was especially encouraged by the fact that they did not fall away in the closing stages as has been the case on previous visits to the National Speedway Stadium.
He said: “Obviously we would have liked to have done even better but overall, I am really happy with the lads and the way they rode.
“They stuck in the meeting and bounced back after Heat 8 in the second half of the meeting to keep it level from then on.
“There were a lot of 3-3’s where we filled in the minor placings and I think that really showed our battling qualities and determination. There was a lot of team riding, and we had our sensible racing heads on.
“It leaves things finely poised for Thursday. It was a great battle between two great sides and there was some great racing, and I’m sure Thursday will be the same.”
