BELLE Vue’s dream of lifting the Premiership trophy came to an end on Thursday after going down 51-39 at the East of England Arena, where Peterborough were crowned champions.
The BikeRight Aces battled from start to finish to keep the challenge of the Panthers at bay, which only came to a crescendo in the penultimate heat of the night.
Manchester’s finest were still in a position to force the meeting into golden heats had they scored two maximum 5-1s in Heats 14 and 15.
And Tom Brennan and Charles Wright looked set to deliver the first of these after blasting away from the start in the former.
Charles Wright (Yellow) rears in front of Scott Nicholls (Blue) during the SGB Premiership Grand Final 2nd leg between Peterborough and Belle Vue Aces at East of England Showground, Peterborough on Thursday 14th October 2021. (Credit: Ian Charles | MI News)
But an engine failure for Wright on lap two saw all hopes dashed and Peterborough took that as their cue to claim the crown.
Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon said: “We gave it everything we had, that came to a head in Heat 14”.
“We still had the chance to take it to golden heats after Tom and Charles gated on a 5-1, but sadly that was dashed after Charles suffered an engine failure.
“Missing Brady [Kurtz] definitely hurt us. We only scored four points from R/R but nevertheless the boys put in a solid campaign, we just didn’t hit the right form at the right time.
“I can’t fault the guys in 2021. Their fortitude, desire and commitment all season has been brilliant.
“They worked as a cohesive group and improved which was evident coming into the finals, they deserved better.
“Full respect to Peterborough. They were the better team on the night and we offer our congratulations to them as Premiership champions.”
Richie Worrall (Yellow) leads Dan Bewley (White) Craig Cook (Blue) and Michael Palm Toft (Red) during the SGB Premiership Grand Final 2nd leg between Peterborough and Belle Vue Aces at East of England Showground, Peterborough on Thursday 14th October 2021. (Credit: Ian Charles | MI News)
The Speedway season is coming to a close, but there are still two massive events heading to Manchester before the end of the month!
The 2021 Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations arrives on October 16 & 17, with the Peter Craven Memorial set to close our 2021 campaign on October 23.
Meeting tickets for the former are now sold out, and tickets for the latter are available now at bellevue-speedway.com with news regarding the line-up expected in the coming week.
RESULT – PETERBOROUGH V BELLE VUE – THURSDAY, OCTOBER 15 @ 7:30PM [SGBP POGF L2]
Peterborough ‘Crendon’ Panthers 51: Bjarne Pedersen 13+1, Michael Palm Toft 12+1, Scott Nicholls 10+1, Chris Harris 7+3, Craig Cook 5+2, Jordan Palin 4, Ulrich Ostergaard R/R Belle Vue ‘ BikeRight’ Aces 39: Dan Bewley 15, Tom Brennan 11, Steve Worrall 5+1, Jye Etheridge 3+2, Richie Worrall 3, Charles Wright 2, Brady Kurtz R/R
Peterborough win 95-85 on aggregate