Speedway: Sheffield 'could have beaten Belle Vue by more,' believes Simon Stead

Sheffield boss Simon Stead believes the Tru7 Group Tigers could have won by more than 10 points if rain had not halted their clash with Belle Vue early.

Sheffield led 35-25 after 10 races, when the racing was halted on Monday afternoon, with over an hour then spent on track grading work before racing was finally called off, with the result standing. There had earlier been around 30 minutes of track grading after heat four, at a time when the weather was dry.

In the end, Sheffield become the first side to beat the Aces at the National Speedway Stadium in exactly 14 months. Aces had been without their number one Brady Kurtz, operating rider replacement after he had been injured riding in Sweden.

Stead was pleased to add another two ROWE Motor Oil Premiership points to their tally, but was ‘disappointed’ with how situations throughout the day were handled.

Sign up for our free newsletters today

“It was really convincing and the way we were going, had the rain not come in and spoiled things I think we would’ve carried on and increased that points haul,” Stead said.

“It’s a hard one because I’m pleased with the result but I’m disappointed with the circumstances surrounding the rest of the carry on.

“I’m not saying it was avoidable, but I think the reality is a lot of people were waiting around for a long time and we still only got to see 10 heats of racing.

“First and foremost, rider safety has to come into play; the referee (Dave Watters) gave Belle Vue adequate time to do as much as they could to try and make the track safe and raceable.

“Unfortunately, after a long, long wait that wasn’t the case but if we focus on the positives we’ve come to Belle Vue and we’ve got a win.”

The Tigers are back on home shale this Thursday (May 30, 7.30pm) when they host Birmingham who are on a high having claimed maximum league points against leaders Ipswich on Monday.

Belle Vue 25: Ben Cook 7, Jaimon Lidsey 6+1, Norick Blodorn 6, Connor Mountain 4, Dan Bewley 2+1, Connor Bailey 0, Brady Kurtz R/R.

Sheffield 35: Chris Holder 7+1, Tai Woffinden 7, Tom Brennan 5+1, Jack Holder 5, Kyle Howarth 4+3, Jason Edwards 4, Dan Gilkes 3.

Abandoned after Heat 10 (Rain) - Result stands