MATCH REPORT: Aces claim runners up spot with convincing win
Wednesfield Aces rounded off their 2014 Elite League campaign on a high, claiming the runners up spot in the league with a win against the Stars. Wednesfield have been a solid team in the past few weeks, first retaining their British Senior Club Championship status at Ipswich and then topped it by retaining the British Team KO Cup against Poole in convincing style the following week.
Both teams today had casulties before the match started with the Aces’ Mark Griffiths having to pull out after accident at home sustained a broken bone in his hand, whilst one of the Stars’ Polish riders Damien Zareba was taken ill after the journey down and could not take his place in the team. However, the Aces have a big elite squad and gave young Lee Kemp his second outing in the first team.
The meeting got off to a steady start with a mix of a couple of drawn heats and a couple of 6-4s to the home side. Heat 5 saw the Aces take a 7-3 heat win advantage, the first of three they recorded through out the meeting, two of those coming from the pairing of Chris Jewkes & Matt Smith the other from Paul Heard & Ricki Johnson.
The Aces’ Lee Aris was at his best, just dropping one point in his 5 races with 19 points. Aces’ Welsh wizard Ben Mould was involved in a heavy fall onto his shoulder in heat 10 after a first bend crash involving Sheffield’s captain Gavin Parr, with the Sheffield rider’s hand getting wedged between the Aces riders frame & wheel causing the bike to stop instantly catapulting Ben over the bars. The Aces rider was replaced in the rerun by their reserve Matt Smith, Gavin Parr came out after treatment to his hand and won the rerun for the Stars.
The Stars’ British individual champion Andy Angell had a quiet day by his standards, only managing a 13 point return, but there was no one to touch Sheffield’s Polish star Pawel Idziorek, on the day he went through the card with a 20 points maximum. It was a very sporting match, with the home side edging it with a bit more strengh in depth throughout their team.
WEDNESFIELD ACES 95
LEE ARIS 19, CHRIS JEWKES 12+2, PAUL HEARD 14+1, RICKI JOHNSON 9+1, MARK WINWOOD 8+2, BEN MOULD 12+1, LEE KEMP 7+1, MATT SMITH 14+1, HAYDN ROWLEY N/R.
SHEFFIELD STARS 84
MYKE GRIMES 13, NIALL MORTON 5, ANDY ANGELL 13+1, GAVIN PARR 11+1, PAWEL IDZIOREK 20, BOBBY McMILLAN 9, ADAM WATSON 2, JAKE READ 11+1.
Elite League Combination
The Aces combination squad round off their 2014 season with another win to confirm they were the combo league winners,
WEDNESFIELD ACES (68+16) 84
SCOTT DOHERTY 6+2, CONNOR DYKE 12, HAYDN ROWLEY 11, LEE KEMP 13+1, ROGER COX 12, DAVE MEANLEY 7, MICK ARIS 7+1.
SHEFFIELD STARS (60+8) 68
JAKE READ 15+2, ED MORTON 7, RICHARD HUDSON 10, ADAM WATSON 8+1, NIAL MORTON 11+2, MATT PARROTT 9.