More late agony for Northampton Foxes as they are edged out by leaders Aces
There was more last-race agony for Northampton Foxes as they were edged out by ROWE Motor Oil Premiership leaders Belle Vue Aces at Brafield on Thursday night.
The Foxes pushed the high-flying Aces all the way before losing 47-42 at the Shaleway.
After staying in touch in a tight contest, Foxes needed a 5-1 in the final heat to force the win, but came up short as Belle Vue recorded an eighth win in 10.
For the Foxes, who drew at King's Lynn on Monday, they remain bottom of the Premiership table after a seventh defeat in nine, and they are now seven points adrift.
Once again, it was a case of what might have been for the Northampton side, and that is a frustration for team manager Chris Adams.
“We put up a good fight and as is customary for the Foxes’ style we took them to another last heat decider, but unfortunately fell a little bit short," said Adams.
“A few last places and not enough heat winners cost us during the night.
"It’s the consistency side of it, and we’ve seen it in every single meeting – we’ll have five of us going well, and then another night it will be a different five, but never all seven.
“It’s unfortunate but we have to keep moving forward and keep battling on, and on to the next one now on Monday.”
Niels-Kristian Iversen continued a strong week of results for the Foxes, with three wins, whilst Matej Zagar struggled in his opening two rides before winning his last two, but overall the Aces just had enough to prevail.
There was a shock in Heat 1 when World No.2 Brady Kurtz was relegated to the back after a nudge from his team-mate Norick Blodorn on the first bend, with the German going on to win the race.
The Foxes duo gated well in Heat 2, but the race turned around when Tate Zischke forced his way to the front, and a 3-3 outcome was lost when Troy Batchelor went too wide on turn two and was overtaken by Sam Hagon.
Iversen was an impressive winner of a shared Heat 3, and the Foxes levelled up in the next race as skipper Nicolai Klindt made a good early move to get the better of Jason Doyle, with Luke Harrison adding third place.
Iversen then defeated Kurtz In Heat 5 as Zagar lost ground in the early stages, and there was a real setback in Heat 6 when Zischke burst between Jaimon Lidsey and Kye Thomson on the opening lap to partner Doyle to the first 5-1 of the night.
Heat 7 was highly unusual with both Klindt and Peter Kildemand pulling up with issues on the first lap, and whilst Batchelor initially led, Zach Cook came through for a 3-2 to the Aces.
Thomson fell on the second bend of Heat 8 and was disqualified with the visitors taking a 4-2 in the re-run which took them clear at 27-20 up.
But the Foxes fashioned an excellent response with a 4-2 in Heat 9 as Zagar took the win with Doyle going around Iversen to prevent a 5-1 – before the next race did provide a maximum advantage from Lidsey and Thomson over Cook and Kildemand, leaving the scoreline poised at 29-30 with five races to go.
Batchelor looked set for a win in Heat 11 only for Kurtz to make up ground in the last two laps and pip his fellow Aussie on the run to the line by just 0.017s, but the 4-2 to the Aces there was cancelled out by one for the Foxes in the next race with a rapid win for Zagar and a smart move by Harrison against Hagon for third place.
But the Aces struck a real blow in Heat 13 as Kurtz and Doyle made their way either side of the faster-starting Lidsey on the second bend, and the 5-1 to the visitors gave the Foxes a mountain to climb.
As is their style, they gave it a real go, and for most of Heat 14 they looked set to reduce the gap back to a single point only for Cook to move inside Batchelor on the last bend to salvage second place behind Iversen.
That meant only a 5-1 for the Foxes in Heat 15 would do, but former World Champion Doyle proved to be the man for the big race as he charged away from the outside gate, and although Lidsey got into second place there was no further progress as Cook settled in third ahead of Iversen.
The Foxes get the chance for speedy revenge on the Aces as they travel to Manchester on Monday.
The next action at the Shaleway is on Monday, July 20, when the Foxes host Sheffield.
Northampton Foxes 42: Niels-Kristian Iversen 10, Jaimon Lidsey 8+1, Matej Zagar 6, Luke Harrison 6, Troy Batchelor 5, Kye Thomson 4+1, Nicolai Klindt 3.
Belle Vue Aces: Jason Doyle 13, Zach Cook 9, Norick Blodorn 8+1, Brady Kurtz 7+1, Tate Zischke 5+1, Peter Kildemand 3+1, Sam Hagon 2.
Belle Vue win the aggregate point