SHEFFIELD opened up their season with a 53-37 home defeat in the ‘War of the Roses’ showdown against Belle Vue – but they gave the Elite League side a real scare.
The Aces had to work extremely hard for their victory and were pushed hard by the Yorkshiremen for much of the night, but they showed their class in the closing stages to eventually win a thrilling encounter.
And but for the injury withdrawal of Ricky Ashworth and winter recruit Emiliano Sanchez the Tigers may even have pulled off an opening night surprise.
Thankfully neither rider went to hospital and their absence from the remainder of the night was nothing more than precautionary.
Just four points separated the two teams after ten races and that slim advantage was only as a result of some unfortunate circumstances in heat 5.
Sanchez was forced to pull-out after clashing with team-mate Ashworth and then the Tigers skipper suffered his own misfortune in the re-run. His bike packed up whilst holding second on the third lap behind GP star Chris Harris, which allowed Charlie Gjedde through for a gift 5-1.
Ashworth hit the deck again in heat 9 and that was his night over, but the points were shared in the re-start when the reserve duo of Simon Lambert and Ashley Birks followed home Rory Schlein.
Auty and Birks then got the jump on the previously unbeaten Harris in heat 11 and although he found a way past Birks, the GB International fell on the final lap when challenging Auty. This left the scores level at 33-33.
However, Belle Vue then showed why they start this season as one of the favourites for the Elite League play-offs. The finished the meeting with four successive 5-1s, but the final scoreline didn’t tell the full story.
