Belle Vue Aces out of Speedway's Premiership play offs after epic battle with Ipswich Witches

Belle Vue Aces Premiership title defence has been shattered in a breathtaking last race decider at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester.

The Aces lost their semi-final first leg by 18 points to Ipswich last Thursday and needed to overturn that points deficit on Monday September 26 to make a third successive Grand Final.

The teams were level after half of the meeting.

But the next eight races served up the most sensational action as the home side pulled back the score and trailed by just two points going into the final heat.

Aces captain Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley were then involved in a heart-stopping four laps with Ipswich pair Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle, swapping the lead several times.

But the visitors won it to end a thrilling encounter in heartbreak for the Aces.

Kurtz was visibly gutted with the outcome and admitted: "There’s not too much we can say really. We gave it our all, there’s no question about that.

"It wasn’t tonight that we lost it, that’s for sure. We lost it last Thursday at Ipswich.

"All we can be now is gracious in defeat. We wish Ipswich the best of luck in the final.

"We’ve had a great season and such a great group of guys to do it with. All of my team-mates have put their heart and soul into the year.

"Thanks to all the fans who have been here all season and stuck with us. We will be back."

Grand Prix star Bewley was clearly taking the blame on the semi defeat after by his standards, a poor first leg at Ipswich.

He said: "It was awesome to watch but obviously we would like to have won.

"For me coming here even if I’d scored 15, I still didn’t deserve to be up here after the performance at Ipswich.

"I struggled there and I tried my hardest but it didn’t happen. Those points cost us.

"We fought all the way to the end. For a moment I thought we were on a 5-1 in Heat 15, it just didn’t happen.

"To be honest we had the momentum on our side. I feel like we, maybe not me, I think we can hold our heads up high and try again next year."

ATPI Aces boss Mark Lemon also admitted that the team would be "hurting for a while" after the remarkable battle at the NSS.

He continued: "This is a great club and it has got a big heart. These guys showed loads of spirit and character.

"Our season has ended a bit premature, we wanted to defend our title after winning it after a wait of 29 years.

"We do a lot of good things at this club. Everyone must be feeling pretty disappointed but the fans turn up in their droves week-in, week-out.

"Losing Charles Wright was a massive blow. It hurts any team when you lose a second-string.

"But I can’t speak more highly of these lads. They gave it their all. That was a huge task and we nearly did it.

"It was a crazy Heat 15, pretty gnarly. I can’t remember seeing a race like that and no one should be disappointed by how we finished.

"We win as a team, we lose as a team. We will build on this towards next year."