Belle Vue Aces remained top of the Premiership table with a comfortable win over Ipswich Witches at the National Stadium tonight.
The Witches, still badly hit by injuries, had little answer to the speed and power of the home side, although there were notable performances from Drew Kemp and Jake Allen.
However, with guest Craig Cook failing to trouble the Aces heat leaders, this was a meeting the Witches were never going to win.
Indeed, all eyes now turn to Foxhall on Thursday night as Peterborough come to town - another defeat - and what would be the Witches fourth on the spin - would not be good news.
Belle Vue got off the perfect start, gating to the front and leaving Cook, and Kemp in their trail in the opening race.
Kemp was out in the next race and he and partner Anders Rowe shared the spoils, Rowe and Belle Vue's Tom Brennan swapping places as Kemp kept winner Jye Etheridge honest throughout.
Allen passed Charles Wright in style in heat three as an Ipswich rider won the first heat of the night.
Kemp rode a brilliant heat four, gating and disappearing into the distance as the Witches pulled two points back. But the Aces were soon back in the ascendency, with Rowe and Wright having a great race, before the Aces man came out on top to join his partner at the front.
Danny King won the next, but it was the Aces who stretched their lead to eight after heat seven with Dan Bewley winning his first race of the night for the home side.
Ipswich were up against it at the halfway stage and the Aces went 10 in the next. King couldn't make any impression on the Belle Vue pairing in the next as the Aces went 14 up, with King then coming in for a tactical ride in heat 11.
He could make no impression once more on the fast Richie Worrall, in a drawn heat that put the Witches 14 down going into the final five races.
Kemp and Cook shared the spoils in heat 11, but the Aces claimed the victory in the next as Steve Worrall took the chequered flag and there was no way back for Ipswich.
Other results: Peterborough 58 King's Lynn 32, Wolves 50 Sheffield 40
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