SHEFFIELD missed out on a third successive Grand Final by the narrowest of margins as they were beaten by two points on aggregate by Belle Vue.

The Tru7 Group Tigers won their home leg 50-40, but lost 91-89 overall.

They got off to an unusually slow start as the visitors won all four of the opening races and extended their aggregate lead to 16 points.

But the Owlerton outfit hit back with a 4-2 in Heat Five before consecutive shared races.

A 5-1 from Dan Gilkes and Kyle Howarth reduced the gap to ten on aggregate - and that was soon six after Howarth and Jack Holder registered another maximum in the re-run of Heat Ten following an alarming spill for Belle Vue’s Ben Cook.

Harris came out and won Heat 11, but a 4-2 to the Aces in Heat 12 was a bitter blow.

Visiting skipper Brady Kurtz produced a brilliantly brave move to squeeze by Jack Holder on the opening lap of Heat 13 for a share of the spoils before Antti Vuolas secured their route to the final in Heat 14 as he finished ahead of Jason Edwards with Josh Pickering doing everything within his power to try and slow the race down.

Pickering and Harris did sign off instyle with a 5-1 in Heat 15 for the outgoing champions, but for the Tigers attentions now turn to team building for 2025.

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF, SEMI-FINAL, 2ND LEG
SHEFFIELD 50: Chris Harris 12+1, Josh Pickering 11, Kyle Howarth 9+1, Chris Holder 6+1, Jack Holder 5+4, Dan Gilkes 5, Jason Edwards 2+1.
BELLE VUE 40: Dan Bewley 10, Brady Kurtz 10, Jaimon Lidsey 9, Antti Vuloas 7, Ben Cook 2+1, Norick Blodorn 1+1, Jake Mulford 1.
Belle Vue win 91-89 on aggregate