Belle Vue Aces rounded off a difficult night at the office by clawing a coveted point in speedway's Elite League from their 48-42 defeat at Coventry Bees.

The meeting started slowly for the Rentruck Aces when a first heat 5-1 from the Buildbase Bees put them at an early disadvantage as they struggled to get to grips with the track.

A 10-point deficit as the racing was drawing to a close seemed like an impossible margin to recover from, but Belle Vue had one final ace up their sleeve for the last heat.

An inspired performance from club No.1 Matej Zagar and captain Scott Nicholls gave the Rentruck Aces the 5-1 they needed to ensure they did not leave Brandon empty-handed.

Team manager Mark Lemon was delighted to see his squad respond when it mattered to bounce back from what initially appeared to be a fruitless evening as well as Monday's heavy home defeat to the same team.

He said: "I think it's fair to say we achieved our objective tonight. We witnessed first hand what Coventry are capable of on Monday so to come away from this match with a point is a real achievement.

"Of course we would have liked to have won the meeting outright but at the end of the day, the small margins make a big difference and it was always going to be difficult against such a powerful team.

"Kyle [Howarth] and Grzegorz [Zengota] filled us with confidence because the experience those boys have around this track made them a natural choice for our guest riders.

"We did struggle a little to begin with but the boys battled hard all night. We didn't get off to the start we wanted and we really had to dig deep to keep the meeting close.

"Conditions made it tricky to find the most effective set-up and I think that was most evident during the first handful of heats, but you have to expect that when you go to an away track.

"Slowly but surely, the boys found a combination that worked for them as they adapted to the circuit, but we were still 10 points down going into the final heat.

"By that point, though, both Matej and Scott had got the bit between their teeth and pulled off a brilliant 5-1 to claim that elusive consolation point.

"It's not something I want to get too carried away about but it certainly bodes well for the teams confidence and moral within the camp.

"The Aces of old didn't travel so well and we want to change that mentality, and I hope that tonight we've started to change that."

Coventry 'Buildbase' Bees: Joan's Kylmakorpi 8+2; Jason Garrity 8; Danny King 7+1; Chris Harris 7; Hans Andersen 7; Stuart Robson 6+2; James Sarjeant 5+2

Belle Vue 'Rentruck' Aces: Matej Zagar 8+1; Scott Nicholls 8+1; Steve Worrall 7; Max Fricke 7; Kyle Howarth(G) 6+1; Grzegorz Zengota (G) 5; Stefan Nielsen 1