THE Buildbase Bees may have cause for relief that three points are on offer for away wins this season - because they are going to need wins on the road to counterbalance two home slip-ups in their first three Elite League outings.
It wasn't quite as bad as Eastbourne coming away with three points, but Bees still dropped a point in totally unexpected circumstances against Belle Vue, and mechanical issues were largely to blame.
Nobody at Brandon, however, was using that as an excuse after what should have been a comfortable win, and could still have been a narrow win, was turned into a drawn fixture by a late Aces comeback which saw them recover from six points down to share the spoils with a 4-2 in the last race.
The visitors' top man Jason Crump was at his brilliant best, Charlie Gjedde scored several of their important late points and Billy Forsberg underlined his talent - but for Bees it was undeniably a throwaway night, where they could point to any number of incidents where they had missed out.
Crump gave an indication of his form in Heat 1 even after missing the start, as a burst of power on the third and fourth bends took him past both Olly Allen and Rory Schlein, and later in the race Forsberg took advantage of Allen going wide to snatch third place.
Bees avenged that with a 4-2 of their own in Heat 2, with Andreas Messing first seeing off Michal Rajkowski and then going inside Robert Ksiezak on the second lap - and then Stan Burza made it around Rajkowski on the final bend to snatch third place on the line.
But the first real signs that this would be a troublesome night came in Heat 3 when, with Bees on a clear 5-1, Billy Janniro slowed to a stop on lap two, and then race leader Chris Harris began to gradually lose power, eventually giving up the lead to Gjedde and second place to Lukasz Jankowski, handing the Aces a 5-1 of their own.
Heat 4 saw Simon Stead unintentionally impeded by team-mate Burza on the first bend, which enabled Joe Screen to take second place - but as the Aces skipper moved inside Burza on the second lap, Stead took them both by using what was becoming a fast line on the inside off turn two, the 4-2 bringing Bees back to within two points.
But Belle Vue responded in Heat 5 with Janniro making little progress before suffering more problems, and Harris having his hands full in keeping Forsberg at bay as he again appeared to be slowing in the second half of the race.
Schlein and Allen took Bees' first maximum of the night, although it was a little fortunate because just as Allen was rounding Rajkowski for third place, second-placed Screen punctured on the fourth bend and Allen was therefore able to move from fourth to second as Bees levelled the scores.
But it didn't stay that way for long as Gjedde hit the front again in Heat 7, and Jankowski again inherited a paid win thanks to Stead's surprise fall on the fourth bend, with the other riders fortunately avoiding him as they made their way through.
The next three races saw Coventry apparently get themselves into gear with a relatively trouble-free run, and the scoring moved forward as a result. First Allen rode a good first lap in Heat 8 to get the better of Forsberg, with Burza again beating an opposing reserve in third - and Harris and Janniro then got it right in Heat 9, Janniro from the gate and Harris shooting through on the inside of Screen and Rajkowski with a smart exit from turn two.
Schlein and Allen squeezed Gjedde out of contention in the early stages of Heat 10 and there was no reprieve for Jankowski on this occasion, and that 5-1 put Bees into a 33-27 lead - which appeared to be clearly enough to defend.
But the position changed again in Heat 11 when Forsberg made one of the rides of the night to move inside Stead on the second lap, using a line which rarely provides success at that stage of the meeting - but the Swede made it work, and suddenly Belle Vue were back in with a chance with the unbeaten Crump at the front.
Heat 12 saw another Belle Vue race winner as Gjedde picked up speed out of turn two and got himself ahead of Harris going into the third bend, although Burza's third place ahead of Ksiezak kept Bees with a narrow advantage.
Screen nudged the tapes at the start of Heat 13 which appeared to be a moment which would make life much easier for the Bees - although their defence of a 3-3 was not entirely straightforward as Screen gained ground rapidly on Schlein and Stead from his handicap, with Schlein covering the angles well to prevent an Aces' advantage.
Then Bees were hoping to wrap things up in Heat 14 - only for Jankowski to make a flying start and Kseizak to move into an important third place. For a time the Aces looked set to level the match, but Janniro forcefully made his way through on the inside going into the third bend on lap two, but Burza couldn't salvage third on this occasion so the last heat decider still could have seen the match go any one of three ways.
With the Aces winning the toss, Gjedde was handed gate one by Crump, who predictably shot away from the start in the manner he had done in four of his five rides - but with Gjedde clamped by Harris on the first bend and Schlein taking second spot, Bees were in position for a narrow win. However Harris, far from happy with the pace of his machine, was eventually overtaken by Gjedde on the third lap as the Dane snatched a point for his new club - to leave Bees far from happy with the shock outcome of the meeting.
BUILDBASE BEES 45 Rory Schlein 2 3 3 2 2 = 12 Olly Allen 0 2* 3 2* = 7+2 Chris Harris 1 2 3 2 0 = 8 Billy Janniro R R 2* 3 = 5+1 Simon Stead 3 R 1 1* = 5+1 Andreas Messing 3 1 0 = 4 Stanislaw Burza 1 1 1 1* 0 = 4+1
BELLE VUE 45 Jason Crump 3 3 3 3 3 = 15 Billy Forsberg 1 1 2 2* = 6+1 Charlie Gjedde 3 3 1 3 1 = 11 Lukasz Jankowski 2* 2* 0 2 = 6+2 Joe Screen 2 R 1 0 = 3 Michal Rajkowski 0 1 0 = 1 Robert Ksiezak 2 0 0 0 1* = 3+1
