COVENTRY'S main consolation at the end of a disappointing showing was that they are a point nearer to the play-offs thanks to two good finishing races at Kirkmanshulme Lane.
What went on before that will not live long in the memory for Buildbase Bees supporters as their team were out-ridden by the bottom club, who thoroughly deserved the win which gives them realistic hopes of avoiding the relegation race-off.
Bees will know they need to be much better than this when it comes to silverware time - in both League and Cup - over the coming weeks, but at least they still scored whilst being well below their best collectively.
And having Rory Schlein back in the saddle is also a boost, the Australian making his comeback with three fast starts and two race wins for a satisfactory paid-nine return.
Elsewhere, Bees suffered from too many last places, general inconsistency and the fact that they seemed unable to get to grips with the starting gate - a succession of poor getaways from gate four in particular being conclusively trumped by James Wright when the Aces' in-form reserve had the outside position!
Wright's form at reserve was not a total surprise, although his final score certainly was, and it showed the value for the home club in bringing in any rider with an average higher than Wright to enable him to move to reserve. On this occasion, Tomasz Chrzanowski's point-less debut was amply covered even though Belle Vue may feel they did enough for all three Elite League points.
Bees, of course, have their own high-scoring reserve in Ben Barker, and it was the unfortunate events of his two extra rides which just about set the seal on things and ensured they didn't take the away win they had been targeting.
Long before that, things had started in promising fashion when both Chris Harris and Filip Sitera made good starts in Heat 1, only for Wright to split them at the end of the second lap - Harris just defending the lead in time - with Krzysztof Kasprzak moving inside Sitera off turn two on the last lap.
It was Belle Vue who gated on a 5-1 in Heat 2 but Barker was able to take advantage of a heart-stopping moment for Ulrich Ostergaard, who almost lifted into the home straight fence before recovering his composure and holding on to third place.
Heat 3 provided the first real indication that things weren't going according to plan as Morten Risager made a fast start and was quickly joined by Patrick Hougaard with Edward Kennett and Olly Allen missing out in the first two bends, the Aces making better use of the faster inside route.
Schlein made a good getaway from what was a ragged start to Heat 4 but was a little unlucky on the first bend to pick up some unwanted drive, and he then had to be content with third place after closing down Chrzanowski. Up-front, Barker did well to come out of bend two in front, holding off Wright for a good win.
But it was the Aces who were the better starters again in Heat 5 with Risager and Hougaard squeezing out Harris from the outside, and although the Bees skipper moved ahead of Hougaard midway through the race, he was unable to make a passing move on his impressive former Coventry team-mate - the race having been re-started after a tight first bend between Sitera and Hougaard saw the Dane fall.
Schlein took a deserved win from Heat 6, heading home Kasprzak for three points, but rider-replacement Risager stopped a Bees heat advantage by slipping inside Ricky Wells on the second lap to protect a 3-3.
Bees did gain points back in a dramatic Heat 7 with Chrzanowski hitting the front but then rapidly going to the back as the other riders shot past him, Kennett hugging the inside to go from fourth to first, whilst Allen seemed to hold virtually every position briefly before making his way inside Chrzanowski on the second lap.
With the gap at four points, Belle Vue had a dose of misfortune in Heat 8 when Barker anticipated the start and found himself at the back, only for Ostergaard to suffer a mechanical failure on the first lap, the damage to the Aces being limited by an emphatic Wright win.
Schlein's second win of the night in Heat 9 kept the gap at four points, Bees unable to punish a second-bend incident which saw Risager unwittingly ride into Hougaard, and disaster followed in Heat 10 when Kasprzak and Wright gated on a 5-1 and simply charged clear to put the Aces eight-up.
At that stage Bees needed something to spark them as they were still in the meeting despite their struggles - but it seemed to be Eastbourne all over again as a succession of races provided only setbacks.
Harris was a convincing winner of Heat 11 but any hope of an advantage went when Ostergaard ruthlessly blocked Barker's route off the second bend, the Bees reserve doing well not to fall and making his frustrations clear after the race.
And Barker was again involved in Heat 12, there being no argument about his culpability when he squared turn three into the path of Wright, bringing both riders down. The re-run saw Wright and Hougaard bank maximum points over Allen, and that left Bees needing a tactical ride to help salvage something from the meeting.
Harris took black and white for Heat 13 but Kasprzak won the race to the first bend and, to all intents and purposes, won the race itself in those first 30 yards, Harris having to settle for second place and four points with Schlein third for a 5-3.
It still left Bees four points adrift of where they needed to be, but fortunately the last two races turned out to be very much amongst their best of the night.
Kennett and Barker stormed clear out of the start in Heat 14 and then managed to hold something only just short of a conversation on the back straight as both worked out where they would be riding, with Risager then squeezed out for the duration of the race.
That put Bees back in control of the extra point, needing only to share Heat 15 with Wright having long since been ridden out - his seventh ride coming in Heat 12 - and Harris and Kennett were chosen to face Kasprzak and Hougaard.
Initially it looked as if the Aces could inflict maximum damage when Kasprzak gated again with Hougaard establishing himself in third place - but Harris was quickly aware of the position and throttled back to give Hougaard a dilemma, and Kennett neatly switched back at the end of the second lap to take the third place Bees needed.
The result from Monmore Green, where Peterborough went down to a heavy defeat, paradoxically made this still a positive night for the Bees in terms of the overall effect to the Elite League table - but there would be no jumping through hoops at this stage, and the upcoming ten day break will be a good opportunity to re-focus ahead of the final push.
BELLE VUE 49 Krzysztof Kasprzak 1* 2 3 3 3 = 12+1 Charlie Gjedde Rider Replacement Patrick Hougaard 2* 1 2 2* 0 = 7+2 Morten Risager 3 3 1* 1* 1 = 9+2 Tomasz Chrzanowski 0 0 0 = 0 Ulrich Ostergaard 1 2 R 1* 0 = 4+1 James Wright 2 3 2 3 2* 2 3 = 17+1