The King's Lynn Stars made a triumphant return to Manchester's National Speedway Stadium after emphatically defeating league leaders Belle Vue Aces 41-49.

It was all about the restoration of pride for the visiting Stars after enduring one of their toughest season to date, which has left their play-off ambitions all but in tatters.

Stars spearhead Niels-Kristian Iversen again missed out on the journey to the north-west due to a fixture clash in Denmark, with Wolverhampton rider Fredrik Lindgren coming in as substitute.

In one of the closest home matches in Belle Vue's history, Lynn made certain not to produce an encore of their last native clash with the Aces and gave their opponents plenty to think about.

The final result came down to a heat 15 decider in which the home team had no choice but to deliver a 5-1 to draw the meeting, a task the Stars twisted to suit their designs for maximum points.

Lynn team manager Dale Allitt said: 'That was one for the fans. We've had a tough few weeks recently and questions have been asked about the team, but I think their performance speaks volumes.

'It does make a big difference when you have your full team with you and sadly that's not been the case in quite a few of our meetings for one reason or another and tonight was no exception.

'Fredrik Lindgren came in for Niels (Kristian-Iversen) and did just as good a job as I'm sure he would've, which is exactly what we needed, and Robert Lambert was well on the pace as well.

'It was good to welcome back Carl Wilkinson to the team. Ever since Simon (Lambert) got injured there have been a few clashes and we've been trying to utilise the guest facility where possible.

'But it looks like he'll be with us for the rest of the season now which is fantastic news. Hopefully with that little bit more stability in the team we can translate that into better results on the track.

'Realistically our chances of reaching the play-offs are slim, but no matter what the situation we want to win as many of our matches as we can. Right now it's all about pride and continuity.'

The Stars hope to carry the momentum from their shock win into their home meeting against Wolverhampton Wolves tonight at the Adrian Flux Arena.

Belle Vue 41 – Joe Jacobs 9 (4), Danny King 6+1 (5), Scott Nicholls 6+1 (5), Steve Worrall 6 (4), Matej Zagar 5 (4), Craig Cook 5 (4), Richie Worrall 4 (4)

King's Lynn 49 – Robert Lambert 13 (5), Freddie Lindgren 12+1(5), Kai Huckenbeck 8+2 (4), Troy Batchelor 5+1 (4), Lewis Rose 5+1 (4), Carl Wilkinson 3+2 (4), Rory Schlein 3 (4)