(SPEEDWAY 1)WOLVERHAMPTON were crowned Elite League Champions after a dramatic second leg of the Grand Final at Belle Vue on Wednesday.The Monmore men were put under pressure by the home side, who were attempting to create history by pulling back an 18-point first leg deficit.When the Aces had reduced that margin to eight midway through the meeting, the comeback looked on – but their progress was then checked by a resolute Wolves team.There was controversy during and after a spectacular Heat 13 when Craig Cook and Fredrik Lindgren clashed, but the Swede’s second place took his side to the brink of glory.And that was sealed when World Champion Tai Woffinden won Heat 14, as Wolves collected their first title since 2009 by an eventual ten-point aggregate margin.Manager Peter Adams said: “This is thoroughly merited and the team deserve this success.“Belle Vue and Poole may have been the slightly better teams over the course of the season, but it's who's better over four meetings at the end which counts most.“I've said for many years now, building confidence and getting results is just part of it from March to September - it's what you do in October that really matters and we've come up trumps once again.”(SPEEDWAY 2)BELLE Vue boss Mark Lemon paid tribute to his side after seeing them come up just short in the Elite League Grand Final.The Aces topped the regular table after a hard-fought three-way battle with Wolverhampton and Poole, but it was the Midlands side who prevailed in the play-offs.Lemon said: “Overall it’s been a pretty successful year, we’re just gutted we couldn’t finish the job. We win as a team and lose as a team, and everyone over the course of the season has done their job.“Losing the championship is a bitter pill to swallow but to make the Grand Final is not a bad thing in front of a packed house. We tried our best and gave it everything but sadly it wasn’t enough.“This team has been tremendous to work with. They’re a great bunch of guys who deserve to be successful and even though we lost the title, we still topped the table. So I guess that’s something.”(SPEEDWAY 3)WOLVERHAMPTON legend Peter Karlsson has confirmed Wednesday’s Grand Final win at Belle Vue was his last appearance for the club.The 46-year-old played a crucial role at the National Speedway Stadium and celebrated his fourth league title in a Monmore career stretching right back to 1990, but is now finally set to call time on racing in the UK.Karlsson said: “I think it goes without saying that Wolverhampton will always hold a special place in my heart after all this time.“I've had a lot of seasons with them now and while some haven't been easy, years like this one remind you what you do this job for.“It means a hell of a lot to win another league title but that's it for me now. What a way to go out with Wolverhampton - the boys have been brilliant here this year and they all deserve this league win this year just as much as I do. “The supporters have been absolutely brilliant right from day one and I want to thank them for everything since I first came to the club.“I'm in the early stages of planning some sort of farewell meeting which I want to run at Monmore at the start of next season and hopefully we can bring some old faces back too to sum up my time with Wolverhampton.”(SPEEDWAY 4)BIRMINGHAM continue the defence of their National League title when they host Midland neighbours Cradley in the first leg of their play-off semi-final tie at Perry Barr on Thursday.The Brummies finished top of the regular standings and selected their local rivals as opponents for the penultimate round of the all important end-of-season competition.The home side bring in Liam Carr to guest for the injured Zach Wajtknecht, and operate rider-replacement for Danyon Hume, whilst Cradley have called up Ben Hopwood with Luke Chessell still on the sidelines.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “It’s going to be a cracking couple of meetings against Cradley and I’m sure both teams will be backed by their supporters in big numbers.“It’s not a meeting I’m setting any specific targets for on Thursday, I just want the lads to go out there, ride how they have done all season and build up as big a lead as possible.“I think it will be tougher than when we beat them earlier in the season but the lads are full of confidence and are fired up for the play-offs.”Cradley reserve Bradley Andrews said: “Birmingham are a very good team and they've got probably the best two reserves in the league in the two Jacks (Parkinson-Blackburn and Smith). “But my confidence has grown every week and I'll be doing what I can to go out there and beat them and get some points for the team. “We know it's going to be tough against Birmingham because they've only lost one meeting all season. But if we can make some good starts and cut out the last places then I reckon we can push them much closer than we did in the league.”(SPEEDWAY 5)SWINDON star Nick Morris is keen to end his season on a high in the Elite League Riders’ Championship at Coventry on Saturday.Morris will represent the Robins alongside Australian compatriot Rohan Tungate in the showpiece event.Said Morris: “It hasn’t really been my year, but hopefully I can go well in the ELRC and head into the winter on a high. “I haven’t really been on the bike for three weeks so it won’t be easy, but I’ll give it my best and see if I can get in the mix.“It would be nice to go in with some momentum behind me, so fingers crossed things go well and I can have a good one.”(FIXTURES)THURSDAY OCTOBER 6:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Birmingham v Cradley 7.30FRIDAY OCTOBER 7:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v King’s Lynn OFFPREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Somerset v Ipswich 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Eastbourne v Kent 8pmSATURDAY OCTOBER 8:ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Rye House v Newcastle 7pmLEAGUE CUP S/F 2nd leg: Workington v Glasgow 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Isle of Wight 7pmSUNDAY OCTOBER 9:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Newcastle v Rye House 6.30LEAGUE CUP FINAL 1st leg: Glasgow v Somerset (provisional) 3pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Isle of Wight 3pm, Buxton v King’s Lynn (follows previous fixture)