Glasgow v Workington Preview
Posted 10/09/04

Workington provide the opposition for this Sundays final scheduled home league fixture of the season for the Tigers, the Cumbrians realistically already having won the bonus point.

The meeting itself is a critical one for the Tigers who must win to retain any slender hope of making the Young Shield play-offs. Workington meantime will be buoyed by their fine away win at Sheffield last night and have already shown they are mean opposition at Ashfield this season.

Carl Stonehewer is always a formidable opponent and Simon Stead has already shown what he is capable of at Glasgow. Shane and George both beat him however in his last visit when he appeared as a guest for none other than Sheffield.

If Workington have any weakness it is in the middle order of the team. Woodifield is at number 2 and will struggle while Nieminen has been struggling away from Derwent Park. Ex-Tiger Harrison scored a creditable 8+1 on his last visit with Workington but does have a tendency to blow hot and cold.

Another rider who knows Ashfield well, Aiden Collins, is back down at reserve and will be a formidable force along with the impressive James Wright, current Conference League Riders Champion. This pairing could cause the Tigers a lot of damage.

A lot will depend on whether or not James Grieves is fit for Sunday. Unfortunately indications are that James may NOT make this meeting and this could be costly.

The remaining riders, particularly the reserves, will therefore have to perform well above expectations to get the victory Glasgow badly need. I hope I am wrong, but without Grieves I feel it puts too much pressure on the reserves against a strong Workington team and Glasgow could well suffer their second home league defeat of the season.