Tigers Tamed in Scottish Derby
v Reading, Posted 13/08/04

Scottish derbies are usually highly charged, contraversial affairs with plenty talking points and good racing. this one quite frankly wasn't. For some reason the Tigers seemed to completely lack motivation and one heat win - in heat 14 - just about sums it all up. Nowhere near acceptable.

Firstly the attempted excuses - Shane Parker was undoubtedly still struggling after his spill last Sunday which against the quality of Schlein and Schott it was always going to make things tough. There really was very little positive that the Tigers fans could however take from this meeting.

Heat 1 looked promising as it did start with a little controversy. Schott gated well and led the first lap before George Stancl past him on the inside on lap 2, something not said very often! Schott tried to come back and appeared to clip Stancl with the merest of touches on lap 3 bend 1 and 2. George came down, Schott was excluded and the Monarchs fans were unhappy! The re-run was an anti climax however, Stancl looking out of sorts and Wethers taking the victory ahead of McAllan to share the points.

A fall on the first bend of heat 2 was to result in a re-run with Cockle excluded. A spread out heat saw Woodward gate well and despite a few wobbles win comfortably from Carrillo who was untroubled in second. heat 3 was also to be processional providing the Monarchs with their first untroubled 5-1 of the night.

The next talking point came in heat 4 with a keen contest between Parker and Carr. Parker had the advantage from the gate but was past by a superb move by Peter Carr at the end of lap 1. Shane continued to press and Carr locked up at the start of the third lap, Parker having to shut off to avoid running into him. Incredably the referee allowed the race to continue and Carr was then able to pull away from Parker with Carrillo in third making it a share of the points.

Schlein easily won heat 5 with Stancl coming out on top in the battle with Pijper for second and it was no surprise when Glasgow brought in Parker as a TR in heat 6. Both Edinburgh riders outgated Parker and although he past Wethers on the first lap Schott rode a good race to deny Parker any chance of victory.

Surprisingly Grieves was put out as a TR in heat 7 and although racing was close for the first three laps Carr then pulled away. This was followed by a 4-2 for Edinburgh in heat 8 after an aggressive start from Woodward and despite a good challenge from McAllan. Things were already looking bleak for the Tigers.

Parker gated in heat 9 but was passed on the second bend by the very impressive Schlein who then powered away. Heat 10 saw Grieves gate well and provided some of the very limited racing of the night between Grieves and Schott. Schott was to execute a text book pass on Grieves lap 3 bend 2 to deny Glasgow their first heat winner of the night.

Schlein was to easily win heat 12, a heat in which the Glasgow management surprisingly brought in Carrillo for Bentley rather than Cockle. Edinburgh executed their common heat 13 maneovre with Schott going wide and Carr cutting up the inside of the opposition riders from behind-it was somewhat disappointing how easily the Tigers allowed them to do this. teh result was an easy 5-1 for the home team.

Heat 14 was to provide the only win of the night for the Tigers. Grieves held off the challenge of another very aggressive start from Woodward and pulled clear. Unfortunately Pijper managed to nudge in side Carrillo on lap 3 to split the Tigers pair.

The result of heat 15 was more or less a foregone conclusion although Parker did put in a challenge for a short time Edinburgh were to record another 5-1 and leave the Tigers a mountain to climb in the return leg.

Shane Parkers injury was undoubtedly having an effect on him but tonights 'performance' from the stripes was quite frankly a disgrace. What greater motivation can there be than a Glasgow Edinburgh derby? The Edinburgh riders seemed able to grasp this, were fired up and in all honesty a class above their counterparts on the night.

Tigers looked jaded and uninterested. Most were found lacking also in effort. This is not acceptable at any time and particularly so in a local derby. A major bollocking better be the order of the day after this performance. The team let us down.

The scorecard and heat details can be found here.

Tiger Points:

George Stancl	*	One decent lap, not a heatleaders performancce
David McAllan	**	Tried as always
Paul Bentley		Disgraceful
James Grieves	***	Subdued for Grieves at Armadale
Shane Parker	**	Definately not fit so not as dominant as expected
James Cockle	*	Struggled
Eric Carrillo	**	Perhaps a bit harsh as he is a reserve but poor by his standards