Falcons Fail to Fly
v Exeter, Posted 04/07/04

Glasgow did their best to make Carrillo feel at home for this independance day clash with his own trip on the parade truck with an American flag prior to the meeting starting.

This was a very one sided affair more or less right from the start. Heat 1 saw Michael Coles excluded for his exhaust not being properly connected but that heat and the following two resulted in comfortable 4-2's for the home team followed by a 5-1 in heat 4 by a very comfortable margin. In all honesty there was very little competitive racing in these heats.

Ross Brady was to make a pass in heat 5 at the end of lap 1 to get round Graham Jones into second but in the same heat Coles was to mysteriously come off unchallenged at the back.

It didn't get any better for the Falcons in heat 6 with Stephens being excluded under 2 minutes and replaced by Simmons who then had an engine failure on the first bend. Mark Simmonds did however manage to get the better of Bentley to prevent the 5-1.

Finally Exeter shared a heat, heat 7, with Gordon and Lobb coming in behind Parker despite pressure from Blackman on Lobb. Heat 8 saw yet another 4-2 for the Tigers with Simmonds passing Carrillo for second place. Jones and Grieves produced good team riding to register a 5-1 in heat 9 and Stancl and Benltey repeated the feat in the next heat.

Unsurprisingly Exeter brought Brady in as a TR in heat 11 as the rain started to fall. Up against Parker, Brady was surprisingly to give Falcons their first and only heat win of the meeting.

Heat 12 was run in the rain rpoviding a considerably slower time than those posted for the rest of the meeting. Jones did well to win from the gate although Eric Carrillo at the back did not seem to relish the conditions.

A short delay ensued as visibility was poor but when racing re-commenced Stancl and Parker racked up yet another 5-1 in heat 13.

Graeme Gordon came out as a TR in heat 14 and challenged Grieves hard but the Glasgow man held on for the victory. The formality that was heat 15 saw the Tigers FIFTH 5-1 of the evening whilst Graeme Gordon suffered an engine failure at the back.

Certainly not a classic meeting. Exeter will be glad tehy had Ross Brady as a guest to save them further embarrassment although Simmonds and Gordon tried very hard.

Glasgow posted paid maximums for Grieves and Bentley and only a good ride by Brady in heat 11 prevented Shane from joining them. Jonah seemed to prefer the wetter track and looked back to form. Banga had a quiet day but still racked up the points, Eric tailed off and Corey tried hard but struggled.

Not the sort of meeting to bring fans into the sport but it will no doubt boost the Glasgow riders confidence.

One final note - I think the Glasgow riders may think twice about maximums in the future after his team mates forgot to catch George when giving the bumps!!.

The scorecard and heat details can be found here.

Pictures from this meeting, courtesy of Lioness, can be found here

Tiger Points:

George Stancl	*****	Lead by example
Paul Bentley	***	Played his part
Graham Jones	***	Improved as the meeting went on
James Grieves	*****	Excellent performance
Shane Parker	****	As always good performance
Corey Blackman	**	Tried hard
Eric Carrillo	***	Faded