No Joy at Rye
Rye House v Glasgow, Posted 05/09/04

With only a 1 point lead from the meeting with Rye House at Ashfield last month it always looked unlikely that Glasgow were going to take anything from this meeting. The task was made even more difficult with James Grieves failing to be fit for the trip and r/r coming into operation.

It started well however with a heat advantage when George Stancl shot from the gate in the first heat and an engine failure for Chris Neath gave Glasgow an opening heat advantage. Sadly this was reversed in heat 2 but it could have been so much worse if McAllan had not managed to get by Steve Boxall.

It was to get worse in heat 3 with the home team taking a 5-1 after an uncharacteristic mistake from Bentley. Parker and Stancl were to win the next two heats from the gate to bring the score back to within two points.

Heat 6 say Rye on a 5-1 but a second engine failure for Neath gave the tigers a share of the spoils. Stancl and Bentley gated superbly in heat 7 and rode a good race to secure a 5-1 for the Tigers and take the lead in the meeting.

Unfortunately this seemed to spur on the home side and they replied with two heat advantages followed by a 5-1. The impressive Stancl passed fast gating Werner in heat 11 to stop the slide but Rye restored their 6-point advantage with a heat advantage in heat 12.

The decisive heat 13 was disastrous for the Tigers with a relatively easy and surprising 5-1 more or less from the gate.

Team management has been questioned by Glasgow fans on quite a few occasions this season and many on the terrace were questioning why Bentley was brought in as a TR in the rider replacement slot in heat 14 instead of Stancl going as a GDTS along side Bentley as rider replacement on normal points. This is a difficult one to call as Stancl had just had a poor race and although there had been more passing than I have ever seen before at Rye it is not the easiest place to pass. It would surely have been worth the risk though. As it was, Robson shot from the gate and Bentley only just managed to hold onto second place for a 4-4. Heat 15 was now a formality and Glasgow were gifted a share of the spoils when Robson came off.

Overall it was a decent meeting with a lot more passing than I expected, but in fairness Glasgow did get a few breaks with Neaths engine failures early on in the meeting. You cannot however expect to travel away from home and win with only 2 or 3 riders performing to their capabilities. George was by far the best Tiger with Bentley again doing his bit and Shane possibly worth more than his points total suggests. Eric still looks to be struggling and it was expected that James Cockle would have done better on what is essentially his home track especially as he had something to prove to the Rye Management.

Overall the result is probably a fair reflection, but if you think (as I do) that some Glasgow fans are overly critical of Shane Parker you should hear the Rye House ones with Chris Neath.

The scorecard and heat details can be found here.

Tiger Points:

George Stancl	****	An excellent performance
Eric Carrillo	**	Still looking very jaded
Paul Bentley	****	Once more very solid
Shane Parker	***	Tried hard although poor in heat 13
James Cockle	*	Perhaps harsh but disappoiting on his home track
David McAllan	**	Only beat one opposition rider