League Season Finishes with Defeat
Glasgow v Workington, Posted 12/09/04

Glasgow's very slim chance of Young Shield qualification was finally killed off today with a home defeat at the hands of League runners up Workington.

The meeting started well enough for the Tigers with Stancl winning from the tapes, ably backed by Carrillo who rode an excellent race and managed to hold Stonehewer off for three laps before the Comets captain passed him on the back straight of the final lap.

As expected, the Comets reserves were too strong in heat 2 for the Tigers and recorded a comfortable 5-1. However Glasgow brought Stancl in for the r/r in heat 3 and reversed the score, Stancl winning by a considerable distance.

Two shared heats followed, both from the gate with Parker gating well in heat 4 but Bentley having a nightmare start a heat later. Stancl and Carrillo gated well in heat 6. Stead momentarily passed Carrillo at the end of lap 2 but Carrillo returned the favour seconds later. Stead was to get the better of the young American on the final lap however to claim second.

Another comfortable win for Parker in heat 7 with James Cockle also gating well and riding an intelligent race, so much so that Nieminen overcooked it on the second bend of the last lap trying to get a wide line round him. It has to be said though the referee was a bit hasty in putting the red lights on.

At this stage things were looking good but two disastrous 1-5's followed, a particularly bad one in heat 8 when poor riding by Carrillo not only blocked his partner but also allowed Collins through.

Stancl continued to shine, winning heat 10 comfortably but the heat was to be shared. When Workington followed this up with a 2-4 advantage in heat 11 things were looking really bleak and the following two shared heats, the second of which saw Stancl beat for the first time, seemed to seal Glasgows fate.

Since joining Glasgow, James Cockle has made a habit of giving us a dramatic heat 14 in one way or another and tonight was no different. Bentley was in as rider replacement and shot from the gate. James was left to fend off the Workington pairing on his own and he did so superbly for virtually the entire race, covering every line despite constant pressure. His never say die attitude is fast making him a favourite with the crowd and he was rewarded with the biggest cheer of the night.

It also brought Glasgow straight back into the meeting with the points level and everything to be decided in the last heat, just as it was the last time the two teams met at Ashfield. Unfortunately though, the result was different this time with Stancl suffering his second defeat of the night and the uncharacteristically poor Parker trailing in well at the back.

Two of the riders you would expect to do well at Ashfield, Parker and Stonehewer, had very poor meetings by their high standards today whilst Stancl and Stead dominated. The Cumbrians reserves however were far stronger than Glasgow's and this proved decisive.

Glasgow undoubtedly missed home track specialist James Grieves today and in all honesty there seemed little drive about the Tigers team. A league season that started with so much promise ended like a damp squib.

Roll on 2005

The scorecard and heat details can be found here.

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

Tiger Points:

George Stancl	****	Good form continues
Eric Carrillo	**	Still struggling a little at second string
Paul Bentley	***	Solid without being spectacular
Shane Parker	**	Good start, poor finish. Probably his poorest home display
James Cockle	***	Slow start but good effort and attitude
David McAllan	*	Another poor meeting