Can
Glasgow Raid the Bandits?
Posted 08/04/05
The Tigers travel to Berwick tomorrow night
with both clubs smarting from heavy defeats on the road this week.
A draw when Berwick visited Ashfield means the odds are in the home
team's favour for the bonus point.
Glasgow however will be trying hard to make up for
a very poor showing at Sheffield and should also remember that they
should have won on their last visit to Shielfield.
Berwick chose to bring in the Pole Piotr Dym on an
assessed average as their top rider. He has averaged around the 7
mark at home until their last home meeting when he rattled in 11 against
Workington. Their other top man, Adrian Rymel, needs little introduction
and is a formidable opponent especially round his home track. He is
more than ably backed by fellow Czech Michal Makovsky, recently named
Oxford's no 8, who has regularly recorded double figure scores on
his home circuit this season. It was thought by some that Simon Cartwright
may be the weakness in the middle order scoring but so far he has
weighed in well, again mostly at home. Adam Pietraszko missed a few
meetings at the start of the season after appendicitis delayed the
start of his season. At reserve, Chris Schramm has to be one of the
strongest reserves in the league whilst newcomer Kugelmann appears
to have settled in well after an erratic start, scoring 6+1 against
Workington in the last home meeting.
Just as a lot of expectation was placed on Birkinshaw
at Sheffield, similarly the Tigers are surely entitled to expect a
far better performance from Bentley at a track he knows and has always
ridden so well. Despite it being a large track, Jamie Birkinshaw does
not have a good record here but hopefully will be high on confidence
from his display at Sheffield and remedy this. Matthews confidence
is low at the moment and his gating poor so he is unlikely to enjoy
this visit to Berwick. George Stancl has always done well at Berwick-his
last visit there saw him record 18 points when guesting for Newcastle.
Similarly Shane seems to go relatively well here and these two should
provide the Berwick top pair with plenty to think about. At reserve,
Glasgow are weak in comparison to the opposition. Trent will once
again have a lot of pressure on him to perform. Although guest Mark
Thompson favours the large tracks, it is likely that he will be slightly
out of his depth against the strong reserve pairing Berwick will track.
Much will depend on which of the two teams pick themselves
up best from demoralising defeats. Berwick have the home track advantage
and home fans have recently been complaining that the track has again
returned to a track which does not readily allow passing. Given that
Berwick are on the whole better at gating, this again could go against
the Tigers. Glasgow are capable of winning at Berwick but given the
recent form of some of the riders it looks unlikely on paper. Paul
Bentley needs to find the form which can see him back up Glasgow's
top two for the Tigers to have a chance.
Admission Prices For Travelling Fans:-
Adults - £11.50
Children (U16) - £4.50
Under 5's - Free
OAP's - £10
Programme - £2
Expected Line Ups: -
Berwick
- Piotr Dym
- Adam Pietraszko
- Simon Cartwright
- Michal Makovsky
- Piotr Dym
- Chris Schramm
- Jochim Kugelmann
Glasgow
- George Stancl
- Matthew Wethers
- Jamie Bikrinshaw
- Paul Bentley
- Shane Parker
- Mark Thompson
- Trent Leverington
