Sheffield
Preview
Posted 08/06/05
Glasgow Tigers do not exactly have an easy
meeting to regain form after Sunday's shocker as they head down to
Sheffield for the first of two meetings in two days.
Its not a track Glasgow have done well on in recent years
and they suffered a heavy 61-36 defeat there at the beginning of April.
Currently however Sheffield are in the middle of a bit of an injury
crises which may give the Glasgow Tigers a chance of keeping things
a little closer this time round.
Sean Wilson has been missing since dislocating his shoulder
against the Isle of Wight two weeks ago and it is not yet known if
he will return or if Sheffield will bring in a guest. Promising youngster
Richard Hall suffered hand injuries last week against Newport and
is expected to miss this meeting with rider replacement coming into
play.
So to the riders who definitely will appear. Andre Compton
is almost unbeatable round Sheffield and has been enjoying good form
recently. Although his average has dropped since the start of the
season, Ricky Ashworth is another who is a home track specialist with
an average in excess of 9 round Owlerton. he is joined in the main
body of the team by Paul Cooper, a youngster in his first full season
of PL racing with an impressive grasstrack pedigree and who has impressed
at home and on larger tracks although he struggles on smaller circuits.
Cooper's elevation to the main body of the team means that
Ben Wilson rides at reserve for the Sheffield Tigers. A home grown
rider, again his home form is far superior to his away record. Since
dropping to reserve however he has posted some very impressive scores
and was Sheffield's top scorer in two of their last three meetings.
He is joined at reserve by young Australian Trevor Harding, brought
in as cover for long term injury victim Kyle Legault. Harding is still
not particularly confident on his new home track although is still
capable of picking up points.
Since Glasgow's last visit, Sheffield track specialist Jamie
Birkinshaw has dropped down to reserve and will probably be taking
7 rides tomorrow if previous form is anything to go by. Shane will
find competition tough but usually does reasonably well at Sheffield.
Unfortunately George is not so keen on the big track. Once again Glasgow
are woefully weak in the middle order with three riders who in recent
outings have sub 3 point averages at the track, the highest finishing
position any of them have achieved recently being third. With Sheffield's
strength in depth this will definitely hurt Glasgow. Final team member
and mew asset James Cockle will be riding his first ever competitive
PL meeting at Owlerton and will find it very difficult against the
strong Sheffield reserves, even more so given his recent engine problems.
He does however list Sheffield as his favourite track and has ridden
there at CL level with reasonable success.
At best, Glasgow need to work on damage limitation and keeping
the score a lot closer than last time round to keep alive any chance
of the bonus point.
