Comfortable
Derby Win for Tigers
Posted 08/07/05
Its always important to get one over on your
closest rivals and despite a shaky start the Tigers ended up quite
comfortable winners against the Monarchs at Ashfield, the margin could
possibly have been greater.
Edinburgh can point to the fact they were missing
Ross Brady for this one but in all honesty rider replacement for him
was not all that different from his recent scoring at Glasgow.
It did not however start particularly well for Glasgow.
George won the opening heat from the gate, Trent missing the gate
but going from 4th to 2nd on the second bend. However he locked up
badly on the fourth bend allowing both Monarchs riders through. Matthew
Wethers was always going to want to prove a point and comfortably
won heat 2 from the gate, Cockle claiming a comfortable second. Adam
gated poorly and although he managed to temporarily get past Ksiezak,
the young Aussie soon returned the compliment and claimed third.
Harrison won a well strung out heat 3, the only pass
being by Nermark on Kristensen in the early stages for third, allowing
Edinburgh to open up an early 4 point lead.
It seemed to be the catalyst, however, to spurring
the Tigers on and James Cockle came out and won heat 4 from the gate.
Shane had gated poorly but went round the outside of Wethers towards
the end of the first lap then inside Nermark on the second bend of
lap two to ensure a Tigers 5-1 to bring the scores level.
An engine failure at the start of heat 5 for Kristensen
left Ekberg on his own to claim a tapes to flag win although Pijper
made him work hard for it all the way. Once again George won heat
6 from the tapes but the action was all for second place with Leverington
and Harrison treating the crowd to some excellent racing for three
laps before Harrison got the better of the battle.
With heat 7 shared from the gate, Trent gave Tigers
fans a bit of a fright stalling on his way to the start. However he
was there within 2 minutes only for a tapes malfunction to cause a
re-run. It obviously affected Edinburgh more than Glasgow, Trent and
James winning from the tapes in the re-run although James had to work
very hard and with good tactical awareness to hold of Will Lawson.
Claus won heat 9 from the gate but although Stefan
did hold second place a hard but fair move on him by Pijper on the
third bend of the first lap allowed both Monarchs riders through for
a share of the spoils. Stancl was looking unbeatable as he comfortably
won heat 10 from the gate, Rusty Harrison almost coming off with a
rather erratic attempt to catch him on lap 3 bend 2. However George
had to add to the drama himself by going far too wide on the final
bend, hitting the fence and only just having enough momentum to carry
him over the line in first.
Shane Parker recorded another win from the gate in
heat 11 but Adam Roynon took a heavy fall at the end of the third
lap, doing well to clear the track despite what looked like a nasty
knock to his left hip. Heat 12 saw our other reserve James Cockle
take a heavy fall in almost exactly the same spot. The race was re-run
with Cockle excluded and the Edinburgh pairing of Harrison and Wethers
coasted to an easy 5-1.
Despite a poor start by Parker, he got past the Edinburgh
pairing on the second bend to follow George Stancl home for another
comfortable 5-1 for the home side in heat 13 after the first running
had to be aborted due to a blatant flier by Pijper.
James Cockle capped another excellent performance
with possibly his best ride of the night in heat 14. He led from start
to finish and despite heavy pressure from Nermark he was not going
to relinquish his lead, once again riding with a tactical awareness
of the opposition rider and how to block him. With Matt Wethers having
an engine failure on the second bend, Glasgow were assured victory
and it was just a matter of by how much.
Obviously Pijper wanted to make sure of a good start
in the final heat but he went too soon, taking the tapes with him
and was replaced by Wethers. In the re-run, Shane led from the start
but Harrison split the Tigers and it looked as though that was going
to be how they finished until George pulled off a superb pass on the
inside of Harrison on the final lap for another 5-1 to the Tigers
to make it a 12 point wining margin.
There have probably been better derby meetings and
there have certainly been worse. On the day, although they started
slowly Glasgow did not seem to be in any danger of losing this meeting
and may even be disappointed that they did not win by more. Stancl
was excellent as was Parker and Trent was worth more than the four
points he scored. The top man has to be James Cockle however, riding
with a new found determination and an awareness under pressure that
he did not have a couple of months back. Claus and Adam will probably
want to forget this one, perhaps Stefan also as by his high standards
it was one of his poorer displays. Harrison was undoubtedly the greatest
threat to the Tigers but back up from his team mates was limited,
Matthew Wethers being the only other Monarch to win a race.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
**** |
looked unbeatable, excellent heat 15 pass |
| Trent Leverington |
*** |
Rode well enough without the reward |
| Stefan Ekberg |
*** |
not one of his best |
| Claus Kristensen |
** |
one decent ride from the gate |
| Shane Parker |
**** |
led by example |
| Adam Roynon |
* |
bad day for Adam |
| James Cockle |
***** |
Excellent meeting despite the fall |
