Rockets
Destroy Tigers With Ease
23/07/05
Rye House came to Glasgow and taught the
Tigers a lesson in how speedway should be ridden in the second leg
of the Knock Out Cup. The final score of 33-57 did not in any way
flatter the visitors but was a fair reflection of their superiority
on the day.
Tigers fans had high expectations following on from
the away win at Edinburgh on Friday and the first leg score at Rye
House but were to be brought down to earth by a performance that most
will want to forget - and quickly.
Things went wrong from the start for Glasgow, losing
a 5-1 in the first heat. The Rye pairing gated but Trent drove under
Kennett on the second bend to split them. He held position for most
of the race but went too wide on the second bend of the last lap and
Kennett seized the opportunity to claim second. The impressive Robson
won the heat in a time one tenth outside the track record.
Glasgow's only heat advantage of the afternoon came
in heat 2 when Adam Roynon and James Cockle gated, Roynon winning
by a considerable distance with James keeping second place under pressure
from Allen. Kristensen was first out of the gate in heat 3 but last
by the third bend, Werner winning a well strung out race from Ekberg.
Heat four was shared, more or less from the gate
although Cockle did get past Allen in the early stages only for the
Rocket to get by him again two corners later. All four riders gated
more or less level in heat 5. Stefan tried to push the Rye House riders
wide on the opening bends to allow Kristensen the inside line but
it was Robson who was to come through the gap and he and Kennett claimed
their second 5-1 of the meeting quite comfortably.
Chris Neath came out and won heat 6 from the gate
again by a considerable margin and the heat was shared, Boxall suffering
engine failure at the back. Heat 7 was also shared from the gate,
Shane claiming victory. Adam had an awful gate but made up ground
but there was no way he was going to get round the experienced Werner.
The Glasgow pairing of Leverington and Cockle were
first out of the trap in heat 7 but Edward Kennett swept round the
outside on the second bend and was well clear by the third bend. trent
and James team rode for the majority of the race but a basic error
by Trent on the final bend, whether assuming the race was over or
just losing concentration, meant that Allen was able to claim third
on the line by going round the outside.
It looked as if things were getting even worse, if
that were possible, when Neath and Boxall outgated the Glasgow pairing
in heat 9 but both Stefan and Claus managed to get round Boxall on
the second bend. Neath went on to win comfortably with Stefan a clear
second but Claus was lucky not to get caught by Boxall who put him
under considerable pressure at the back.
Stancl and Leverington lost another 5-1 in heat 10,
Trent once again being competitive in the early part of the heat then
fading away and this was followed by a win in heat 11 from the gate
for Shane although Robson pressed him hard all the way.
The drama for this meeting was to happen in heat
12. In the first running, three riders were to come to grief on the
second bend. Cockle was up quickly followed shortly after by Allen,
who almost everyone in the stadium felt was to blame for the accident.
Stefan Ekberg, definitely an innocent victim, came off worst, coming
off heavily and landing on his shoulders against the boards. It looked
bad enough on its own but on top of Friday's fall its been a bad weekend
for the Swede and his bike looked to be wrecked by the accident. When
the referee announced her decision some time later it was incredibly
all four back.
Stefan was unable to take his place in the re-run
and Adam Roynon came in. He and fellow reserve James Cockle tried
hard, Adam loosing control going into the first bend of the third
lap trying to catch the Rye pairing. The red lights did not go on,
Allen's bike gave up the ghost and then with race leader Werner coming
round the 4th bend the referee decided Adam would not clear the track
in time and the red lights came on. The race was correctly awarded
but although it is academic it seemed strange that second place was
awarded to a rider not under power at the time of the stoppage ahead
of a rider who was still racing.
Robson and Neath recorded an easy 5-1 in heat 13,
not something that happens very often at Glasgow, with George pulling
up on the second bend of the second lap.
Adam Roynon was still putting in the effort. Although
again gating poorly, he went from last to second on the opening bends
of heat 14 and although he could not catch King he was clear in second.
At the back, Kristensen and Boxall passed and re-passed each other,
Kristensen finally claiming the third place.
Shane Parker and James Cockle were the unlikely pairing
for Glasgow in heat 15, Cockle rightfully there as second top points
scorer. It was however to be another comfortable 5-1 for Rye House
to complete the demolition, James Cockle sliding off at the back on
the final lap.
Quite frankly this was no competition. Glasgow were
out ridden by an impressive and far superior Rye House side and Edward
Kennett in particular was a class apart. Despite the very poor track
and lack of competitive racing Rye's class still showed.
Glasgow's reserves did their job, Shane seemed to
get disillusioned towards the end of the meeting - and who can blame
him, many of us were long before that. Stefan was not gating well
but was trying hard. A number of people at Glasgow need to take a
good hard look at themselves today.
Congratulations again to Rye House on a demolition
well done.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
* |
did not beat a Rye rider all night, awful |
| Trent Leverington |
** |
seemed to ride two good laps then lose it |
| Stefan Ekberg |
** |
looked to be struggling a little then a bad fall |
| Claus Kristensen |
* |
gates then goes backwards |
| Shane Parker |
*** |
even Shane seemed to give up in his last two rides |
| Adam Roynon |
**** |
a good performance, tried hard |
| James Cockle |
*** |
another who tried hard |
