Tigers
Bounce Back
Posted
25/05/05
A team effort from the Tigers comfortably
recorded a victory against essentially a two man Newcastle side on
a pleasant summer evening at Ashfield.
Glasgow were obviously keen to put Sunday behind
them whilst Newcastle looked a little jaded. The opening couple of
heats did make the fans wonder if it would be a controversial evening
but things settled down allowing Glasgow to collect not only the win
but also the bonus point.
Christian Henry clearly touched the tapes in the
opening heat but to the surprise of both sets of fans there referee
merely called an unsatisfactory start and it was all 4 back. The re-start
was from the tapes with Stancl outgating everyone and winning in the
second fastest time ever round Ashfield.
Heat two was a bit of a comedy before it got underway.
Tomicek was rolling in a way Peter Carr would have been proud of at
the tapes, resulting in the referee having to hold them for a considerable
time. This unsettled Birkinshaw who broke the tapes. The referee announced
a deserved £50 fine for Tomicek but for Glasgow the damage had
been done and Birko was off 15m. Coming to the gate for the re-run,
partner James Cockle had what looked like ignition problems and was
excluded under the 2 minutes rule leaving the Newcastle pairing to
collect the 5-1 despite a good effort by Birkinshaw.
Franc won the well spread
out heat 3 comfortably from the gate with Matt and Trent ensuring
a share of the spoils.
Everyone was looking forward to the battles between
Shane and James Grieves and heat 4 did not disappoint. Shane gated,
James passed him on the second bend. Shane tailed James for three
laps trying different lines looking for a gap before coming through
inside him on the second bend of the final lap. Grieves was not finished
and round the final bend came inside Shane, both going across the
finish line almost together for a close finish which the referee called
correctly by giving it to Grieves. What many may have missed watching
this battle was a good ride at the back from Birkinshaw to get the
all important 3rd place.
Heat 5 was shared, Leverington winning after passing
Henry on the first lap. Cockle fell and remounted on the final lap
trying to make up ground on Morris.
The first running of heat 6 saw Grieves take Wethers
out, even the rider himself showing little surprise at being excluded,
leaving Stancl and Wethers to take an easy 5-1 in the re-run. Heat
7 will be recorded as being from the gate but it was yet another display
of superb tactical riding by Shane Parker protecting Cockle every
inch of the way. Glasgow recorded a third 5-1 on the trot in heat
8, Jamie having to work hard for his second place after being passed
by Robertson. He surprised everyone by reclaiming second with an inside
pass on the third bend. Unsurprisingly Grieves won the shared heat
9 from the gate with Franc doing the same in heat 10. Newcastle were
to get only their second heat advantage of the night in this one however
with Juul tracking Wethers for the entire race, finally passing him
on the second bend of the final lap.
Heat 11 was shared with Cockle suffering an engine
failure whilst last. Jamie Birkinshaw failed to beat the 2 minutes
for heat 12 and replacement Cockle came out and partnered Leverington
to a 5-1. Juul tried hard but Cockle rode a very good blocking race
to secure his second place.
Newcastle naturally brought Grieves out as a TR in
heat 13 but both Glasgow riders gated to ensure minimum damage was
done. The impressive Franc had more success in heat 14 as a TR, winning
comfortably from the gate. Cockle kept Robertson at the back and although
the meeting was won it was down to the last heat to decide the bonus.
Franc was the natural choice to partner Grieves and although Newcastle
won the toss they were unable to take advantage as, like heat 13,
Shane and George again won from the tapes.
For Newcastle, Grieves and Franc were the top men
as expected. Elsewhere they were pretty weak and Phil Morris possibly
had his poorest meeting at Ashfield.
It was important for Glasgow to bounce back from
Sunday and they did so as a team. Matthew was possibly a bit on the
poor side but it was revealed at the end of the meeting that he is
unwell at the moment so it is perhaps understandable. There was a
lot more determination shown and Glasgow undoubtedly wanted the win
more. Although it should be taken in context as Newcastle were a poor
side, it has to be used as the springboard to move forward. Comments
made from the centre green last night however indicate that future
changes are not ruled out.
Pictures from home meetings can normally be found
on Ian Adams Website
or Lioness'
Webshots Site within a day or two of the meeting.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
**** |
solid again |
| Matthew Wethers |
** |
scored well but can ride better |
| Trent Leverington |
**** |
another strong performance overall |
| r/r |
|
resulted in |
| Shane Parker |
***** |
3 words - heat 7 awesome |
| James Cockle |
*** |
Gating erratic again but another good performance |
| Jamie Birkinshaw |
*** |
A decent determined showing |
