Costly
Win for Tigers
Posted 12/09/05
Glasgow scored a win and claimed the bonus
point from Sheffield at Ashfield yesterday but the meeting was marred
by an horrific heat 2 accident between Paul Cooper and Adam Roynon.
The meeting started innocently enough with Stancl
winning the opening heat comfortably from the gate, the only thing
of note being Sean Wilson having words with partner Ben afterwards
for not letting him through.
Then came heat two. James Cockle and Paul Cooper
appeared to touch on the opening bend, Cockle coming down. The race
carried on with Adam just ahead, Cooper on the inside and Legault
on the outside. Cooper seemed to have problems turning coming out
of bend 2 and headed straight for the fence at speed, collecting the
unfortunate Roynon en route. A horrendous crash with both riders being
taken to hospital with suspected broken bones. With Adam obviously
unable to take his place in the re-run an hour later, James Cockle
won the two man race from the gate.
Andre Compton gave notice of his intentions with
an impressive win from the gate in heat 3 by some distance, the action
being for third place. Hall pressured Kristensen but the Dane held
on for the point. The main racing in heat four was also for third
with Kyle Legault putting pressure on James Cockle in the latter stages
but Cockle was able to hold on to give Glasgow a heat advantage after
Parker had won from the gate. The Wilson pairing gated in heat 5 but
Ekberg passed Ben on bend 2 and gave chase to Sean, coming close to
catching him on the final lap.
Again it was from the gate in heat 6 with Stancl
the victor but the start marshall tried his best to give us value
for money with a 5 lap race! Legault lost control and clipped the
backstraight fence on lap 5 but the referee had noticed the error
and awarded the race with the young Canadian rightly in third. Heat
7 ran with only three riders, predictably won from the gate to give
Glasgow their first 5-1 of the meeting, Parker protecting Cockle all
the way.
James Cockle gated in heat 8 but was quickly passed
by the impressive Ben Wilson and Trent followed. Kyle Legault nearly
succeeded in making it first to last for James managing to get past
the Glasgow Tiger on the final bend of the third lap. Cockle fought
back however and Legault overcooked it on the second bend of the last
lap and slid off. Compton and Legault gated in heat 9, Compton heading
off into the distance leaving his team mate to fend of the Glasgow
attack. Ekberg's experience showed as he started edging the youngster
from the final bend of the opening lap finally passing on the inside
of the backstraight of lap 2. Glasgow were gifted another point when
the unfortunate Canadian suffered an engine failure on the penultimate
bend of the race.
Stancl executed what would normally have been the
best pass in a meeting in heat 10, going wide on the opening bend
of the second lap, cutting inside on the second bend and slipping
up the inside of Ben Wilson before going on to claim victory. It looked
as if Glasgow would get the heat advantage but Hall passed Leverington
relatively easily on the final lap. Parker won heat 11 from the gate
with Cockle working hard to assure his third place ahead of Sean Wilson.
Cockle had to work hard again in the following heat to assure second
place behind team mate Claus Kristensen, another from the gate heat.
Undoubtedly the best move of the meeting came in
heat 13 from Andre Compton riding as a TR. After being outgated by
the Glasgow pairing he showed superb tactical nous by exploiting the
smallest of gaps between them to come out of the second bend in the
lead. Stancl chased hard but Compton held on for his 6 points.
Whilst Compton provided the best individual display
of the meeting, heat 14 was the best race of what was in all honesty
a rather mundane meeting. Cockle gated but was obviously tired. Ekberg
set about showing yet again what an excellent team rider he is by
trying to protect Cockle from a very determined and unceasing attempt
from Hall to get through. On the final lap it looked as though it
may be just too much for Cockle with Ekberg having to hit the front
when Hall appeared to have the better of the Glasgow men but a superb
effort from James saw him find that extra something to hold out for
second. Superb team riding again from Ekberg, a gutsy ride from Cockle
and a determined effort from Hall.
With the win and bonus point now assured heat 15
was a bit of an anti climax but was won comfortably again by the best
rider on the night, Andre Compton, Stancl and Parker ensuring a share
of the spoils.
Certainly not one of the best meetings seen at Ashfield
this season and a very costly one for both teams. For Sheffield, Compton
was immense whilst Ben Wilson also impressed. For the Tigers, James
Cockle rose to the challenge but it was basically a team effort although
Trent had a meeting he would probably rather forget.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
*** |
a decent performance |
| Trent Leverington |
* |
one to forget |
| Claus Kristensen |
** |
a heat win when it mattered |
| Stefan Ekberg |
*** |
good team man yet again |
| Shane Parker |
*** |
quiet by his standards but true captain in difficult circumstances |
| Adam Roynon |
|
n/a |
| James Cockle |
**** |
worked very hard and rode well |
