Derby
Defeat but Tigers Claim Bonus
by SA, Posted 24/09/05
Glasgow staged a late comeback at Armadale
to secure the bonus point but with a middle order effectively posted
missing they were easily beaten on the night.
George Stancl showed he was up for it right from
the start, winning the first heat comfortably despite being outgated
by Brady courtesy of an inside pass on the second bend. Unfortunately
though Leverington was well off the pace at the back. Heat 2 saw guest
Jon Bethell and James Cockle gate in front but Wethers cut inside
Bethell on bend two, giving chase to Cockle and passing him a lap
later for a shared heat.
The first 5-1 for the home side came in heat 3 courtesy
of Lawson and Pijper with Pijper passing Ekberg on the second lap.
Some of the deficit was pulled back in heat 4 when Parker got the
better of a good battle with Harrison with James Cockle claiming third.
Stancl again won heat 5 comfortably although once
more Leverington was at the back but with Shane winning heat 6 by
an embarrassingly large margin things were looking relatively good
for the Tigers.
However heat 7 marked the start of four disastrous
heats in a row where no Tiger beat an opposition rider. After an unsatisfactory
start Harrison and Wethers won heat 7 easily from Ekberg and Kristensen.
Heat 8 was a little more contentious. Although Wethers undoubtedly
won, James Cockle pressured Nermark the whole way before coming through
to beat him on the line. Unfortunately the referee saw it differently
and to everyone's amazement awarded second to Nermark. Now 10 points
down, Glasgow brought Shane Parker out as a TR in heat 9 but a superb
piece of riding by Lawson saw Parker held back in third for the entire
race despite trying everything he could. With another 5-1 from the
gate in heat 10 for the Monarchs things were looking bleak.
Stancl came out as a TR in heat 11 and continued
to shine with a comfortable win from the gate. An engine failure for
Ksiezak on the opening bend gave Trent his only point of the night.
The revival looked to be short lived however as Glasgow conceded yet
another 5-1 in heat 12.
The drama in heat 13 surrounded trying to get the
heat underway! Brady rolled at the start, setting Stancl off and George
hit the tapes. In view of the lack of passing on the track in the
previous heats Glasgow elected not to send George off 15m but to bring
in James Cockle. Ross again tried this time to set the Glasgow youngster
off but this time misjudged it and ended up being excluded himself
for a tapes offence and replaced by Wethers. The race itself was a
bit of an anti climax, points being shared with Shane winning comfortably
from the gate.
Possibly the most competitive heat of the night was
heat 14. James and Stefan gated, Cockle going on to claim the victory.
Stefan was in second for most of the race but Wethers pushed hard
and in all honesty looked to have claimed the second place on the
line. It was however given to Stefan, perhaps balancing out the second
place Cockle was denied in heat 8.
With the deficit on the night now matching the deficit
from the first leg it was down to heat 15 to decide the bonus. Glasgow's
heat leaders had been superior to their Edinburgh counterparts all
night and claimed a comfortable victory from the gate giving the score
an air of respectability.
It was definitely not a team effort from Glasgow.
Shane and George effectively carried the Tigers all night although
James Cockle tried hard and scored well for a reserve. Guest Bethell
did all that could have been expected of him by beating Ksiezak in
heat 2. Sadly in the middle order Glasgow failed badly. Trent and
Claus were both off the pace and struggled badly, failing to beat
an opposition rider all night. Stefan kept trying but until heat 14
he too had failed to beat an opposition rider all evening. On the
night Glasgow had more heat winners but conceded SIX maximums against
in the fifteen heats.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
**** |
Excellent performance, shame about heat 13 |
| Trent Leverington |
* |
one to forget |
| Claus Kristensen |
* |
another one to forget |
| Stefan Ekberg |
** |
kept trying but struggled |
| Shane Parker |
**** |
Soundly beaten in Ht 9 but otherwise rode well |
| Jon Bethall |
*** |
did all that could be asked of him |
| James Cockle |
*** |
again never gave up and tried hard |
