Tigers
Win the Scottish Cup
by Gordon Gibley, Posted 25/09/05
In front of a disappointingly low crowd for
a Derby match between the two great rivals, Glasgow fans, cheered
by the pre-meeting announcement by Stewart Dickson that The Tigers
would continue to race in the Premier League in 2006, were confident
that they would witness the Scottish Cup returning to Glasgow for
the first time since 1995.
Glasgow won the toss and selected gate positions
1 & 3, amazingly the first time column A has been used in a match
at Ashfield this season.
George Stancl continued where he left off from on Friday night flying
from the start ably backed by Trent. Ross Brady drifted wide on the
first corner and slid off. He remounted before retiring leaving Daniel
Nermark to pick up the single point and Glasgow opened strongly with
a 5-1. Heat 2 saw guest Luke Priest and James Cockle suffer a 1-5
reversal against Wethers and Ksiesak. James looked down on power using
his No2 engine after his main engine had self-destructed at King’s
Lynn in mid-week.
The Monarchs scored their second 5-1 of the afternoon
in the re-run of heat 3. The Tigers’ pairing of Ekberg and Kristensen
shot from the gate at first time of asking but Under 18 British Champion
William Lawson slid off and referee Mr Dowling stopped the race and
invited all four riders back to contest the re-run. This time it was
the Monarchs’ pair who shot from the gate giving their team
a 4 point advantage on the day and eating into Glasgow’s 7 point
lead from the first leg.
Normal service was resumed in heat 4 as Shane Parker
again showed the way around Ashfield with Rusty Harrison passing Cockle
on the first lap giving a 4-2 to the home side. Heat 5 saw the fast
gating Brady and Nermark score a 4-2 against Ekberg and Kristensen,
Stefan trying everything including a spectacular sweep round the outside
on the last two bends to no avail.
Heat 6 saw a great race for the minor placings between Leverington,
Harrison and Wethers after Stancl flew from the gate and stayed in
front. Trent held on in the run-in to the flag to split his fellow
Aussie's to give Glasgow a 4-2 advantage. Heat 7 was even as Shane
led from the gate with Pijper and Lawson taking 2nd and 3rd ahead
of guest Priest.
The Tigers pairing of Leverington and Cockle leapt from the tapes
in heat 8 and while James led comfortably Trent came down under pressure
from Nermark going into the 3rd bend on the 3rd lap. Many were surprised
to see the green exclusion light being illuminated by the referee.
The re-run also had its moment of drama when Trent stalled on the
line but with the help of a push from the start marshall got going
again before coming under orders. Again the Tigers pairing got the
jump but ex Tiger Wethers eventually got the better of Trent coming
out of the 4th bend on lap 3.
Monarchs’ boss Alan Bridget replaced Wethers with Ksiezak in
heat 9. Rusty Harrison shop from the gate with Ekberg in 2nd place.
Once again Stefan showed his love of the outside line by powering
round Harrison on the 3rd & 4th bends on the first lap, a manoeuvre
to be copied by Kristensen on the next lap over Ksiezak giving the
Tigers a 4-2 and 28-26 match advantage.
Pijper split Stancl and Leverington in heat 10 as the Tigers scored
another 4-2. Tigers’ asset Brady again shot from the gate in
ht11 only to be overhauled on the turn by Parker. Ross seemed to slow
allowing Nermark past and Luke Priest was unlucky not to catch Brady
coming off the final bend as the points were shared 3-3.
Once again Claus Kristensen had the Glasgow faithfully scratching
their heads as he powered from the gate to flag to take the win in
heat 12 while Pijper came under Cockle on the 2nd lap denying Glasgow
a 5-1.
Heat 13 brought the Clash of the Titans as the unbeaten Tigers pairing
came up against the opponents 1 and 5 of Ross Brady and Rusty Harrison.
Once again Brady displayed what a great gater he is but Parker went
for the dirt on the outside of the 2nd bend to pass him while George
picked him off on the inside of the 3rd bend on the first lap. Harrison
also passed his team mate but could not catch the Tigers’ pairing
as their 5-1 ensured the Scottish Cup would be joining The Premier
League Pairs Champions trophy in the previously bare Glasgow trophy
cabinet.
Ht 14 saw the expected reserve changes with Cockle replacing Priest
and Wethers replacing Ksiezak. Doc Bridget also nominated Lawson for
a tactical ride in the black & white helmet. The Tigers’
super Swede Ekberg again led from the gate while Cockle and Lawson
were having a battle for 2nd place. Their encounter came to a head
when Lawson shot up the inside of Cockle on the home straight going
into the 2nd lap appearing to take James front wheel as they entered
the bend, Cockle ending up under the fence. After a delay while being
attended to by the doctor and medical staff, James insisted on taking
his place in the re-run after Mr Dowling excluded Lawson. Ekberg again
stormed from the gate while Wethers came home in second and Cockle
taking the final point.
The Tigers top two lined up against Pijper and Wethers in heat 15,
Rusty Harrison obviously opting to rest in favour of tomorrow nights
EL Final playoff. Once again the Tigers raced from the gate scoring
another 5-1 and sealing the Tigers 53-37 match victory and an aggregate
score of 101-78.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
***** |
excellent performance, unbeaten all weekend |
| Trent Leverington |
*** |
solid support |
| Claus Kristensen |
*** |
an enigma but still got a win |
| Stefan Ekberg |
**** |
reliable as ever after poor first race |
| Shane Parker |
***** |
are there any superlatives left to describe him? |
| Luke Priest |
* |
gained valuable track time and experience |
| James Cockle |
*** |
proved invaluable once more |
