Glasgow Loose Last Heat Decider for Bonus
Posted 28/04/06

Its not a track that Glasgow do particularly well on, but last night they managed to keep the possibility of the bonus point open until the final heat which was more than most probably thought they would do. Bike troubles certainly did not help the Tigers cause however.

Things started well for Glasgow when Danny Bird shot out of the gate in the opening heat and won comfortably after holding off an early challenge from Ashworth. Unfortunately though, heat 2 went badly for Glasgow, conceding a 5-1. James Cockle had managed to pass inside Cooper at the end of the first lap but the Sheffield man returned the favour one lap later and there was no way back.

Sheffield were also on a 5-1 for two laps in heat 3 before Nieminen swept round Sanchez into second. Sanchez had an engine failure later on in the heat to gift Lee Dicken a point and the heat was shared.

Andre Compton came out in heat 4 and showed he intended to win the battle of the heat leaders with a comfortable and well strung out victory from the tapes but Danny Bird showed a heat later that he was up for the fight with another from the tapes win. David McAllan's bike packed up on lap 2 whilst in third, allowing Sanchez through.

After looking a little sluggish in his first race, Shane completely missed the gate in heat 6 but fought back to win the heat in style, picking off Ashworth and Wilson. Another from the gate race followed in heat 7 with that man Compton winning again, followed home by Nieminen whilst Dicken didn't make the backstraight first time round, suffering engine failure on the opening bends.

Following his superb win in heat 6, the small Glasgow contingent were confident when Shane came in as a tactical substitute in heat 8 but it failed to pay off with Shane unable to make up ground and suffering a puncture at the back on the final bend.

Shane was out again in heat 9 and seemed subdued coming in second to Canadian Legault. It looked as if Glasgow would claim a share of the spoils but Sanchez managed to squeeze past Ksiezak on the last bend to give Sheffield another heat advantage.

Although heat 10 was once again from the tapes, Nieminen rode an excellent race out front to hold off everything Ashworth could throw at him for a shared heat with Dicken trailing in at the back.

Glasgow took a gamble in putting Bird out as a TR in heat 11 against the impressive Compton and it was Compton who was to gate quicker and win another 'from the gate' heat with Danny getting the second place. It looked as if things were improving for Glasgow in heat 12 with Cockle, in as replacement for Dicken, and Ksiezak on a 5-1. Unfortunately however, Ksiezak lost concentration on the final bend allowing Sanchez to slip through for a costly second place. The gloom was deepened when the following heat produced an easy 5-1 from the tapes for the Sheffield pairing.

Nieminen came out as a tactical ride in heat 14 as a last throw of the dice and won comfortably. The action was for second place with Legault finally getting the better of James Cockle despite a tremendous effort from the Glasgow youngster.

It was enough to give Glasgow a remote chance of the bonus point but realistically most fans conceded defeat on that front as well before tapes went up in heat 15 as Andre Compton had looked unbeatable all evening. The Sheffield pairing did go out to claim the 5-1 from the tapes with the only challenge coming from Glasgow's top man on the night Kauko Nieminen.

Although it was the result most people expected, Glasgow did come closer than many people expected despite engine troubles and a couple of disappointing performances and should take heart from this.

Kauko was undoubtedly Glasgow's top rider on the night. Danny started off well and looked as if he was going to have a terrific meeting but faded. Shane definitely looked out of sorts and it was said afterwards was struggling with bike problems all night. David McAllan also had bike troubles but it is not a track he likes and Lee Dicken struggled. James Cockle did well and never gave up and his fellow reserve Robert Ksiezak will be frustrated that on at least one occasion, if not two, lack of concentration on the final bend cost him points. He rode better than his points total suggests.

In the end though, the better all round team were the ones who came out victors.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003