Tigers Record Narrow Win
Posted 30/04/06

Glasgow came out on top in the derby encounter at Ashfield today but only by 5 points and must surely rue a number of dropped points which could have given them a decent cushion for the return leg on Friday.

After some frustrations in recent weeks, Danny Bird got his day off to a fine start with a comprehensive victory from the gates in heat 1. David McAllan slid off at the back on the 4th bend of the third lap whilst last but remounted to finish. James Cockle got the better of Derek Sneddon on the opening bends of heat 2, pushing him wide which allowed team mate Robert Ksiezak to come through and the young reserve pairing went on to claim a comfortable 5-1.

Despite Will Lawson making the better gate, Kauko Nieminen came up the inside of him on the second bend of heat 4 and went on to win comfortably. The battle in this heat was for third place between Dicken and Wethers. Whilst Wethers machinery looked faster, Lee used every inch of the track to thwart his attempts to pass for almost the entire four laps and claim the point.

Both Parker and Cockle missed the gate in heat 4 but Cockle got past Sneddon on the second bend before making the now familiar outside sweep round Harrison at the end of the second lap, going on to claim victory. Cockle was surprisingly off the pace and seemed to have machinery problems.

Heat 5 was a well spread out shared heat from the gate, Kauko claiming the win, before Danny Bird came out stormed to a comprehensive victory in heat 6. It looked for some time as if Glasgow may claim a 5-1 as David McAllan did his best to hold off Rusty Harrison but the Australian finally get the better of him on the second bend of the final lap.

Matthew Wethers came a cropper at the start of heat 7, it looked as if there was perhaps a clutch problem as he tried to hold the bike back at the tapes but not only broke the tapes but flipped over backwards. He was replaced for the race by Derek Sneddon. The re-start saw the Glasgow pairing of Parker and Ksiezak hit the front and once again Shane settled in to protect the youngster. Monarchs Lawson never gave up though and took full advantage of an uncharacteristic mistake by Parker on the final bend to drive through the narrowest of gaps and split the Glasgow pair.

With Edinburgh 10 down, Theo Pijper came out as a TR in what was to be an eventful heat 8. David McAllan was nearly excluded before tapes even went up as he went out with the wrong helmet colour on. That rectified, when tapes went up Pijper and Sneddon outgated McAllan and Cockle. McAllan and Sneddon had a good battle for two laps, the Glasgow man passing Sneddon on the inside at the end of the second lap but being a bit too fierce pushing him wide on the opening bend of lap 3 and making the slightest contact. Sneddon went down and McAllan was excluded. Cockle had slid off at the back just prior to this but fortunately had remounted preventing Glasgow facing a double exclusion. In the re-run, Cockle's bike problems were once again evident, being past firstly by Pijper on the second bend, Sneddon going round the outside of him on the fourth bend and it was race over.

Harrison won heat 9 from the gate, the only rider to beat Nieminen all day. this was followed by another comprehensive victory from Bird in heat 10. At the back, McAllan took full advantage of a mistake by Wethers at the end of the first lap to come through into third.

Again Glasgow were outgated in heat 11, Ksiezak and Parker also getting in each others way a little coming out of the second bend. Parker caught and swept round Pijper on the fourth bend of the second lap, executing a carbon copy maneouvre one lap later on Moller Surprisingly Glasgow made no changes in heat 12 and were to ultimately pay the price with Wethers and reserve replacement Sneddon recording a very easy 1-5 ahead of Dicken and Cockle.

With only one point in it, heat 13 was crucial and it looked as if it was going to give Glasgow a 5-1 until a mistake from Danny Bird on the final bend allowed Harrison through to claim second spot.

Robert Ksiezak took a heavy fall and required treatment after first bend bunching in the initial running of heat 14 and this seemed to affect him in the re-run. Nieminen on the other hand was still very much on form and although he was well outgated, he took full advantage of the outside line on the fourth bend to pass Sneddon and take the lead. Ksiezak did manage to pass Lawson on the same bend but Lawson was able to return the compliment on the second bend of the following lap before pulling clear.

Despite looking well in charge, Glasgow were now faced with a last heat decider. Most expected in form man Nieminen to feature but again it was the pairing of Parker and Bird who were to carry Glasgow's hopes. It looked for the majority of the race as if it would pay off with Glasgow on a 5-1 but once again a lack of concentration on the final bend meant that Pijper was able to seize on an opportunity to squeeze past Bird and split the Glasgow pairing. Harrison retired on the third lap.

Edinburgh will be far happier with this result than Glasgow. The Tigers were dominant but a combination of three last bend passes which should not have been allowed to happen and the decision not to make a switch in heat 12 were costly and the final score flattered Edinburgh a little. However, their riders rode from tapes to flag, something Tigers riders forgot to do. As a result, Glasgow will have a tough task on Friday to claim the bonus point from the return leg.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003