Tigers Record Another Home WIn
Posted 27/08/06

Glasgow this afternoon recorded a 15 point victory over a rather jaded Diamonds side in the home leg of the Premier League tie despite a rather poorly Danny Bird and one or two incidents which denied Tigers a greater winning margin.

Newcastle showed with the toss that they intended to be different from recent opposition at Ashfield - they won and took Glasgow's favoured 2 and 4 gates in the opening heat. It was a heat that was to feature the first reserve replacement of the afternoon with Jamie Robertson coming in for Hauzinger who was having bike problems in the pits. Although both Glasgow riders gated, former Tiger George Stancl came inside David McAllan on the opening bends to move into second. he pressed Danny Bird for the entire race but the positions were to remain unchanged with Jamie Robertson off the pace at the back.

Ksiezak gated and was well away in heat 2 with Adam McKinna leading the chasing pack. Jamie Robertson fell on the apex of the 3rd and 4th bend on lap 2 but remounted and carried on - something that was to prove crucial for the Diamonds. Just as the race looked a foregone conclusion, James Cockle came off at almost the exact same spot as Robertson on the final lap. The Diamond was at this time just coasting round the first bend towards the pit gate and was frantically waved on by team mates and Newcastle pit staff to carry on round rather than come in. Rather bizarrely, James Cockle meantime remounted and turned his bike round, riding back towards the pits down the back straight and earning himself an instant exclusion. Robertson continued round to the finish and was awarded third place.

Heat three saw Henry and Franc outgate their Glasgow counterparts but Kauko once again cut back inside on the opening bends, passing both Newcastle riders coming out of bend two and going on to record a comfortable victory.

After a delay whilst the Doctor checked James Cockle over for a neck injury in the pits, Shane Parker comfortably won heat 4 from the tapes. Robert Ksiezak had outgated both Newcastle riders but Stancl came through the inside nicely on the opening bends into second. Robert was not going to give up easily however and challenged Stancl hard for all four laps almost getting through on the inside at the end of lap three. The Czech's experience showed however as he held on.

Referee Jim McGregor once more incurred the wrath of Tigers fans in heat 5 when he allowed an obvious jumped start by Manuel Hauzinger to go unpunished. It was compounded by the youngster impeding Lee Dicken at the end of the first lap when he locked up but that's one of these things that happen in speedway. Hauzinger seemed a little erratic on track but it proved effective for him as Lee was unable to find a way through and Hauzinger held on for a valuable third place despite a late drive to the line by Lee. Danny Bird and James Grieves gated side by side in heat 6 and with the Englishman just pulling ahead, Grieves bike went coming into the first bend leaving Danny to win comfortably from the gate with David McAllan at the back appearing to have bike troubles of his own and barely troubling second place McKinna.

With the Glasgow pairing missing the gate in heat 7, Shane came up the inside of Pepe Franc, taking him wide and coming through into the lead. Robert Ksiezak was able to take advantage of the move to pass Christian Henry at the same time. Robert pressed Franc for second all the way, Franc blocking his inside drive on the final bend superbly.

Diamonds Hauzinger barely beat the 2 minutes coming to the tapes on George Stancl's second bike for heat 8 but Tigers pairing of David McAllan and James Cockle recorded the first 5-1 of the afternoon from the gate despite a few close calls between the two team mates in the early stages as they found their lines.

With Tigers now 10 points up many expected temporary manager Dave Peet to bring James Grieves in as a TR in heat 9 and felt he had missed a chance when Grieves came to tapes in the green helmet cover. Perhaps he had a premonition because a good gate from Lee Dicken and partner Kauko Nieminen followed by a superb ride from Lee in particular gave Tigers their second 5-1 of the meeting. Lee blocked every attempt made by James Grieves to pass him for all four laps with clever riding. grieves was obviously faster but Lee out thought him at every turn and thoroughly deserved his paid win behind Kauko.

Newcastle chose to bring out Pepe Franc as a TR in heat 10 hoping to take advantage of an obviously ill Danny Bird. However even an ill Danny is hard to catch if he gates, which he did and went on to win the heat at a canter. David McAllan passed Christian Henry coming out of bend two lap one and gave chase to Franc, almost catching him at the end of the second lap but in the end Franc pulled clear

Robert Ksiezak hit the tapes in the first running of heat 11 and was replaced by James Cockle. Stancl gated in the re-run, closely followed by Shane and the two swapped places for the lead a few times in a very close first two laps. At the end of lap two however Shane's drive round the outside saw him open up a bit of a gap and it was all over. Newcastle then brought Christian Henry out as a TR in heat 12, the Australian winning comfortably from James Cockle and Lee Dicken from the gate.

Glasgow's normal dominance in heat 13 at Ashfield was not to be this week with Danny unfit to ride and replaced by Robert Ksiezak. Robert was not off the pace and challenged Grieves quite strongly towards the end but the heat was shared from the gate with Shane Parker winning. Robert was out again in heat 14 and led it for two laps after an electric gate. However whether due to tiredness - three races out of four in a row - or just error he fell whilst in front on the apex of the third and fourth bends of the second lap. With Franc then taking over the lead, a relatively strung out heat 14 ended with an advantage to Newcastle. Adam McKinna appeared to take issue with Kauko Nieminen after the race over something although nothing appeared to stand out and Kauko looked as confused as anyone over it.

It may well have fired the Flying Fin up however as he came out in heat 15 and blew the opposition away from the gate. It looked as if Shane's almost customary maximum was at risk as Stancl had outgated him and looked comfortable in second until Shane came inside him at the end of lap two, pulling clear by the opening bend of the third lap and going on to claim his paid maximum.

In all it was a comfortable win for the Tigers with once again all riders playing their part. Kauko's incredible scoring continues although many are still overlooking it, Lee scored important points as did both reserves and David. Danny looked physically awful but went out and recorded three important and convincing wins whilst Shane was just Shane. Newcastle may have caused more problems if Grieves had re-discovered his previous Ashfield form, Franc and Stancl were both solid for them and McKinna rode well considering he is the Grade C reserve. It will almost certainly be a very different Newcastle side that Glasgow face tomorrow in a meeting that other results today dictate Glasgow have to try and win if they are going to achieve that top three finish. In reality, with Danny likely to be missing tomorrow the bonus point could well be a close fought battle.