Tigers Take Bonus From Brough
Posted 30/08/06, by Kyra

In a meeting that looked in jeopardy of going ahead less than an hour before tapes up, Glasgow came away with the bonus point but failed to record a win against a Newcastle side who were there for the taking.

The weather left the track heavy but full credit should be given to the thirteen riders for providing decent racing on what looked a tricky surface.

With Danny Bird missing, Glasgow brought Robert Ksiezak in as rider replacement in the opening heat, a shared heat won from the gate by Newcastle's ex-Tiger George Stancl with Hauzinger retiring at the back after missing the gate. Having had the benefit of already experiencing the track conditions, Ksiezak shot from the gate in heat 2 along with partner James Cockle, leaving the Diamonds pairing trailing. However Robertson refused to give up and shadowed Cockle for a lap before passing inside him at the end of the third lap to split the Glasgow pairing.

Heat 3 again saw Lee Dicken and Kauko Nieminen left at the gate, this time by Henry and Franc who went on to record an easy 5-1. The next two heats were also from the gate with heat 4 being shared thanks to Shane Parker gating first whilst that pairing of Henry and Franc recording their second 5-1 of the meeting by comfortably beating David MCAllan and Kauko Nieminen in heat 5 giving the traveling fans cause for concern.

The middle third of the meeting saw every heat being shared. Stancl won heat 6 relatively comfortably although Shane Parker did mount a challenge for the opening couple of laps. James Grieves followed suit in heat 7 by outgating Kauko and Lee. McKinna had gated alongside his team mate but Nieminen got by on the opening bends whilst Dicken was rewarded for not giving up when he got past the youngster on the final lap despite riding the latter part of the race minus his goggles.

Robert Ksiezak was first from the trap in heat 8 but Jamie Robertson went round the outside of him on the opening bends and went on to win comfortably before Shane brought the meeting to life with some good racing in heat 9. Having completely missed the gate, he came from the back going inside Franc coming out of the opening bends. He then had a good battle with Christian Henry out front, Henry on the outside line, Parker inside before Shane worked a switch to the outside line, finally getting by his fellow countryman on the third lap to take the lead. Unfortunately James Cockle didn't fare so well in this heat, retiring after falling and remounting at the back.

It looked as if heat 10 would give the home side a heat advantage with the impressive Stancl winning the heat comfortably. Robertson was pressuring Lee Dicken for second but once again Lee rode a good tactical race blocking him and it finally forced an error from Robertson which not only allowed Lee to claim second place but also let Kauko Nieminen through into third.

The run of shared heats finally came to an end in heat 11 courtesy of rider replacement Shane Parker who won from the gate. With reserve Adam McKinna off 15m on Christian Henry's bike after being excluded under 2 minutes and David McAllan claiming an easy third place, Tigers got a heat advantage to keep the possibility of all three points still alive. Hopes were raised even further with an excellent win from the gate in heat 12 for Lee Dicken although Robert Ksiezak was unfortunately rooted at the back courtesy of team riding from Christian Henry and Jamie Robertson.

Team riding was again to feature in heat 13 with Stancl and Grieves holding off Shane Parker. Rider replacement Lee Dicken came a cropper at the back in what looked like a nasty fall in the heavy conditions. The 5-1 for the home side effectively finished any chance Glasgow had of the away win but the bonus was still very much up for grabs. Newcastle obtained a heat advantage from the gate in heat 14 with James Cockle taking his second tumble of the evening at the back but it was enough to ensure the bonus point would be heading Glasgow's way.

Surprisingly George Stancl, who along with Shane Parker had looked very impressive on the night, did not feature in heat 15, Newcastle instead electing to put in James Grieves and Pepe Franc. Shane Parker outgated the Newcastle pair and comfortably won the heat and with it the Julian Barnett Memorial Trophy which was up for grabs for the winner of heat 15.

All riders made the best of the difficult conditions and should be praised for their efforts with Robert and Lee in particular putting up a good showing. Although they were missing Danny Bird, Glasgow may feel this was a chance lost as Newcastle were there for the taking. However on a surface that rewarded fast gating the Tigers were always going to be at a disadvantage.