Tigers Claim Three Points After Slow Start
Posted 24/07/06

They made heavy going of it, but after a very slow start the Tigers finally secured the bonus point and victory in heat 14 against a Berwick side who look much improved in recent weeks.

Stanislaw Burza got his first introduction to Ashfield in the opening heat, won by Danny Bird from the gate. Burza got second ahead of David McAllan with rider replacement Danny Warwick some way behind.

Glasgow's reserves made sure heat two was eventful despite both Tigers making the gate. They had a coming together on the second bend, Ksiezak drifting out into Cockle's bike, which sent James from first to last. Robert meantime kept things going up front and pulled well clear. Cockle made a good attempt to get back into the race trying to pass Craig Branney on bend four but Branney shut the door with some hard riding, James had to shut off and there was no way back.

Berwick's pairing of Smethills and Bergstrom were first out of the gate in heat 3 but Kauko Nieminen swept round the outside on the opening bends to come out of bend two ahead. It looked as if it was going to be a comfortable win for Kauko but his bike went on the final bend of the race and he only just managed to hold off Lee Smethills for the win.

Any drama in heat 4 was before tapes up. Robert Ksiezak, in as a reserve switch for James Cockle who was working on his bike, touched the tapes and the only option left to Glasgow was to put him off 15m. Robert was unable to make any inroads on the Berwick pairing from the back, Shane winning the heat comfortably from the gate.

Once again Kauko and Lee were outgated by the opposition in heat 5, Burza and Branney going on to claim an easy 1-5. Kauko's bike failed him towards the end of the second lap whilst he was lying a very poor third and he almost collected team mate Lee Dicken as he drifted wide. There were no such gating problems for Danny and David in heat 6, both making a good gate although Makovsky was able to pass inside Danny Bird towards the end of the opening lap to split the Tigers pair. Full credit to David McAllan for then keeping the Bandit out for the remainder of the race.

Shane Parker won a shared heat 7 from the gate before a more eventful heat 8. After a level gate, the Tigers pairing came out of the second bend ahead but James Cockle must have wondered what he had done to upset his team mates as David McAllan wobbled on the third bend causing James to shut off and allowing Bergstrom through into second. It did seem to prey on his mind as from then on James fell out of competition and due to a lack of concentration was easily passed by Craig Branney on the outside of the fourth bend of the second lap. Bergstrom chased McAllan all the way and past him on the final bend. David was not for giving up however and pulled back ahead of Bergstrom on the run in to the line to claim the well earned victory.

Once again Lee and Kauko were outgated in heat 9 although Lee showed the fighting spirit that has endeared him to the majority of the Glasgow fans. He passed Makovsky on the inside at the end of the second lap and gave chase to Warwick who was at this stage comfortably ahead. Coming off the final bend an outside drive by Lee on Warwick looked certain to succeed until the youngster wobbled badly and Lee was forced to shut off to avoid a collision and had to settle for second when he deserved more.

Heat 10 started the Tigers revival, Danny Bird winning from the gate although he once again gave the Tigers fans a moment of drama on the final bend, this time only just holding on to win after rearing badly coming into the back straight. The Aussie duo of Ksiezak and Parker followed it up with a comfortable 5-1 in heat11, Robert coming round and into the lead on the opening bends and Shane as usual settling in behind although this time the challenge was fairly minimal. They had to settle for a share of the spoils a heat later however when Smethills made an excellent gate ahead of Ksiezak and Dicken.

There were quite a few shenanigans at the start of heat 13 with Makovsky doing his best to try and unsettle the Glasgow pair but it failed miserably with Danny and Shane recording another heat 13 5-1 for the home side, Burza retiring at the back on the third lap.

Given Burza's apparent lack of interest and willingness to throw in the towel in heat 13 it was somewhat of a surprise that Berwick chose to bring him out off 15m in heat 14. Someone also forgot to explain the rules to him as he first of all tried to line up at the tapes and then in the first running jumped the gate so much he was almost at the tapes again by the time they went up! The red lights went on immediately but not quick enough to stop Bergstrom turning into Nieminen on the opening bend and sending him heavily into the fence.

Glasgow were obviously concerned for Kauko who was down for a while and looked to have suffered a bad wrist knock but Kauko declared himself fit for the re-run. Unbelievably, referee Margaret Vardy chose NOT to penalise Burza for what was tantamount to breaking the tapes from 15m and there are unconfirmed reports that she then had the audacity to fine centre green announcer Michael Max for explaining that as Burza was off 15m originally, the referee had the option, if she chose to do so, to send him back a further 10m.

Kauko and Robert Ksiezak rose above all the controversy however and came out and recorded a vital 5-1 from the tapes to secure the victory and the bonus. Robert did well to hold off the challenge of Andreas Bergstrom and although Kauko won by a comfortable margin he was obviously in some discomfort and the Doctor was called to him immediately after the race. Kauko appeared on the victory truck at the end of the meeting but looked paler than usual and was sporting a heavily bandaged left wrist.

After a short delay while the medics were in the pits, the formality of heat 15 got underway and Shane and Danny once again recorded an easy 5-1 from the gate.

Berwick have definitely improved in recent weeks and did come and have a go. Warwick as a C grade is definitely a bargain and bergstrom and Makovsky never gave up. Burza looks as if he could be a decent rider but gives up far too easily when he doesn't gate. However, Glasgow's slow starts to meetings are beginning to be a bit of a worry and if they do the same next week they will probably be heavily punished for it. Having said that the second half of the meeting showed just what the Tigers are capable of.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003