Tigers Go Top
Posted 31/07/06

Tigers finally hit the top of the table after a close fought entertaining encounter against a King's Lynn side who are understandably amongst the favourites to be top of the league come the end of the season.

With probationary referee Christina Turnbull taking charge of the meeting, Troy Batchelor misjudged when the tapes would go up in the opening heat, being replaced by Chris Mills after tape touching. Danny Bird won the re run from the gate by a considerable margin but David McAllan was caught at the back for the majority of the race with Kevin Doolan in third protecting team mate Mills. David did not give up however and managed to beat Doolan to the line by half a wheel driving off the final bend to claim third.

Once again the Glasgow reserves were first out of the gate in heat 2 but John Oliver past Cockle on the inside of the second bend whilst Mills went round the outside into second behind Ksiezak. It became a battle at the back between Oliver and Cockle of who would stay on at what looked like a problematic fourth bend. Lap 1 saw Cockle take advantage when Oliver locked up to go back through into third, James locked up lap two but managed to hold third but then one lap later James came off to allow Oliver to claim third.

Heat three saw Lee and Kauko outgated by the opposition again but Kauko pressed Harding almost immediately, cutting inside him on the third bend of the opening lap and pulling clear. Lee Dicken copied Kauko's overtake one lap later, and held off Harding for the remaining two laps for a share of the spoils. This was followed by another heat advantage to Glasgow in heat 4, Parker winning from the gate, with the action once again being at the back Cockle this time getting the better of Oliver.

Troy Batchelor reared coming out of the gate in heat 5 but recovered quickly and passed inside Lee Dicken on the second bend. Kauko Nieminen past Kevin Doolan on the opening bends but Doolan pressurised him all the way and despite there being no more passing it was an excellent piece of racing from both riders with barely a wheel's width between them for the entire race as Kauko countered Doolan's attacks.

Danny Bird had to come from behind in heat 6 after being outgated by both King's Lynn riders. he swept round the outside of the opening bends and ended up winning by a considerable margin. David McAllan spent a lap lining up a pass on Chris Mills, slipping up the inside of him on the third bend of lap two.

the first 5-1 of the evening came in heat 7 in what is now a familiar way for the Tigers fans. Shane gated, Robert swept round the outside into the lead and Shane sat in behind to protect him. Surprisingly, Nermarks challenge disintegrated after the opening lap and Shane had one of his more comfortable heat 7 rides. It did, however, allow King's Lynn to bring Troy Batchelor in as a TR in heat 8 and the young Aussie took full advantage, winning with ease. Chris Mills had been brought in as his partner in place of John Oliver and he claimed third spot behind David McAllan to pull King's Lynn right back into the meeting.

Heat 9 was shared from the gate although Topinka and Nieminen had a good battle out front, Kauko just failing to catch Topinka driving off the final bend to the line. Bird won heat 10 comfortably from the gate with the action being at the back between Harding and McAllan. David passed inside Harding on the third bend of the second lap and held on for the remainder of the race.

After a short break for a shower of rain, Glasgow surprisingly lost a 1-5 in heat 11, a heat usually felt to be a strong one for the Tigers. Kevin Doolan gated. Troy Batchelor easily passed Shane Parker on the outside of bend two, lap two, followed by Robert Ksiezak one lap later and the Stars pairing went on to claim a comfortable maximum with Shane retiring at the back on lap 4.

Heat 12 took three attempts to run and Glasgow did get the rub of the green with the final outcome. First running saw Lee slide off at the back on the opening bend. There did not appear to be contact but fortunately for Lee the referee gave the benefit of the doubt and called all four back. Harding and Mills shot from the gate in the next running and were well ahead when Mills picked up extra drive causing him to clatter into his partner, sending bikes and riders flying in what was a nasty looking accident. Thankfully both riders were relatively unscathed but with Mills excluded, Harding missed the gate in the final running and Robert and Lee were able to claim a 5-1.

After the drama of heat 12, heat 13 was an uneventful and easy 5-1 for the Tigers from the gate with Shane slowing on the line to allow Danny through to keep alive his chances of his first full Glasgow maximum. the drama was to return in heat 14 however and this time the luck went King's Lynn's way, balancing out what happened in heat 12.

Being 11 points down, King's Lynn naturally brought Daniel Nermark out as a TR. However a superb gate by Robert Ksiezak saw him get the edge over Nermark and allowed Kauko to pull well clear. Robert looked to have the better of the Kings Lynn pair and Glasgow were heading for a 5-1 when fate lent a hand and Kauko suffered an engine failure way out in front on the second bend of the final lap. As he pulled up, it seemed to affect Robert and Nermark closed up to challenge the youngster finally getting the better of him on the inside coming out of the final bend and what had looked like a 5-1 became a 2-7. Disappointing though it was, it was still enough however to ensure that Tigers would go top of the league at the end of the meeting.

King's Lynn however were not finished and came out to almost certainly secure the bonus point for the Stars. Troy Batchelor gated and despite the close attentions of Shane Parker, held on to record the victory. Meantime, Tomas Topinka got past Danny Bird on the third bend of the opening lap, Danny did not have an answer and King's Lynn finished with a heat advantage, leaving Glasgow with a slender 4 point lead.

It was an entertaining meeting with King's Lynn showing just why they were many people's pre-season tips for the top. Shane Parker had a quiet meeting by his standards and James Cockle struggled badly at home for the second week running. It was a surprise not only to loose heat 15 but also to see Danny Bird trailing in last. Although the bonus point looks as if it will now be out of reach however, the win puts us top of the league, lets enjoy it because the Tigers are there on merit.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003