Welsh Win for Tigers
Posted 3rd June

It certainly wasn't one of the most entertaining meetings but Glasgow produced the finish at Newport to claim a last gasp win in Wales.

The Newport track looked better than it had done in previous years although the hot weather meant it was very dusty, watering being done by hosepipe, but there were very few opportunities for passing once the riders came out of the opening bends.

Certainly that was how the meeting started with Danny Bird winning the opening heat from the tapes. David McAllan got the better of Chris Schramm on the opening bends and with Neath in second, Glasgow opened with a heat advantage.

When the Glasgow reserves passed their Newport counterparts in a pincer movement on the opening bends of heat two, things were looking good. However in a flash back to his early meetings, James Cockle seemed to panic a little coming into the third bend and came off on his own. He did well to clear the track and his team mate Robert Ksiezak went on to win. Heat three was then shared with Atkin winning a well spread out heat from the gate with Lee Dicken in second.

Parker and Cockle gated in heat 4 but Wilkinson was hot on Cockle's tail. James did well to hold him off as long as he did but WIlkinson made an excellent pass, the first genuine racing one of the meeting, going round the outside of Cockle on the second bend of lap 3.

David McAllan came off twice in heat 5, both times of his own accord whilst at the back. At the start of the second lap he overcooked an attempt to pass Schramm, remounted then came off again on the third bend and was this time unable to clear the track. Tigers fans were pleasantly surprised when referee Jim McGregor awarded the race with Danny Bird clear in front.

Chris Schramm made the gate in heat 6 with Shane Parker close behind but Neath passed Parker on the opening bends. Shane kept pressuring but was unable to find a way past and Glasgow succumbed to an unexpected 5-1. This was followed by an almost identical race in heat 7, this time Nieminen being the rider unable to find a way through, Lee Dicken falling and retiring from the race on the opening lap.

Cockle and McAllan stopped any chance of three in a row for Newport in heat 8. James gated but was passed by Schramm on the opening bends and the heat was shared. Joel Parsons suffered an engine failure at the end of the first lap whilst at the back. A shared heat 9 from the gate followed.

The Newport pairing gated in heat 10 but this time Kauko was able to pass Schramm round the outside on the final bend of the first lap. James Cockle came in for David McAllan in heat 10 and the Tigers pairing of Bird and Cockle pulled Glasgow back into the meeting with a 5-1 from the gate in a re-run. They had also been on a 5-1 in the original running when Wilkinson fell off on the third bend of the opening lap and unsurprisingly made no attempt to clear the track.

Heat 12 was shared from the gate before the much anticipated heat 13 provided a similar scoreline after an unsatisfactory start - the only difference being that Danny Bird past his partner in heat 13.

As with the Berwick meeting, Kauko Nieminen had started slowly but improved heat by heat to win heat 14. However there was more to his performance in heat 14 as once again Kauko showed his ability to the full with excellent team riding again for the first two and a half laps, protecting Cockle and holding off the impressive Atkin. Atkin made an excellent pass on Cockle on the back straight of the third lap however and Kauko, covering the inside line, reacted quickly and went on to win the race. The action wasn't over though as Joel Parsons made a rather misjudged attempt at an inside pass on Cockle on the penultimate bend of the race. He accidentally collected James as he did so and sent him heavily into the fence. The referee correctly excluded Parsons and awarded third to Cockle who reacted angrily and unnecessarily to Parsons as he came round at the end of the race but in all honesty it was no more than 'handbags' with Parsons carrying on into the pits and David McAllan calming his team mate down on the walk back.

With the scores now tied and everything resting on heat 15 it looked as if Glasgow might have to settle for a draw when Newport won the toss and put the impressive Chris Neath off gate one. In the first running of the heat, Neath made the gate followed by Bird and Parker with Wilkinson at the back. Wilkinson fell of his own accord on the opening bend and again made no attempt to clear the track presumably hoping for an all four back decision. Referee McGregor stood firm however and excluded him from the re-run. Neath once again gated but Shane Parker swept round the outside through a gap that did not even look to be there and pulled clear of Neath on the third bend. It was a superb manoeuvre from the Glasgow captain. Neath gave chase but Shane held on to win not only the heat but the meeting with Danny in third. On returning to the pits gate his team mates gave him the bumps with the exception of Kauko Nieminen who elected to spray them all with the hose as the celebrations began!

Glasgow did deserve to win the meeting overall although they had looked as if they were going to loose their way half way through. Neath and in particular Atkin were very formidable opponents but Glasgow stuck to their task and yet again, despite all the moans of the opposition fans about a 'two-man team', it was a team effort with all seven riders playing their part.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003