Tigers Make Hard Work of Defeating Rebels
Posted 11/06/06

Glasgow made hard work of this afternoons meeting at Ashfield against Somerset but were finally able to get their noses in front and finished up with a 10 point victory.

The track was not at its best, the elements having been against the track staff but this time due to the lack of rain rather than too much of it and despite plenty watering it became very dusty particularly towards the end of the meeting.

Back to the beginning though and it started out very well for the Rebels as Zetterstrom made a superb gate in the opening heat, pulled clear and went on to win comfortably. His partner Glen Phillips drew level with Danny on the second bend, got the better of him on the third and Somerset had shocked the Tigers by opening with a 5-1.

A good gate by Ben Barker in heat 2 gave him victory in a shared heat from the gate. The following heat was to go the way of the Tigers however. In the first running, the Glasgow pairing gated but both Somerset riders went up the inside of Lee Dicken at the end of the first lap. Lee fought back and past Phillips on the opening bend of the second lap but a lap later, Phillips fell on his own on the first bend and took a hefty looking blow from his handlebars to his chest. Although the race was almost on lap four by the time the red lights came on, the referee somewhat surprisingly chose not to award the race but to order a re-run with Phillips excluded. This worked in Glasgow's favour as they had been on a 4-2 at the time of the stoppage but claimed a 5-1 from the gate in the re-run with Lee Dicken having to work very hard on the opening lap to hold off Katt.

It did look as if Tigers would get another 5-1 for a short while in the following heat with Parker and Cockle gating and looking comfortable out front. However, Shane rather unusually succumbed to bike problems, his bike loosing power on the third lap allowing the Somerset pairing through. It looked as if James Cockle was going to hold out but on the final bend he locked up and came off all on his own and it became a 5-1 for the visitors.

A straight forward win from the gate for Zetterstrom followed in heat 5 and with his partner Phillips in third, things were looking worrying for the Tigers. Bird and McAllan got a 4-2 in heat 6 with McAllan passing Walker on the inside lap one bend three before Robert Ksiezak and Shane Parker pulled the Tigers level in heat 7 with a 5-1 from the gate.

The initial start of heat 8 was a sore one for James Cockle whose handlebars tangled with Somerset's Simon Walker coming out of the gate and James took a heavy fall. He was able to take part in the re run but clearly appeared to be affected by it, completely missing the gate and finishing last although partner McAllan won the race comfortably.

Nieminen was first out of the gate in heat 9 and after a close fought opening bends Cunningham got the better of Dicken to secure second. Dicken chased the whole race but was unable to find a way through although the resulting 4-2 did give Glasgow the lead for the first time in the meeting.

Heat 10 saw the Glasgow pairing of Bird and McAllan gate out front but whilst Danny went on to win, David's heat 10 problem continued as he was past firstly by Cunningham on the pits bend then a lap later Katt executed the same maneouvre on him and the heat was shared.

Shane won heat 11 but the star of the show for this one was Robert Ksiezak. Zetterstrom completely missed the gate and Robert did very well to hold him off for two laps before Zetterstrom got the better of him, passing up the inside whilst crossing the finish line at the end of lap 2.

Ksiezak was to feature again in heat 12, much to the surprise of the crowd he was brought in as a replacement for Lee Dicken instead of replacing James Cockle. Although nothing was said at the time, the word from the pits after the meeting was that Lee Dicken was suffering from a bad back and felt unable to take his place in the heat. Whilst Ksiezak won comfortably from the front, James Cockle was definitely still suffering from his earlier fall and actually took another tumble whilst last at the end of the third lap.

There was probably a lot less confidence amongst the Tigers fans than usual about heat 13 but the Glasgow pair gated, Shane won comfortably whilst Danny held Zetterstrom off to ensure the 5-1 and give the Tigers an 8 point lead.

Somerset understandably tried to take advantage of this in heat 14, bringing in Zetterstrom off 15m after lengthy discussion in the pits about the move. The Glasgow pair made reasonable gates but Zetterstrom was soon bearing down on them. There was to be no way through for the Rebel however with Robert Ksiezak riding out of his skin to hold Zetterstrom at bay, including finding that little bit extra from nowhere on the final lap back straight when it looked as if Zorro might finally succeed. The race finished with the two of them driving off the final bend to the line, Robert holding on by half a wheel although, again understandably, Zetterstrom 'celebrated' as if he got it just in case!

Shane was still unhappy with his bikes despite wining heat 13 so unusually he was not to feature in heat 15. Instead it was down to Danny Bird and Kauko Nieminen to take on the Somerset pairing of Zetterstrom and Cunningham. After a very close and hard opening couple of bends between Bird and Zetterstrom in which Zorro came out on top, the heat was to be a bit of an anti-climax, finishing as a well spread out heat advantage for the visitors.

Magnus Zetterstrom is deservedly at the top of the premier league averages and out of the gate is a class act. Glenn Cunningham rode Glasgow a lot better than he has done previously and Somerset must feel they have a good chance in next weeks pairs. Ben Barker looked good in the early heats on a track he has never seen before and although he faded, it is understandable why so many feel he is one for the future.

If anything, Glasgow made it hard for themselves today and they seemed a bit jaded particularly in the early stages. Ksiezak once again was outstanding, Kauko only lost to Zetterstrom before heat 15 and Danny scored well after the shocking opening heat. David and James will both want to put this meeting behind them, Lee did well enough in his three rides. After the meeting, Shane was out on his bikes trying to resolve his problems.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003