Despite a lack of track time, Tigers opened up their season with a well worked victory against a competent Berwick Bandits at Shielfield. The meeting was a close affair despite little passing and although Berwick scored solidly throughout most of their team, it was not enough to stop Glasgow taking the win.

Shane won his first spin of the coin of 2006 and elected to go from gates 2 and 4 - a decision that looked to be the wrong one early on as the inside gates had a very definite advantage in the early heats.

Some referees would have called heat 1 back after it looked as if Bird was impeded going into the first bend but the Berwick pairing took full advantage and pulled clear. Danny tried very hard to make ground, actually drawing level with Rymel at the end of the second lap, but the Czech's track knowledge allowed him to pull clear and with Meldrum record a home 5-1.

Their joy was to be short lived however as Ksiezak gated in heat two and moved the Berwick pairing out beautifully on the second bend to allow Cockle through on the inside into second.

Heat 3 was re-run after Dicken went down on the opening bend. On the re-start, Nieminen struggled out of the gate whilst Dicken was unable to match the power of the Berwick pairing past the second bend. Nieminen was also to pass his team mate but the Berwick pair won by a considerable margin.

The Parker Cockle combination took to the track for the first time this season and this time it was James who was able to help Shane, thanks to an excellent gate. Shane went round the outside of Cockle on the second bend whilst James worked at keeping Bergstrom behind him until the end of the second lap by which time Shane was too far ahead to be caught. David McAllan tried to do the same for Danny Bird in heat 5 but Makovsky was able to pass on the third bend of the first lap although Danny went on to win easily.

Ksiezak touched the tapes in heat 6 and was replaced by Cockle who was to have bike problems during the heat whilst at the back. Rymel won from the gate to inflict what was to be Shane's only defeat of the evening despite Shane's best efforts. The time given by the time keeper did seem a little unrealistic, being almost two second quicker than any other so far on the night. More problems for the Tigers in heat 7 saw Lee Dicken shed a chain on the third bend of the second lap. Danny Warwick, who had made an electric gate, went on to win his first race for the Bandits followed home by team mate Andreas Bergstrom. Nieminen was badly off the pace in this race and seemed to be struggling to get his set up right.

Cockle again played a holding role in heat 8, allowing David McAllan to go clear from the gate whilst he held up David Meldrum until the end of the second lap. Meldrum gave chase however and looked to have caught David on the penultimate bend but a fantastic effort by David held him off to claim victory on the line by half a wheel. Meanwhile at the back, Branney almost caught Cockle napping but again the Glasgow rider beat the Bandit over the line by half a wheel.

Heat 9 was shared with Parker winning easily. Ksiezak had cut inside Makovsky on the second bend but the Czech returned the compliment on the fourth bend. Robert gave chase and forced Makovsky into making mistakes. Makovsky was all over the track at this stage however and Ksiezak looked as if he pulled back.

Kauko Nieminen's nightmare continued in heat 10 as a shed chain meant he did not even make the first corner. Berwick recorded an easy 5-1 from the gate. This was followed by a 3-3 from the gate in heat 11 before Cockle replaced Dicken in heat 12 to pair up again with Ksiezak. Once again the Glasgow reserves gated well with Robert again moving the opposition out to allow Cockle through. A Tigers 5-1 looked on the cards until a small error by James on the second bend of the final lap allowed Smethills through.

Heat 13 is one most Glasgow fans will look forward to this season and Shane and Danny did not disappoint, recording a very comfortable 5-1 from the gate to bring Glasgow back to within 2 points.

With Kauko not having had a good night, many expected Stewart Dickson to bring Ksiezak in to partner James Cockle again in heat 14 and felt that he had made a mistake in not doing so when Nieminen came to tapes. However we were soon proved wrong as Kauko stormed from the tapes to win by a country mile and from his celebrations afterwards Kauko certainly enjoyed it.

It set up a last heat decider with Glasgow trailing by two points. Berwick won the toss but seemed to want to give Glasgow gate advantage when they surprisingly chose gates 2 and 4, something the Glasgow pair were happy to take advantage of. A good gate saw Bird and Parker come out of the second bend in front at the start of heat 15. Shane pulled clear whilst Danny worked hard behind to fend off Bergstrom for a couple of laps before also pulling clear to claim the 5-1 and victory.

Berwick are a reasonably good team and show a lot of promise - they will be very hard to beat especially once they get into their stride. Warwick looks a bargain on a C grading whilst Rymel is back to his old self after a poor start last week.

Considering the Tigers are very short on track time and that Danny Bird is still struggling from 'flu this was an excellent result for the Tigers. The top end showed just why Glasgow have taken the risk of going top heavy whilst Robert and James at reserve showed why the promotion believe they will be the best reserve pairing in the league. David McAllan rode well and was rewarded for his efforts by being given the most entertaining rider of the night award. Lee tried very hard but his bike seemed underpowered compared to others whilst Kauko looked very relieved to finally show what he is capable in heat 14.

Overall a very satisfactory start to the season.

Tiger Performance Points:-

N049