First blood in the 2006 derby meetings went to Edinburgh this evening on a meeting that was always going to be cut short due to the rain. The track however stood up well, allowing 12 heats to be completed before visibility meant things were called to a halt.

The meeting certainly didn't start in the way Glasgow would have expected with David McAllan suffering an engine failure on the start line in heat 1 and Danny being beat from the gate by Theo Pijper. Things did look better in heat 2 when Robert and James were lying on a 5-1. However a mistake by James on bend 4 of the third lap allowed Derek Sneddon through into second. On the penultimate bend of the final lap, Sean Stoddart appeared to catch the corner on the inside and went down. Although slightly in front, it looked as if Stoddart may have inadvertently clipped Cockle's rear wheel as he fell. James was unable to stay on and ended up through the fence on the apex of the bend. Meantime, Stoddart took full advantage and cleverly got up and pushed for home to claim a point, much to the disbelief of the Tigers fans.

Two easy 5-1's for the home side from the gate were to follow although Dicken was challenging for the first two laps in the third heat and Shane gave chase in heat 4 despite an awful gate.

As expected, Glasgow brought Danny Bird out as a Tactical Ride in heat 5 and Danny did not disappoint. He won comfortably and it looked as if a 1-8 may be on the cards but Wethers executed a hard but fair pass round the outside of David McAllan crossing the start finish line at the end of the third lap.

Another poor gate from Parker in heat 6 combined with a little bit of contact from an erratic looking Moller left Glasgow looking as if they would loose yet another 5-1 but Shane stuck with it and finally got round the outside of Moller on lap three bend 2. Pijper by this time was however in an uncatchable lead.

Heat 7 was shared, Edinburgh's Harrison winning by a considerable margin despite being outgated by Dicken. Robert came in for James in heat 8 but Tigers could not prevent Edinburgh from collecting their third 5-1 of the meeting. McAllan did chase hard and very nearly caught Sneddon with a drive round the outside then cut up the inside on the final bend but Sneddon clearly got it on the line.

Nine points down, Glasgow took advantage to bring out Shane Parker as a TR in heat 9 and he won easily from the gate. Lawson was clear behind him in second with the action being for third between Ksiezak and Wethers. Robert managed to come out on top despite Wethers momentarily getting round him on the second bend of the final lap.

Kauko Nieminen had been disappointing so far but like last week at Berwick he came good in what was to be his last ride of the night. Outgated by Moller, he tracked him for two laps before executing an excellent outside pass on him on the third bend of lap 2 and going on to win comfortably. Lee however seemed to have lost momentum for this race, the only one he was really off the pace in, and to add to his woes he came off on the second bend of the final lap, remounting but not finishing the race.

Danny Bird once more showed his class in heat 11 winning comfortably from the tapes. Harrison came second despite a serious wobble on the second bend of the final lap - unfortunately David was just too far behind to capitalise on this although he did push him to the tapes. An anti-climax was to follow in heat 12 with Edinburgh recording their fourth 5-1 of the night by a considerable margin over the Glasgow pairing.

Immediately the riders were over the finish line the Clerk of the Course was called to the track and as expected racing was called to a halt on the grounds of safety.

It wasn't the best night for speedway but the riders all went out and gave it their best shot. With only a six point deficit, Glasgow must surely be favourites over the two legs but it is far from over.

On an individual basis, Danny was definitely in form tonight, although Shane looked a little sluggish at the start. James Cockle was undoubtedly affected by his heat 2 fall and will be happy to consign this meeting to history. Robert had a decent night however and rode well. Once again the Dicken/Nieminen pairing was a bit of an enigma. Lee started well enough and rode well enough but again it looked as if it was his machinery that was slower, his effort certainly could not be faulted. He did fade at the end of the meeting however. Kauko on the other hand started very poorly and was off the pace in his first two rides before coming out in his third race and destroying the opposition.

It is thought that the second leg at Ashfield may be held sometime in May and not this Sunday as was erroneously announced by Scott Wilson tonight.

Tiger Performance Points:-

R002