Tigers Thrash Redcar
Posted 15th May

It was a makeshift Redcar team that turned out at Ashfield on Sunday with three of their regulars missing. Many felt that the two guests drafted in - Derek Sneddon and Matthew Wethers - made the Cleveland outfit stronger but it did not stop Glasgow from recording a comfortable home win.

The much talked about remedial work had been carried out on the track in the last 7 days and right away Danny Bird took advantage, setting the fastest time so far this season in heat 1 from the gate. David McAllan had been slow at the tapes but came up the inside of Derek Sneddon on the third bend of the opening lap to claim third place.

Glasgow's reserves opened their afternoon by again recording a 5-1 in heat 2 from the gate. Robert won by a considerable margin although Jack Hargreaves did pressure James.

Heat 3 took three attempts to run and provided the first little bit of controversy courtesy of that man Sneddon. After an unsatisfactory start when Robert got a flier, Sneddon leaned heavily on Ksiezak in the restart, pushing the Glasgow rider into the fence. To the displeasure of some of the crowd, the referee called all 4 back but in fairness it was a difficult one for the referee to call so for that reason alone it was probably the correct decision. It proved an expensive fall for Ksiezak however with considerable damage to his bike and he had to ride the rest of the meeting on his second bike.

Ksiezak was able to take his place in the re-run after a lengthy delay for treatment and appeared once more to jump the tapes although surprisingly the referee allowed it to go. Lee Dicken gated in second and did well to hold off Matt Wethers until the end of the second lap. Wethers then gave chase and passed Ksiezak in a copy cat manoeuvre one lap later to claim the win. WIth Sneddon rooted at the back, the heat was shared.

Cockle and Parker gated in heat 4 but a mistake from James at the end of the second lap allowed Chris Kerr through on the inside. Cockle tried hard to get back but it was not to be. As if to make amends for this, Cockle made an excellent gate in the following heat, taking HAvelock wide on the opening bends. For two laps it looked as if the name of Gary Havelock may be added to the list of those beaten by the Legend Killer but Havvy managed to get up the inside of the Glasgow reserve on the fourth bend of the second lap. A lap later, Matt Wethers challenged Cockle at the same spot but as he did so Wethers chain snapped and he was thrown heavily into the fence, the race being awarded.

Redcar's Chris Kerr was lucky not to be excluded after loosing control and coming off on his own at the start of heat 5, his bike hitting McAllan on the knee as he fought for control. Ironically it was McAllan who required medical treatment after pulling up on the second bend, an apologetic and concerned Kerr walking back to the pits with him once David was back on his feet. The re-run resulted in a 5-1 for the home side, the only drama being when Danny Bird made a major mistake at the end of the second lap. Fortunately for the Tigers only team mate david McAllan was close enough to capitalise.

Redcar surprisingly chose to bring Matt Wethers out as a TR in heat 7 against Parker and Ksiezak Parker was to win the heat easily from the gate. Ksiezak for once was slow out of the gate but cut inside Wethers on the second bend into third. Wethers worked hard however, getting his reward when Ksiezak failed to cover the outside line at the end of lap 2, Wethers reclaiming third spot. Unfortunately for Redcar his partner - Edinburgh team mate Derek Sneddon - seemed oblivious to his partner and the black and white helmet colour, at one point pushing Wethers to the fence blocking him as if he were an opposition rider rather than a team mate and ultimately failing to let him through for the extra point.

McAllan and Cockle took a relatively easy 5-1 from the gate in heat 8 although James again seemed to be having problems with the fourth bend. Another 5-1 followed in heat 9 courtesy of Danny Bird and Lee Dicken, Lee getting past Chris Kerr on bend two and the heat ending up well spread out. Both Redcar riders appeared to have engine problems towards the end of the race but they were both already well beaten by that stage

After a ragged start, heat 10 was shared when a mistake by David McAllan on the final bend allowed both Redcar riders through to deny Glasgow what had looked a certain 5-1.

Glasgow took a heat advantage from the gate in a well spread out heat 11 before Redcar brought Derek Sneddon out as a TR in what was to be a controversial heat 12. In the first running, a disgraceful piece of riding bordering on the dangerous saw Sneddon completely take Cockle out but unbelievably the referee called all 4 back. Unlike heat 3, there was no dubiety about this one at all at the referees decision was, being generous, somewhat surprising. Although the Glasgow pairing gated in the re-run, Sneddon swept round Dicken at the end of the first lap then tailed James Cockle before taking advantage of a slip by the Glasgow youngster at the end of the third lap to go into the lead. James gave chase but came to grief trying too hard to catch Sneddon on the final bend. With Lee Dicken getting second, Redcar recorded a 7-2.

A comfortable 5-1 from the gate in heat 13 looked as if it would be followed by a heat advantage in heat 14. However, with David McAllan well out in front on the final lap, his cut out dislodged coming past the pits gate and although he reacted quickly all three riders past him and it became a heat advantage to Redcar. Heat 15 was then a bit of an anti-climax with Parker and Bird getting one of the easiest 5-1's they are ever likely to record. Havelock for some reason did not feature in heat 15 but was unlikely to have made any difference anyhow.

Redcar were a poor team and must be grateful to their two guests from Edinburgh giving the score some respectability scoring more than half Redcar's points. Havelock in particular was disappointing.

Shane and Danny both deserved their maximums, Shane in particular winning his points with relative ease. It was good to see Lee Dicken record a paid 9 for his efforts and this should give him an all important boost to his confidence. David rode well enough but looked disappointed at what he will see as dropped points. With 15 points between them the reserves can also be pleased with their efforts although both were left counting the cost of Derek Sneddon's challenges. It cannot be denied that the victory was against a very poor side but it was still an all round good team effort from the Tigers to secure the victory.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003