It went to the wire but after last Tuesday's heavy defeat on the Island, Isle of Wight proved just too strong for the Tigers over the two legs. Despite a good effort from the Glasgow team throughout the meeting, the timing of the tactical rides proved too much for them to overcome as the last heat decider went the way of the visitors.

It was always going to be tough and right from the start Tigers had to be at their best, Danny once again winning the opening heat from the gate but with Holder only a bike length behind him for most of the race. David McAllan fought hard all four laps but was unable to test Bunyan in third. However, the Tigers got a massive boost in heat two when, after excellent gates, Robert and James went on to record a 5-1. Robert won the race by a considerable margin but James had to fight all the way to thwart Chris Johnson.

Unfortunately the Island pairing made the gate in heat 3 and although Kauko Nieminen was quickly past Stojanowski on the opening bend Ray Morton was already well clear. Meantime Lee Dicken passed inside Stojanowski on the second bend and worked hard to hold him off to claim third place. The two had a coming together at the end of the third lap when Stojanowski ran into the back wheel of Dicken but both riders managed to stay on their machinery.

James Cockle made another good gate in heat 4 with his partner Shane Parker coming round the outside of him on the opening bends to lead. Whilst Parker opened up a gap at the front, James rode well again under pressure to hold off Doyle and Simmons to ensure second place although Doyle surprisingly slid off on his own on the third bend of lap two.

Just as Glasgow were beginning to make it look possible, the strong Islanders pairing of Holder and Bunyan recorded a very easy and comprehensive 1-5 from the gate. It looked possible that Glasgow could immediately come back from this when Bird and McAllan made the gate in heat 6 but Doyle came inside coming out of bend two to pass McAllan. David kept trying but Doyle pulled away and Tiger shad to settle for a heat advantage.

After a level gate, Shane Parker pulled clear in heat 7, going on to win the race comfortably. However although in second place going into the second bend, an uncharacteristic error from Robert Ksiezak saw him drift wide and allow both Islanders through and a well spread out heat was shared.

Robert was given the opportunity to make amends immediately as Stewart Dickson brought him into heat 8 in place of David McAllan. Unfortunately it was his team mate James Cockle who was to make the error this time and it proved a costly one. Robert and James were out in front having beaten both their counterparts out of the gate when James lost control on the third bend of the opening lap and both youngsters ended up crashing heavily into the boards. With James excluded, Robert was beaten out of the gate by Jason Bunyan in the rerun although he came underneath him and into the lead out of bend two just before Bunyan's engine blew on the back straight resulting in a 3-2 to the home side.

Jason Doyle won heat 9 in style with most of the action involving Kauko Nieminen on the opening lap. Coming out of the first bend he picked up some grip and shot across towards the pit gate only just managing to avoid the fence. he regained control and came back to pass inside Chris Johnson on the third bend but by that time Doyle was already well clear and Kauko settled in behind Lee who was in second for a shared heat.

A rush of blood to the head from David McAllan proved costly in heat 10 when on lap two he tried a passing move on Morton that wasn't really available and ended up drifting wide and allowing Stojanowski through. Danny Bird once again won the heat comfortably from the gate.

Heat 11 saw Tigers third 5-1 of the meeting although they had to work hard for it. Shane Parker came out of bend two at the front with Robert Ksiezak but as he was looking for Robert, Chris Holder came up the blind side and went past both Tigers riders into first place. However Holder had a little too much speed on going into the third bend and had to ease up, something Robert and Shane took full advantage of as they went either side of Holder, Robert taking the outside line, and into the lead. From there on in, we had another excellent display of team riding with Shane Parker keeping Chris Holder at bay for the remainder of the heat despite some good attempts from the Islander at finding a way through.

The disadvantage of the 5-1 was that Glasgow were now susceptible to TR's and Islanders understandably brought Ray Morton out in the black and white in heat 12. To combat it, Stewart Dickson elected to replace Lee Dicken with the faster gating Robert Ksiezak and although Morton gated first, Robert was soon along side and superbly past inside Morton on the opening bends, taking him wide and allowing partner James Cockle through into second. Yet again James kept his cool and followed Robert home for a 5-1 and the TR was ineffective. It was a superb piece of riding from Ksiezak on the opening bends although Ray Morton did not appear to think so as he unexpectedly threw the good old 'hissy fit' returning to the pits at the end of the race.

With Tigers good record in the final three heats of home meetings the fans were perhaps feeling a little more confident but the Islanders were not there to make up the numbers. Chris Holder came out as a TR in heat 13 and silenced the Tigers fans by winning despite being last out of the gate. He past Danny on the inside of the third bend on lap one and although Shane had looked to be out of reach an aggressive but fair and somewhat spectacular pass on bend two of the final lap saw the youngster claim first place. He came at speed under Shane pushing the Glasgow captain wide and leaving him no opportunity to come back. It was a harder piece of riding than Ksiezak's but still fair and not surprisingly Ray Morton applauded this one rather than complain!

With the difference now 12 points, heat 14 was going to be crucial and the Islanders brought Jason Bunyan in as a TS off 15m. Kauko gated and was well clear with everyone's attention focused on the battle at the back. Stojanowski tried to force second place Robert Ksiezak into an error in the opening laps but as soon as Bunyan caught up he let his partner through to fight for double points. Both Bunyan and Ksiezak battled hard and just when it looked as if Robert may hold on, Bunyan got some extra drive coming off the final bend to beat him by half a wheel on the line.

Technically Glasgow could still achieve a run off if they got a 5-1 in the final heat. With the very impressive Chris Holder hitting the front coming out of the second bend however it was effectively all over. Although Shane tried, there was no way the young Australian was going to get caught and to further emphasise the aggregate victory Jason Doyle relegated Danny Bird to the back to give the Islanders a final heat advantage.

For the fans, although it may not sound like it this was an entertaining and exciting meeting which went right down to the wire.

Although Glasgow won the meeting, the tie was lost and Isle of Wight deservedly went through. The dejected look on the faces of the Tigers riders on the parade lap showed that they were really feeling it but a bad night on the Island the Tuesday before had really left them with too much of a mountain to climb.

Throughout the season however the Tigers have constantly exceeded expectations and to finish third in the 'league' stage of this years Premier League Championship was no mean feat and something that the Tigers should be proud of.

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