Glasgow went down by four points in this evening's first leg of the Scottish Cup despite a confident opening and also received a potential blow to their hopes of doing well in tomorrow evening's fours competition with Kauko Nieminen picking up a shoulder injury in the final heat.

Things looked so good for Glasgow from the start with Danny Bird flying from the gate in the opening heat - the only heat he was to look comfortable in. Partner David McAllan also made a good gate and despite Theo Pijper briefly finding a way past him on the inside lap 3 bend 2, David was quickly back ahead and held on to give Tigers the best possible start.

Robert Ksiezak followed it up with a tapes to flag win in heat two, reasonably unchallenged. The action was at the back between Stoddart and Cockle, Cockle gating but Stoddart coming inside him on the opening bends and holding that third place despite a late challenge from James coming off the final bend. Kauko Nieminen then made it three out of three heat wins for Glasgow winning a well spread out heat three from the gate but unfortunately partner Lee Dicken was off the pace at the back.

The run was halted when Will Lawson showed he too could win comfortably from the gate in heat 4. Shane Parker claimed second spot after missing the start with James Cockle getting third after Derek Sneddon's bike packed up whilst under pressure for third place.

Heat five saw a very tough opening bend, especially from David McAllan, but Chris Kerr was able to come round the outside and, despite David chasing all the way, Kerr was not to be caught. In third place, Danny Bird looked rather subdued in this one and appeared to clip the fence coming off the final bend whilst glancing down at his bike. He clearly looked unhappy with his machinery.

Not for the first time this season, there was a lengthy break in racing at this stage due to some of the tyres provided being faulty before heat 6 got underway with Shane Parker hitting the front coming out of the second bend. With Pijper and Moller in close contention, Shane pulled ahead and went on to win comfortably. Behind him, Robert Ksiezak did very well to thwart all that the Edinburgh pairing - Henrik Moller in particular - could throw at him to hang on for second place and give Tigers their second heat maximum of the night to open up a six point gap.

Will Lawson won his second heat of the night for the Monarchs after both Tigers riders missed the gate. Kauko Nieminen passed effortlessly inside Sean Stoddart at the start of the second lap but Lawson was already well clear by this stage and the heat advantage went the way of the home side.

Glasgow brought Robert Ksiezak in for James Cockle in heat 8 and he made an excellent gate although partner McAllan made his only poor gate of the night. Robert looked odds on to win the race until his bike seriously lost power on the first bend of the final lap, allowing all three riders past him before the finishing line, turning the shared heat into a 5-1 for the home side and bringing them right back into the meeting.

Parker and Cockle came out as the Glasgow pairing in heat 9 and made the gate. Shane slowed to consider the team riding option but Little was able to get round the outside of Cockle on the backstraight - and also momentarily Shame - before the Glasgow captain changed tactics and quickly regained his first place, going on to win the race with Cockle bringing up the rear.

Another heat advantage for the Monarchs followed in heat 10 in a well spread out heat from the gate before Lawson missed the two minutes for the start of heat 11. It was announced he would be replaced by Derek Sneddon only for Lawson to line up off 15m and the start marshall having to hastily re-align the remaining three riders. When tapes eventually went up, David McAllan made yet another good gate although Danny Bird was slow off the mark. Bird was able to get round the outside of both Sean Stoddart and partner McAllan on the second bend and pull clear. David was given a brief fright with Stoddart passing inside him into second on the third bend of the opening lap but David was able to return the favour at the start of lap two. The faster Lawson caught up and passed his team mate on the third lap and went on to challenge David for second but David rode a tidy line to hold him off.

Cockle came in for Dicken in heat 12 and although he made the gate Kevin Little quickly went round the outside of him on the second bend. On the third bend of the second lap, Cockle slid off unchallenged whilst lying in second place although Robert Ksiezak was able to hold off Derek Sneddon at the back to minimise the damage. Things went from bad to worse for the Tigers however in heat 13 when Danny Bird suffered the engine failure that looked to be threatening all night on the opening bends. Unfortunately, he also inadvertently impeded partner Shane Parker, allowing Pijper and Lawson to pull well clear. Shane did make a tremendous effort to claw his way back into the race and almost succeeded in catching Lawson coming off the final bend but it was not to be and the home side took the lead for the first time in the meeting.

Ksiezak and Sneddon came in at reserve in place of Cockle and Stoddart respectively for the important heat 14, a heat that was to give us two races in one. Kauko gated and was pursued by the impressive looking Chris Kerr. Kerr lined him up well and executed a good inside pass reminiscent of Peter Carr on bend two of lap two and went on to claim victory. Meantime at the back Robert Ksiezak had missed the gate and although he remained very close to Sneddon for the four laps he was unable to pass.

From looking comfortable earlier on, Tigers were now in the position of needing a 5-1 to tie the meeting and pinned their hopes on the pairing of Parker and Nieminen. It was to go horribly wrong for the Tigers however in the first running as, with Shane Parker gating in front, Kauko Nieminen picked up some drive on the second bend, similar to his accident earlier in the season at Armadale, and crashed heavily into the boards. It was reported at the time from centre green that Kauko had dislocated his shoulder in the accident but managed to pop it back in himself almost immediately although he looked in considerable discomfort as he headed back to the pits.

The re-run was now a case of damage limitation and Shane came out and won from the gate despite the close attentions of Edinburgh captain Theo Pijper.

Glasgow will be disappointed to have let this meeting slip from them but the bigger concern must be Kauko and the injury he received in heat 14. It would be almost an injustice if his season were to finish in this manner.

On the night, David McAllan rode well as did Shane, Robert and Kauko. Lee and Armadale just do not go together whilst James Cockle will be disappointed in his performance. Other than his opening heat, Danny appeared unsettled with his bike all evening.

Presuming that the second leg can be run before the end of the season, Glasgow may not have won this meeting but should surely feel confident they can retain the Scottish Cup in the second leg.

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