The Tigers most successful season in this spell at Ashfield ended in defeat this afternoon as local rivals Edinburgh, bolstered by three guests, won by 47-43 to lift the Scottish Cup.

The opening heat saw Danny Bird and David McAllan gate with Little completely missing the start at the back. Theo Pijper came round the outside of David McAllan on the second bend into second place and tried to chase Danny Bird but was unable to get any closer than a bike length behind.

James Cockle and Robert Ksiezak gated in heat 2 with James pulling clear and again winning in comfort. Robert meantime was put under pressure for all four laps by an occasionally erratic looking Derek Sneddon but he managed to hold on to secure a 5-1 for the home side.

With Kauko out injured, guest Rusty Harrison and Glasgow asset Trent Leverington – guesting for Edinburgh – provide a good race in heat three. Rusty made the gate with Trent hot on his tail. Trent briefly hit the front up the inside coming out of the second bend of the second lap but Rusty immediately hit back on the back straight. Trent repeated the pass one lap later and this time Rusty could only pull back level and the two of them passed the yellow flag side by side. Having the inside line, Trent pushed Harrison wide on the second bend and pulled clear for a well deserved win. William Lawson won heat four very easily from the gate with Sneddon getting past a clearly unfit Shane Parker on the opening bends to give Edinburgh the 1-5 before Harrison won a shared heat 5 from the gate.

Glasgow were perhaps a little fortunate when the first running of heat 6 was deemed unsatisfactory with Lawson clearly ahead and Danny having missed the gate. Bird made sure in the re-run however, only beaten from the tapes by a excellent gate from his partner David McAllan. Bird swept round the outside on the second bend and pulled clear whilst David rode a clever opening lap making full use of the track and opening up a gap between him and Will Lawson in third which allowed him to hold the Edinburgh youngster off and claim the second 5-1 of the meeting.

Both Glasgow riders missed the gate in heat 7 although Shane was quickly into second place rounding Chris Kerr on the opening bends. Kerr then lost control and came off on the third bend trying a wild challenge round the outside dislodging the fence as he came off. Normally a race would be stopped if the fence was damaged but Mr McGregor allowed the race to continue and Trent Leverington once again won in style with thankfully no further involvement as far as the damaged fence was concerned. Heat 8 was to be re-run however after Sneddon lost control on the opening bends with the Tigers on a potential 5-0, Little’s bike spluttering to a halt just after the red lights came on. McAllan gated in the re-run and took Little wide to allow Cockle through into second place. Unfortunately that only lasted for another lap, James coming off whilst still in second and remounting to get the single point for third.

Lee Dicken was in action before the start of heat 9, his bike packing up after a practice start and Lee having to run back to the pits with it before Robert Ksiezak lent him his bike to beat the two minutes. The heat was from the gate with Harrison doing well to hold off Lawson’s challenge and Robert’s bike not helping Lee as he came in last for the third time. Tigers riders misfortune carried on into heat 10 when on the third bend of the opening lap Trent got out of sorts, David thought he was about to come down and laid his bike down. Trent recovered to carry on, David remounted but shortly afterwards his bike went bang as his engine completely shattered. Danny claimed the win quite easily and the heat was shared but David was understandably unhappy.

All season heat 11 has been a relatively strong one for the Tigers and when Shane Parker came between the two Monarchs on the opening bends to hit the front on pits bend hopes were high. They were very short lived however as Shane’s groin strain took hold and he had to shut off. The Edinburgh pair recorded an easy 1-5 with Shane coasting round at the back and retiring once it was clear both Monarchs would finish. It looked as if the visitors were on course for two 1-5 in a row when the impressive Leverington was joined by Derek Sneddon in second place. Robert Ksiezak, in for Lee Dicken, did not give up and received the reward for it when a drive off the final bend saw him pass Sneddon on the outside and claim second place by a wheel.

There had been some doubt as to whether Glasgow would field Shane Parker in heat 13 but they did. A hard opening bend was too much for him however and he trailed off at the back. Lawson was well clear and when Pijper passed Danny Bird for second place on the third bend there was no way back and the Monarchs took the lead in the meeting for the first time. It meant that heat 14 was crucial if the Tigers were to hold out any hope of retaining the Scottish Cup and hopes were raised slightly thanks to a great gate from Robert Ksiezak with guest Harrison behind him. On the third bend of the opening lap Sneddon passed inside Harrison and the Tigers guest was left playing catch up. He challenge all the way but misjudged his last gasp attempt to pass Sneddon on the penultimate bend ending up in the fence with Chris Kerr doing well to lay his bike down at the back. The race was awarded and gave Edinburgh the Scottish Cup.

There was still the meeting to ride for with Glasgow needing a 5-1 in heat 15 to draw the meeting on the day. Danny an Robert came out for the Tigers and although both had ridden well during the meeting they were no match for Trent Leverington who was undoubtedly the rider of the meeting.

Most of the year the second half of the meeting has been Glasgow’s strong point but in this one the last 7 heats were to be Tigers downfall. It is a shame that such a good season has to end on a low not only being beaten but loosing the Scottish Cup to our rivals but on the day the selection wearing the Monarch’s race jackets were deserved winners thanks in no small part to the excellent performance of Trent Leverington.