Tigers Qualify but Lose the Bonus
(Posted 29/04/07)

A lack lustre performance from the Tigers saw them claim a last gasp win at home against Edinburgh in the final Premier trophy group stage meeting but they failed to secure the bonus point.

Edinburgh looked to be up against it before tapes even went up after Andrew Tully smashed heavily into the first bend fence on the practice lap after his throttle jammed open and was forced to withdraw from the meeting.

Rather than give the home side an advantage it seemed to spur their rivals on and when racing got underway Henrik Moller won the opening heat for them from the gate. Ronnie Correy went off 15m after tape touching and Lee Dicken did well to hold him at the back for the entire four laps.

Lee Smethills gated in the three rider only heat 2 but seemed to loose control on the second bend allowing Tessari to some through on the inside and go on to win the heat. After a re-run in heat 3 with Moller moving at the gate, Shane Parker won heat 3 from the gate with Robert Ksiezak pulling up on the opening bends with engine problems.

Both Trent Leverington and Lee Smethills made the gate in heat 4 but Edinburgh's Tessari came through on the inside of Lee Smethills into second coming out of bend 2. Trent however rode an excellent race out front holding off every challenge the young Italian made. Inexperience perhaps showed when Tessari tried an over ambitious move round the outside at the end of the third lap, sliding off and allowing Smethills back through into second place to give Tigers the first 5-1 of the meeting.

Robert Ksiezak made amends for his earlier engine problems with a good gate in heat 5 allowing him to take Ronnie Correy wide leaving a gap inside for partner Shane Parker to come through and into the lead .Correy did manage to squeeze past Ksiezak through a small gap into second place but was unable to make any impression on Parker. Meantime, at the back, Robert completed a confident race by holding off the attentions of Will Lawson to hold third place.

Although george Stancl made the gate in heat 6, Daniele Tessari once again made use of the wide line on the opening bends to come out of the second bend ahead. Although Stancl chased, he never really challenged. Lee Dicken slid off on the opening bends of the second lap whilst lying in third place.

Moller once again appeared to be rolling at the tapes before they went up but it did not stop him making an excellent gate in heat 7. Trent Leverington was left to battle for second place with Will Lawson, a battle Trent won in determined manner despite a late charge to the line from Lawson.

Heat 8 saw a win from the gate for Edinburgh's Tessari with Dicken once again holding off the opposition, this time in the form of Matthew Wethers, for second place but the heat advantage to the visitors brought them back on level terms.

Shane Parker and Robert Ksiezak hit back with a 5-1 in heat 9 after both Tigers riders gated. This time Shane covered the outside line on the opening bends, blocking Tessari's attempt to come round and in typical Parker style worked hard to protect and shepherd Robert home thwarting the attempts of Tessari. Unfortunately the Tigers joy was to be short lived however as Lawson and Moller scored what will probably rank as one of their easiest ever 5-1's from the gate in heat 10, George Stancl retiring with engine troubles whilst at the back coming out of the opening bends and Lee Dicken being well off the pace.

It got worse as the away side claimed another heat advantage courtesy of Ronnie Correy from the gate in heat 11. trent Leverington, who finished second, pressed Correy hard for the opening two laps before the American pulled clear.

Shane Parker missed the gate in heat 12 but came hard under Tessari coming out of the second bend into second place, Smethills behind him having to pull up slightly and slipping to the rear. Parker then gave chase to Lawson and there was a good battle up front between the two culminating in a drive to the line off the final bend. Shane got the better of Lawson as they came out of the bend but was barely half a wheel in front when the youngsters chain went preventing any remote chance of a come back. With Smethills at the back however, it mean that the visitors were still two points up on the day. the scores were however pulled back level in what was probably the closest heat of the afternoon in heat 13.

Stancl and Leverington gated but Correy found his way through between the two of them coming out of the second bend. All three riders rode in close contention for the four laps with Correy getting close to George on a couple of occasions but similarly Trent putting considerable pressure on Correy. it was to finish in the order they came out of the second bend however with Wethers well off the pace at the back compounded by sliding off at the start of the second lap.

With the scores level, Tigers had to get some form of heat advantage in heat 14 to keep alive the slim chance of the bonus point but it was not to be. Moller again appeared to be rolling at the start and got a flier. Ksiezak had no chance of catching up and the well spread heat was shared confirming that the bonus point was going East.

It was now all down to heat 15 to decide the outcome of the meeting. Despite Trent and Shane being by far the best two Tigers on the day, Stewart Dickson probably sensibly decided to stick with the 'old faithful' pairing of Stancl and Parker for the crucial heat 15 and his faith in them was repaid when they gated ahead of Correy and Moller. Parker won by a considerable margin whilst Stancl fought well to hold off the attentions of Correy and Moller to claim second place.

Team manager Stewart Dickson did not look happy after the meeting despite the win and its not surprising with so many of the Tigers team not quite firing on all cylinders. Trent was once again possibly the unsung hero putting in a sterling shift whilst Shane's 15 point maximum was vintage Shane and well deserved. Robert did take a step further forward in finding his form after injury but there were quite a number of niggles that will need to be sorted out amongst the rest of the team. David McAllan was badly missed and that was compounded by no longer having Lee Dicken at reserve to compensate..