Tigers Win Prolonged Meeting
(Posted 16/07/07)

It took a long time to run but Glasgow eventually edged out Rye House this afternoon in a close meeting although Rye House will be traveling home with the bonus point.

Things got off to a good start for the Tigers with a comfortable win from the gate for Craig Watson. David McAllan did not make as good a gate but on the fourth bend of the opening lap cut inside Robbie Kessler and pulled away to make it a 5-1 for the home side.

Adam Roynon took full advantage of having already had an outing in the opening heat, courtesy of Chris Neath touching the tapes, to win heat 2 despite being outgated by Michael Coles. Roynon took the outside route round the opening bends to pass Coles and pulled well clear. The action in the heat was at the rear where Lee Dicken managed to hold off Luke Bowen for a share of the spoils.

It was Ashfield’s first opportunity to see Tai Woffinden, widely regarded by many as one of the hottest young prospects in speedway and he did not disappoint. The opening lap of heat 3 saw Shane and Tai ride side by side full pelt for the full lap before Shane managed to pull ahead. Unfortunately, Robert Ksiezak was well off the pace at the rear.

There was a very hard opening couple of bends between Lee Dicken and Steve Boxall in heat 4, Lee trying to move his opponent wide to let team mate Trent Leverington through. However, Boxall held on and pulled clear coming out of the second bend. Trent did manage to pull back at the end of the opening lap, very nearly catching Boxall, but after that Boxall was untroubled. The Glasgow pairing settled in to keep Roynon at the back although nearly lost it when the two seemed to want to ride the same bit of track at the beginning of the final lap. They survived the scare however and the heat was shared.

Chris Neath took the honours in a shared heat 5, a last bend drive by Shane Parker failing to stop the Rockets rider winning before a little bit of controversy at the start of heat 6. Luke Bowen tried to jump the tapes, misjudging it and pulling back just as the tapes went up. The only one penalised by this was the rider himself, the Glasgow pairing slotting into first and second and it did not go down well with the home crowd when referee Ackroyd decided to call it back, penalising the Glasgow pairing and giving the guilty rider another bite at the cherry. Rye House took full advantage, Boxall this time making the gate ahead of Watson with David McAllan at the back coming out of the second bend and that was the way the heat finished.

Glasgow did however get the benefit of what many felt was a dodgy decision at the start of heat 7, Coles coming down on the opening bend but appearing to do so on his own with Roynon unable to avoid him. The referee called all 4 back and the classy Woffinden won from the tapes. Roynon, stuck at the back and not challenging, appeared to throw a bit of a strop choosing to ride into the pits at speed on the fourth lap rather than complete the race.

More controversy followed in heat 8. Lee Dicken made an excellent gate and led all the way. Bowen at the back fell and retired at the start of the second lap whilst David in third was challenging second place Roynon. Roynon made an error at the end of the second lap, David took full advantage and came up the inside of Roynon at the start of lap 3. With daylight between the two, Roynon slid off on his own but the referee decreed David had somehow made contact and the race was awarded as a 3-2 with another petulant tantrum from Roynon as McAllan made his way back to the pits.

The initial running of heat 9 saw the home pair gate with Boxall close behind and challenging Robert Ksiezak all the way. However Boxall basically ran out of track going round the fourth bend, clipping the fence and coming off. Tigers may have thought the re-run with Bowen the only Rocket was a foregone conclusion but Bowen had other ideas. The Glasgow pair gated again but a lack of concentration saw Bowen come through inside into second place ahead of Robert coming out of bend 2. Ksiezak regained second on the back straight and managed to hold on for the remainder of the race but Bowen made him work hard for it all the way.

Woffinden claimed another win from the gate in heat 10, Rye gaining a heat advantage courtesy of Roynon's third place.

The score was repeated in heat 11, Neath winning from the gate although his task was made easier when Coles and Leverington inadvertently got in each others way on the second bend. It looked as though the heat would be shared but Bowen blasted round the outside line on the final bend to pass Coles.

Woffinden once again shot from the gate in heat 12 but a superb outside pass by Shane Parker at the end of the opening lap relegated the youngster to second. Shane pulled clear, winning the heat comfortably, although unfortunately for the Tigers his partner Lee Dicken was surprisingly off the pace at the back.

It took three attempts to run heat 13, with firstly Trent Leverington and then Chris Neath coming down in first bend bunching. On the third running however, Wato was allowed to move wide with all 3 remaining riders taking the inside route into bend 2. It left Trent at the rear but as always he did not give up and despite the Rye House pair doing their best to team ride and keep him out Trent cleverly found a gap round the outside of Neath on the final bend to claim an important third place.

An excellent outside swoop by Ksiezak saw him take the lead in heat 14 although he was being pressed hard by Roynon. Bowen and Coles were having their own battle at the back, Bowen passing inside Coles on the second bend of lap 2 and put daylight between them. All eyes were on the battle at the front and Roynon once again took advantage of the drive off the final bend to take the win on the line. However, at the back Bowen suffered an engine failure yards from the line and despite his best attempts to keep the momentum going, Michael Coles was able to pass him just before the line for the important point that saved the pressure of a last heat decider.

From a supporters point of view it was disappointing that Rye chose not to put their best rider, Tai Woffinden, out in heat 15 but it gave Shane and Wato a chance to record an easy 5-1 despite Boxall briefly leading Wato coming out of the second bend.

The meeting seemed to last forever with the referee taking his time between running heats. There was never really any possibility of Tigers gaining the bonus and the priority was to get the win, which they did. The end score perhaps flatters the Tigers a little but when the chips were down the riders scored the important points that mattered. Lee Dicken looked a lot quicker than he has done in recent weeks although Robert’s form is still a little worrying. Once again Tigers were well served by their top three of Parker Watson and Leverington.