Comfortable Win at Potteries
(Posted 29/07/07)

Loomer Road continued to be a happy hunting ground for the Tigers as they beat the home side by 8 points in a score that frankly flattered the Potters.

It was a night that had plenty of controversy about it with falls, exclusions,re-runs and a dubious attempt at gamesmanship at the end of heat four.

The controversy started in the opening heat with Jim McGregor angering the traveling Tigers by allowing Ben Barker into the re-run after Glenn Cunningham had fallen at the back. Barker, at the front, had stopped before Cunningham went down. Wato and David however just calmly came out and recorded a 5-1 in the re-run with Barker falling and remounting.

Although Lee Dicken missed the gate in heat 2, he showed he was up for it with an excellent outside run round the opening bends into the lead and was untroubled for the rest of the race.

Tigers fans got their first glimpse of the erratic Claus Vissing in heat 3. After a tight start, Vissing clipped the back of team mate Lee Complin's bike and careered into the fence. An uneventful re-run with Vissing excluded saw Complin win from the gate.

Another heat, another Stoke rider falls. This time it was Harrison who came down on the third lap whilst Tigers were on a 4-2 with Harrison in second. Again the Tigers pairing took full advantage in the rerun with a comfortable 5-1, Stoke's Jamie Smith having to push home for his point after his bike stopped on the final lap.

At this stage with light rain falling, the attempt at gamesmanship came into play. The official sources may be unable to be blunt about it but it certainly appeared to be a deliberate attempt at sabotage when the tractor took out the tape box and kick board at the second attempt. Referee Jim McGregor was obviously of the same opinion as he marched down to the pits and was seen remonstrating at length with the Stoke officials.

After the delay to repair the damage, Stoke put Complin out on a TR. Watson hit the front and although David McAllan outgated Complin but the Stoke rider was able to squeeze past him on the back straight. However the other Stoke rider's attempts at passing David were to end up with David hitting the deck, the rider who is earning the nickname of 'Crazy Claus' just trying to ride straight through him. McAllan was able to take his place in the re-run and get the point for third place. Up front there was a tremendous battle between Watson and Complin for the entire length of the race, Wato just holding on by the narrowest of margins to claim the win and limit the damage of the TR.

Things settled down a bit and the next couple heats were relatively uneventful. Stoke claimed a 4-2 in heat 6 from the gate with the scoreline being reversed in heat 7 courtesy of a pass early on by Ksiezak on Evans.

David McAllan must have been getting a bit of a complex by the time he was knocked off his bike from the back in heat 8 by Jamie Smith on the final lap. The race was rightly awarded, the victory going to the stylish Ben Barker but David needed quite a bit of medical attention and was definitely in pain as he walked back to the pits.

Stoke brought Ben Barker in as a TS off 15m in heat 9 and the move was only thwarted thanks to an excellent ride from Trent Leverington. Barker's partner Lee Complin had made the gate and attempted to slow the race down. trent took full advantage of the slightest of gaps and slipped through into the lead. Complin allowed Barker through into second to challenge and the youngster tried everything to get passed Trent but clever riding from the Aussie meant Barker had to settle for second.

Tigers were now well in control and although the Stoke pairing hit the front out of the gate in heat 10, Shane Parker just executed one of his outside drives on the opening bends to hit the front and record an untroubled win. If he thought that win was comfortable it was even easier for him in heat 12, winning from the gate after Stoke had got a 4-2 from the gate a heat earlier.

Just when the earlier tendency of stoke riders to fall appeared to have been forgotten, Rusty Harrison was again to hit the deck in heat 13. Wato won the race from the gate, Harrison at the back making a last ditch attempt to catch third place Leverington and coming off in the process causing the referee to award the race.

With the rain now getting progressively heavier, Robert Ksiezak's poor night finished with a pretty hefty fall at the back in heat 14 when he clipped team mate Lee Dicken's back wheel. Lee was unable to stop the Potters claiming their one and only 5-1 of the meeting but his solitary point was enough to ensure that Tigers would be taking the two points home.

Heat 15 was a bit of a formality, Wato winning from the gate with Shane Parker in third place in what was now very heavy rain making the surface tricky.

In reality the score did flatter the home side. Tigers strolled through the meeting despite Robert Ksiezak, normally a Loomer Road specialist, struggling to gate and David McAllan having a night more akin to a ten pin bowling pin.

Both David and Robert are understood to be injury worries for tomorrows meeting against Isle of Wight at Ashfield, David being the biggest concern with neck and back pain.

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