Knock Out Cup Still in Reach
(Posted 05/05/07)

It was an entertaining meeting at Somerset but it remains to be seen whether Tigers can overcome the 14 point deficit which, but for a rather strange refereeing decision against Shane in heat 14, could have been a lot less.

It did not start well for the Tigers however when the opening heat saw gater Zetterstrom and partner Simon Walker show Stancl and Dicken how to gate, neither Tiger being able to compete and lee retiring on the second lap.

Danny Warwick hit the front in heat 2 but Lee Smethills got by him, fighting off another challenge for the lead from him before Warwick slipped back into third. David McAllan, in his first meeting back after injury, was left at the back.

The Oak Tree Arena got their first taste of the superb team riding spectacle that Shane and Robert can provide in heat 3 as the Tigers recorded what was to be their only 5-1 of the evening. Robert gated, Shane sat in behind and the two looked very comfortable in handling anything the Rebels pairing could throw at them.

Trent Leverington hit the front coming out of the opening bends of heat 4 and rode an excellent race to hold off Ritchie Hawkins for a deserved race win. Meanwhile David McAllan worked hard to stay ahead of Danny Warwick and Tigers got the heat advantage.

The Rebels hit back however with two successive 5-1's. Despite Stancl making the gate in heat 5 he was past by Emil Kramer at the end of the second lap with Jordan Frampton going round him on the final lap. Zetterstrom as usual won heat 6 from the gate but although the Tigers held a 3-3 for the first two laps Simon Walker went round Leverington on the third lap before cutting inside Smethills to do the maximum damage.

Shane and Robert claimed a heat advantage in 7 from the gate but this was quickly followed by a 5-1 for the Rebels from the gate in heat 8.

Heat 9 saw the first little bit of drama of the night and the first exclusion with Somerset's Jordan Frampton being the rider rightly excluded. Emil Kramer was comfortably out front and the Glasgow pairing of Smethills and Leverington settled into team riding to keep Frampton, who had looked impressive all night, at the back. The Glasgow pairing's team riding was immaculate and the frustration obviously got to Frampton causing him to make a rather ill judged attempt to force his way through a gap that wasn't there on the final bends, bringing Trent down in the process. Frampton was excluded and the race awarded.

It looked as if Parker may have got the drop on Zetterstrom at the start of heat 10 but that illusion was quickly shattered with the Swede coming out of the opening bends ahead and going on to win the race.

Unsurprisingly Glasgow brought Lee Smethills in as a replacement for the struggling Lee Dicken in heat 11 and Smethills led the race in the early stages before Hawkins passed him on the second lap. Stancl only just managed to hold off Suchanek for third place to share the heat.

Lee Smethills was back out again in heat 12 and took part in an excellent battle at the back with Danny Warwick over the entire four laps, the riders passing and re-passing each other. At the end of the race unfortunately it was the home rider who took the third place. At the front there was another good battle between Shane Parker and Emil Kramer. Shane led for most of the race but was unable to stop Kramer's last bend drive to the line which saw the Somerset man claim the win and put the home side 10 points up.

The decision to put Trent Leverington out as a TR in heat 13 may seem strange to those not there but George Stancl had looked off the pace all evening whilst Trent had been riding relatively well. Unfortunately as happens it was George in this race who was to claim second place ahead of Hawkins and behind Zetterstrom with trent at the back.

In a last attempt to minimise the damage, Shane Parker was brought out as a Tactical Substitute from 15m in heat 14 in place of David McAllan. Robert Ksiezak gated and Shane was quickly all over the back of the Somerset pairing of Danny Warwick and Jordan Frampton. Many felt it was only a matter of time before the Glasgow captain made his move but the pressure got to Frampton who locked up, leaving Shane unable to miss clipping the youngster. However the referee elected to see it differently and excluded Shane much to the disbelief of the Glasgow camp, robbing the Tigers of a very good chance of an 8-1 in the re-run. The re-run itself was uneventful with Robert once again hitting the front and claiming a comfortable victory.

With many expecting Glasgow to go for the Parker Ksiezak pairing in heat 15, it came as a surprise that it was George Stancl who was named to partner Shane. Both Tigers missed the gate and in the early stages George seemed to impede his team mate. Shane did get by his partner however and chased down the Somerset pairing, managing to claim second on the line from Kramer.

The referee's decision in heat 14 may prove costly for the tigers who could have been looking at a deficit of only 7 points but those are the breaks.

From a team point of view, it was strange that the riders who performed were not necessarily those expected to do well at the Oak Tree Arena. Shane's dislike of the track is legendary and yet he was a class act. He was ably backed by Lee Smethills and Robert Ksiezak whose confidence seemed to be getting back to normal at last after his nasty accident at the start of the season. Lee Dicken had ridden well there last season and perhaps unreasonably many thought he would do well this season but in reality he had a bit of a nightmare. George Stancl was poor and looked slow. David was coming back from injury and it is not really fair to judge especially as he looks to be still limping from his accident but he never gave up. trent once again was solid for the Tigers and perhaps worth more than his points total suggests.

The tie is not beyond Tigers but it will be very tough against a fast gating Somerset side at Ashfield. The middle order is widely expected to hold the key to this one and as well as Tigers having to watch Zetterstrom and Kramer, Danny Warwick has been impressive of late and could well cause a few headaches in the return leg.

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