Rain Fails to Stop Tigers
(Posted 28/05/07)

Despite it being dry all morning, the rain started right on cue at 4 o'clock, delaying the start by 45 minutes. When action did get underway, full credit has to go to all riders for their commitment in tricky conditions as Glasgow won the meeting but lost the bonus point.

The recent trend of losing by 5-1 in the opening heat was halted when, after a very hard opening bend between Stancl, Ashworth and Dicken, George came out in front and stayed there with Lee finishing third. Surprisingly Jamie Birkinshaw was well off the pace.

Ksiezak and Smethills made the gate in heat 2 but Paul Cooper was right on their tail and passed outside Lee Smethills coming into the back straight. Lee immediately hit back coming under Cooper on bend three and pushing him wide to reclaim second spot. Robert won the heat by a good distance but Cooper was on Lee Smethills tail the whole way and he did well to hold off a late challenge coming out of the final bend to secure a 5-1 for the home Tigers.

Heat 3 saw Shane Parker win from the gate, Andre Compton challenging in the early stages but the race finishing well spread out with a surprisingly poor gating David McAllan at the back. Trent Leverington emulated his captain with a comfortable win from the gate in heat 4although again Glasgow's other rider in the heat, Lee Smethills, made a very poor gate and was unable to recover from it.

Ricky Ashworth gated in heat 5 but under challenge from Shane Parker he reared badly coming out of bend two, doing well to get the front of the bike back down and stay in the race. Shane naturally took full advantage and pulled clear, extending his lead in the latter part of the race.

Heat 6 required a re-run after Joel Parsons came to grief. He lost control a little coming out of the second bend, colliding with both Stancl and Dicken. Lee in turn took a hefty knock against the fence and did well to stay on his bike although it allowed parsons through into second. the Sheffield man never seemed to fully regain control however and in what can at best be described as an ambitious move he tried to cut inside full throttle coming off bend three, narrowly missing Stancl, spinning and then colliding with the fence. Lee Dicken this time did very well to avoid the stricken Parsons, who was thankfully able to walk back to the pits after medical treatment. With Parsons excluded, the Glasgow pairing recorded the 5-1 in the re-run.

As expected Sheffield brought Andre Compton out in the black and white helmet in heat 7 and he won by a country mile although his partner Ben Wilson was surprisingly off the pace by a similar distance at the back.

After a hard opening bend, Paul Cooper established himself an unassailable lead. Birkinshaw made a move from the back on bend 3 passing round the outside of Robert Ksiezak and very nearly making it a double pass before Lee Dicken firmly shut the door on him. Robert tracked Birkinshaw for a couple of laps before starting an excellent move down the inside of Birkinshaw on lap three bend 2, managing to move him wider down the back straight and come through into third place as they came out of the third bend.

Shane won heat 9 from the gate but David was once again struggling, sliding off whilst third on the second lap and unable to make up the lost ground when remounting. George Stancl then once again won a shared heat 10 from the gate in increasingly heavy rain before Sheffield claimed their first 'true' heat advantage of the meeting in heat11.

Ricky Ashworth appeared to be rolling at the start but the referee felt there was nothing amiss and Ashworth took full advantage trent settled in second whilst Jamie Birkinshaw got the better of Robert Ksiezak coming out of bend two. The conditions were getting worse and no doubt played a part in Robert sliding off on the third bend, not to mention the far slower winning time - over 5 seconds slower than the opening heat.

Andre Compton outgated Shane in heat 12 but the Messiah pulled off an excellent inside pass coming out of bend two and it was effectively race over.

A lengthy delay followed as discussions took place amongst the Sheffield team as to whether or not they wanted to continue racing given the increasingly difficult conditions. It was obviously a split decision given the length of time it took to inform the referee that they wanted to continue.

Ricky Ashworth won an understandably spread out heat 13 from the gate, Trent and george filling the minor placing's.

At the start of heat 14 things looked worrying for the Tigers when they were both outgated by the Sheffield pairing. Robert Ksiezak managed somehow to come out of the second bend ahead after taking a craftily tight inside line although David at this stage was still at the back. As the race came into the third bend, David followed his partners actions by taking the inside line, coming at it from quite wide on the back straight and passing both Sheffield riders in a superbly timed move. That was enough to give Glasgow their third 5-1 of the meeting and ensure that the meeting was won.

Most thought heat 15 was academic but Andre Compton had other ideas and once again outgated Parker. This time however, he was able to hold the Glasgow captain off for the entire four laps and spoil his maximum. Full credit to both riders for providing such good close racing on a very wet greasy track.

The bonus point headed back down to Sheffield, something that had been expected to happen anyhow and which seemed to be made increasingly likely when the heavens opened at 4pm. Both teams deserve great credit for providing an entertaining meeting in tricky conditions.

For Sheffield, Birkinshaw and Wilson had what they will probably consider disappointing meetings, especially Wilson who is normally a major thorn in the side round Ashfield. Cal McDade did all that was asked of him stepping in as a CL guest for James Cockle, rode sensibly and deserved his points.

For the Tigers, David McAllan had a day he would probably like to forget apart from his final race and Lee Smethills probably falls into a similar category. Robert definitely benefited from the drop to reserve whilst once again Trent took up the mantle of third heat leader at home with a good display. George and Shane both made a mockery of the accusations that they are vulnerable in wet conditions whilst Lee Dicken had another solid showing.

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