Tigers Shocking at Armadale
(Posted 06/10/07)

It would be slightly less frustrating if this report could say that the score flattered Edinburgh, Glasgow were unlucky, didn't get the breaks and so on but the plain fact of the matter is Tigers were soundly beaten by a better side at Armadale, a side who wanted it more and who fully deserved the margin of their win.

Right from the start, Stancl showed he was out to try and make a point with a win from the gate in a time almost 2 seconds quicker than anyone else was to manage all night. David McAllan took advantage of the inside line on the second bend to drive past Sneddon. Sneddon tried to get back but ended up falling in a heap at the end of the third lap with Craig Watson doing well to avoid him.

With Coles off 15m for tape touching, Lee Dicken gated in heat 2 but Clews went round the outside on the opening bends into the lead. Giffard took a wide line on the 4th bend to pass Lee and the home side were on a 5-1. lee did not give up and pressed Giffard particularly at the end of the third lap but just when it looked as though there would be no way through Lee seized on a last bend error by Giffard to nip through into second.

After an unsatisfactory start due to Grieves anticipating the start, he gated well in the re-run but went too wide on the 4th bend allowing Laukkanen through. Ksiezak comfortably held Giffard off at the back to share the heat.

Heat 4 was a disaster for the Tigers despite Lee Dicken gating and doing well to hold off Matthew Wethers on the opening lap. Wethers used the inside line of bend 2 to get through on the second lap, Clews did exactly the same move on Leverington one lap later to come through into third and on the final lap was able to come through into second at the same spot after Lee had drifted too far wide.

It took three attempts to run heat 5, Clews being excluded after coming off on his own after a hard opening couple of bends with Wato and making no attempt to clear the track with Wato leading. Craig made the gate in every running, the final running seeing him making an error at the end of the third lap to allow Laukkanen through for the win. Trent was lucky to get into the re-run of heat 6 after sliding off on the opening bend but that was where the luck ended as the Stancl Sneddon pairing recorded an easy 5-1 from the gate.

As anticipated, James Grieves came out in the black and white helmet in heat 7 and rode a superb opening bend to push Wethers wide before going on to win. Robert Ksiezak was able to slip through into second place but only held this until the fourth bend when Wethers passed round the outside.

Both Glasgow riders missed the gate in heat 8. Dicken passed up the inside of Clews at the start of the second lap with McAllan close on his tail. Clews bike gave up the ghost and he drifted wide, almost taking David into the fence before the Glasgow rider switched to the inside line. the heat was shared but Sneddon up front was untroubled.

Laukkanen emulated Sneddon in heat 9, Coles passing outside Giffard on the back straight for the third place that ensured a shared heat.

A good battle between Stancl and Grieves in heat 10 could have come to grief when the riders touched at the start of the second lap, both doing well to stay on. Grieves had been slightly ahead but Stancl executed a good pass round the outside at the end of the third lap and pulled clear.

Not surprisingly, Giffard failed to beat the 2 minutes in heat 11 and was replaced by Clews. Watson gated but in a pincer movement Clews passed outside whilst Wethers went inside on bend 2. Although McAllan tried hard to challenge Wethers in the latter stages, Wethers held the racing line and it was another home 5-1. This was followed by a shared and relatively spread out heat 13, won by James Grieves from the gate. It was only a brief respite for the Tigers fans however as another 5-1 was conceded in heat 13, Stancl winning from the gate and Wethers passing outside Craig Watson on the third bend of the opening lap to claim second.

Heat 14 was at best a strange one for Glasgow. Robert Ksiezak gated but Clews found the inside line off bend 2 to head into the lead. Lee Dicken duplicated the move on Sneddon to go into third. With Robert comfortably in second place he slid off all on his own on the second bend of lap 3 whilst at the same time Dicken came off on the first bend. Sneddon could hardly believe his luck as he came through into second, giving the home side their fifth 5-1 of the night.

David McAllan partnered James Grieves in heat 15, James winning from the gate. David managed to pass inside Kaj Laukkanen on the second bend of lap 2 and worked hard to hold him off. However, Laukkanen managed to return the compliment at the same place on lap four and the final heat of the night was shared.

It was, being generous, a very poor performance from Glasgow last night. In any sport losing to your 'local' rivals is sore and especially when you are beaten so convincingly - and Tigers were. However it is one meeting.

We still have something to ride for this season, the Scottish Cup may well be out of our grasp but the side have to put that behind them. Make no mistake, a similar performance against a team like Redcar is unthinkable and it is better to have a bad meeting against the local rivals and still have bigger fish to fry in other competitions, no matter how painful it is for the support, than to have one victory as your season highlight.