League Opener End in Last Heat Decider
(Posted 13/04/08)

An afternoon of entertaining speedway climaxed with yet another last heat decider at Ashfield.

It means that all home meetings this season have been decided in heat 15 and yet again the Tigers were slow starting and had to claw themselves back into the meeting.

The Tigers were keen to make a better start this week, too keen in fact as Ross Brady got a flier in the opening race and it was pulled back. The re-run saw the visitors gate although Topinka went far too wide on the second bend allowing Brady and Parker to come through. Shane overtook his team mate at the end of the opening lap and gave chase to a very quick looking Tacey but was unable to make any real impression.

Once again the visitors made the gate in heat 2, Grajczonek looking surprisingly sluggish at the tapes. A drive round the outside on the opening bends saw Lee Dicken pass Lambert and pull level with Oliver coming out of bend two before hitting the front going down the back straight. Oliver had no answer and Lee pulled clear. Josh meantime made amends for his poor start, passing effortlessly inside Lambert coming out of bend two, the King's Lynn youngster looking surprisingly off the pace for the remainder of the race.

Tigers fans got their first glimpse of King's Lynn's new Australian Kozza Smith in heat 3 and it was certainly an impressive one with Kevin Doolan and Smith recording a 5-1 from the gate.

Harrison likewise made the gate in heat 4. Robert Ksiezak lost control on the opening bends whilst in third, went too wide and his back wheel clipped the fence coming out of the pits turn, sending him sprawling. The race was able to continue with Robert clearing the track but although Lee tried hard he was unable to mount any significant challenge on Harrison.

Yet again the Tigers failed to make the gate in heat 5, Shaun Tacey once again looking particularly impressive. Trent managed to get ahead of Topinka on the opening bends and had to work hard on laps 2 and 3 to hold off Topinka who was all over his back wheel. Trent thwarted every move however and put a little distance between them on the final lap.

It looked as if things were going to go Tigers way in heat 6. Brady, Parker and Harrison all gated together and coming out of a 'no holds barred' opening bend Ross hit the front with Shane settling in behind him. Harrison got past Shane at the end of the opening lap but Parker immediately hit back and had reclaimed second place by the time they entered lap 2. Shane then slotted in to try and protect Brady from Harrison but the Stars man never gave up. Unfortunately for Glasgow, Brady made an error on the pits bend of the final lap, Shane hitting the front. Ross recovered well enough to try and keep Harrison at bay but got out of sorts on the final bends, sliding off and allowing both Stars through for a shared heat.

It took three attempts to run heat 7, the first seeing Kozza Smith's bike end up hooked in the safety fence after some first bend bunching, then Smith himself rolling at the start. Third time lucky saw Kevin Doolan win impressively from the tapes with Ksiezak comfortably second. Grajczonek had got the better of Smith out of the trap but Smith passed on the inside coming out of bend 2 on the opening lap and had the heat was quickly well spread.

Brady and Dicken gated well in heat 8 but the impressive Shaun Tacey was right there alongside them. Coming out of bend two, Tacey and Dicken were neck and neck at the front. They rode side by side into bend three where Tacey on the outside was able to find the extra grip to pull him clear. It looked as if a shared heat was on the cards but Ross Brady developed bike problems on the final lap and John Oliver was able to come through on the inside of bend two to give the visitors another heat advantage.

Now ten points down, team manager Stewart Dickson elected to bring Shane Parker out as a tactical substitute off 15m in heat 9 at the expense of Mitchell Davey. The first running of the heat saw Harrison, Leverington and Lambert level out of the gate, Lambert colliding with the first bend fence resulting in an all four back decision. The re-run may not have gone the way Tigers fans hoped in so far as the result went but it provided some excellent speedway from Trent Leverington and Rusty Harrison. Harrison got the edge coming out of bend two but Trent executed an inch perfect pass on the inside coming into bend four to regain the lead. There followed another three laps of cat and mouse with Trent holding off everything Harrison could throw at him but Harrison's proximity meant that Trent could not slow the race down enough to take full advantage of the TS. Shane had to settle for third having swept round the outside of Lambert on the opening lap.

A split second before the tapes went up in heat 10, Ross Brady's bike blew, leaving Shane as Tigers only rider. He made an electric gate however and comfortably held off the early challenges of Kevin Doolan for a shared heat.

Tomas Topinka looked more like himself as he won heat 11 for the visitors from the gate. In the early stages the action was for the minor placing's. Initially Robert Ksiezak held second place but Tacey kept him under pressure and passed inside him lap two bend 3. Robert hit back and regained second place on the fourth bend but allowed Tacey to repeat the inside pass on lap 3. This time Tacey shut the door on Robert and pulled clear, giving the visitors another 5-1.

With Shane Parker already having taken a TS, Trent was the only realistic option for a TR. Heat 13 was his last programmed ride and therefore he came out in the black and white helmet against the impressive Doolan. After a hard opening bend, the two Aussie's were side by side for the opening lap. Doolan managed to just get the advantage at the end of the first lap and despite never giving up trying for the remainder of the race, Trent had to settle for second. Meantime at the back there was another race going on for third, this time Lee Dicken holding off John Oliver.

The King's Lynn pairing of Topinka and Harrison gated in heat 13 but were superbly guided wide by Shane Parker on the opening bends not only allowing the captain to take the lead but creating a gap for Robert Ksiezak to come through into second. Both Stars riders were all over the back of Ksiezak and it looked as though Topinka would sneak an outside pass at the end of the opening lap. Robert however blocked it superbly, a move that not only retained his second place but slowed everything down allowing Shane to pull well clear as well as giving himself a little leeway over the two visiting riders. Robert held on to record the Tigers first 5-1 of the meeting and leave a glimmer of hope of yet another great comeback.

Mitchell Davey was to come a cropper in the first running of heat 14 in an horrific looking fall. Kozza Smith slid off on his own on the opening bend but Mitchell was unable to take any avoiding action and was catapulted over the top of him. He landed very heavily on his left shoulder and neck with his head twisted to the right and slightly underneath him. After lengthy treatment the crowd were relieved to see Mitchell get groggily to his feet and make his way back to the pits although obviously unable to continue in the meeting. Lee Dicken came in as his replacement and with Smith excluded, Josh and Lee were quickly clear of Lambert and went on to record another 5-1 although there was a heart stopping moment on the final lap when Josh went far too wide on the pits bend and clipped the fence.

Remarkably, Tigers had managed to get back into the meeting and it was once again down to a last heat decider. There was to be a little bit of controversy courtesy of the referee to finish the day off. Kevin Doolan was rolling at the start and tried to anticipate the tapes. He misjudged it and pulled back just as the tapes went up, leaving himself rooted firmly at the back. The Tigers pairing had gated on a 5-1 and the crowd were less than pleased when referee Jim Lawrence ignored the fact that Doolan had merely impeded himself and put on the red lights. Doolan took full advantage of his second chance in the re-run - again rolling but this time his timing was spot on and no matter what Shane tried he was unable to stop Doolan getting the win which took the points down south.

In all honesty, King's Lynn were the better side and deserved their win.

As always though, looking at the positives, the team did not give in and yet again staged a late comeback which shows a great deal of character which has not always been evident in recent seasons. It was a good afternoons entertainment but Glasgow could do with sorting out the slow starting in the first few heats.

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