Great Meeting but Another Home Defeat
(Posted 08/06/08)

It was an entertaining afternoon's speedway at Ashfield but Glasgow still failed to add to their league points tally, going down to a determined Workington side.

Guest Adrian Rymel won the opening heat quite comfortably from the gate although the Comets lost Tomi Reima on the opening bends to a snapped chain. Leverington and Nermark were left to do battle for second place, Nermark getting the better of Trent with a pass up the inside on the third bend of lap two.

The reserves heat was a bit of a disaster for the home side and the visiting pairing of Wright and Branney are unlikely to have scored an easier 5-1, both being well ahead by the backstraight of the opening lap. Mitchell Davey claimed third place after passing inside McKinna lap 2 bend 2.

Kauko Nieminen showed his class winning heat 3 easily from the gate. Trent and Lee switched places in the early stages after coming out of bend 2 ahead of Branney, Lee slipping back to third place and having to deal with the close attentions of the Comets reserve. Branney got the better of the Glasgow man at the end of the third lap with a very determined drive up the inside. Lee tried to hit back right away but slid off on his own on the opening bend of the final lap.

Branney was back out in heat 4 for the Comets and claimed third place after passing easily inside Adam McKinna on the opening bends. Robert Ksiezak had made a good gate but track specialist Carl Stonehewer was on his tail the whole time. Stoney tried a few speculative moves which Robert was able to counter before Stonehewer executed a perfect outside pass outside Ksiezak on bend 2 of the final lap to claim the win.

Adrian Rymel took the rider replacement ride in heat 5 and the opening bends between him and Daniel Nermark left the fans with their hearts in their mouths. Both were extremely close on the wide line coming out of bend 2 but Adrian just got the better of Nermark to take the lead. One lap later however, Nermark made an aggressive drive up the inside of Rymel, he appeared to loose control slightly causing Adrian to back off. Nermark took full advantage and pulled clear, gaining revenge for his opening heat defeat.

Rymel was soon back to winning ways however, winning heat 6 from the gate despite a good early challenge from Carl Stonehewer. Leverington had missed the gate but came through into third place ahead of John Branney on bend 2. Branney challenged hard for the remainder of the race but Trent was more than up to the challenge and kept the Comets reserve at bay.

Branney presumably had an issue with the opening bend of the race although no reason for it was obvious from our vantage point. At the end of the race some strong words were shouted at Trent at the pit gate before Branney drove at speed into the pits making a gesture to the pits marshall who tried to remind him about his cut out, it eventually being pulled by another member of staff as he sped towards the away pits. All a bit of handbags at dawn really but it took several minutes to calm the youngster down in his pit area.

After a close gate, Kauko Nieminen got the better of Robert Ksiezak on bend two of the opening lap in heat 7 and quickly pulled clear. Davey had beaten Branney out of the gate but Branney swept round the outside of him on the final bend of the opening lap and gave chase to Ksiezak. In a determined effort it looked as if the Comets youngster may get the better of Robert on the final bend with Robert sleeping a little but he noticed just in time and just held on to second place in a drive to the line.

In comparison to earlier heats, heat 8 was a bit mundane, Trent winning from the gate and although Tomi Reima was never far behind, he never really threatened either and the heat was shared with Mckinna off the pace at the rear.

John Branney had now ridden in 6 of the first 8 heats due to engine problems for fellow reserve Charles Wright and he had been a major thorn in the side for the Tigers. Wright was however back out on track for heat 9 although he was to finish at the rear in what was to be a great race.

The Glasgow pairing of Ksiezak and Dicken gated but Carl Stonehewer sneaked past Lee Dicken to split the pair on the 2nd bend. 'The Lee' hit back right away however reclaiming his second spot on the third bend. Never one to give up, Stonehewer took less than a lap to repay the compliment, sweeping cleanly round the outside of Lee on the second bend of lap 2, this time giving Lee no opportunity to hit straight back. Stonehewer gave chase to Robert Ksiezak and was quickly on his tail. The crowd were then treated to a final two laps of entertaining and exciting speedway between the two as they did battle barely inches apart, Robert holding on to claim a very hard worked for win.

Rymel and Leverington gated in heat 10 with Nieminen surprisingly slow to start. Kauko soon made up ground and cut inside Trent coming out of the second bend but was unable to catch Rymel. Trent was left battling at the back in another contest with Reima and held him off comfortably to secure the third place.

Nermark claimed an easy victory from the gate in heat 11, Robert Ksiezak coming through into second on the opening bends after an uncharacteristic slow start. Nieminen repeated the feat in heat 12 with a classy and stylish ride. Charles Wright was in second place until Lee Dicken executed a superb drive off the fourth bend to power past him as the crossed the line at the end of the opening lap. Sadly for Wright he was not to get an opportunity to try and hit back as he suffered an engine failure on the second bend of lap two gifting McKinna the point for third place.

Adrian Rymel was slow out of the gate in heat 13 and appeared to hit a rut on the opening bend which left him well at the rear. Robert Ksiezak had however gated and worked hard at the front to try and hold off Nermark. However, Nermark was able to find the room to pass on the inside of the third bend of lap two and move Robert wide to give the Comets man a chance to pull clear. Robert again rode a determined race with that man Stonehewer challenging all the way. Right at the death Stonehewer pulled ahead of Ksiezak coming out of the final bend but Robert found drive to hit back and win on the race to the line.

The meeting was now effectively over from a points perspective with Tigers needing two 5-1's to win. However there was a brief moment of hope in heat 14 when Lee Dicken came out of bend two ahead and after hard opening bends Mitchell Davey came out in second.. Unfortunately for the Tigers John Branney had other ideas however and came hard and fast under Mitchell at the start of the second bend. This seemed to throw Mitchell off his stride, he went wide and literally rode the boards. He managed to stay on but by this time Wright had already come through into third and the shared heat meant the three points were heading down the M74 with the visitors.

The destination of the points may have been decided but that didn't mean the entertainment was over, this time Rymel and Nermark being the main players up front. Rymel came out of the second bend ahead with Nermark snapping at his exhaust pipe. For three laps Nermark tried to find a way through with Rymel using great awareness of the track to thwart him. It was always going to take something special to pass and that something special came on the second bend of the final lap when Nermark executed an amazing pass on the inside line to go on and claim the victory.

For a neutral, it was an excellent afternoons entertainment with, as you would expect when the opposition includes Ashfield experts like Nieminen and Stonehewer, some excellent racing. It almost seems a pity that more people did not get to witness such a good meeting. From a Tigers point of view though, it is still another home meeting lost in what has been a horrible season so far. Adrian Rymel was a superb guest for Shane Parker but you can't help feeling that with Shane, Josh and Ross all fit the result could have been so different.

Glasgow Tigers speedway - posted on glasgow speedway dot com, an unofficial glasgow tigers speedway website.