Another One Bites the Dust
(Posted 25/05/08)

Tigers were up against it almost from the off after losing Ross Brady to injury in the second heat but although they lost yet another home meeting they did not go down without a fight.

Given the habit of loosing 1-5 in the opening heat this season, Stewart Dickson tried a different tactic this week putting our strongest rider, Kauko Nieminen, out as r/r in the opening heat.  It paid off with Kauko winning relatively comfortably.  Bears no 2 Joni Keskinen retired on the second lap whilst well off the pace at the back meaning Tigers started with a heat advantage.

As early as heat 2 however the bad luck returned. The initial running saw Mitchell Davey slide off in third after minimal contact with Adam McKinna, resulting in all four back.  Ross Brady had gated in the first running and repeated the feat in the re-run, quickly opening up a healthy lead.  However on the opening bend of lap two things went wrong, Ross jarred his knee and although he tried he was unable to carry on, eventually pulling up on the backstraight.  Meantime Adam McKinna and Arlo Bugeja took full advantage to come through and claim the 5-1.

A superb gate from Kauko Nieminen was enough to secure him the win in heat 3, although he was fortunate to have opened up a substantial lead on the opening lap as he went too wide on the second bend of lap 2, James Grieves almost catching him.  Luckily he was able to recover and quickly re-establish a good lead.  Lee Dicken claimed third in what finished a well spread out heat.

With Brady confirmed as withdrawn from the meeting, Mitchell Davey was in for a busy afternoon and came in as reserve replacement in heat 4 albeit on Lee Dicken’s bike.  Ty Proctor came off on his own while trying an outside line on the opening bends with Robert Ksiezak at the front. Proctor stayed down, the race was stopped and the young Aussie was excluded from the re-run.  Robert won the re-run easily from the gate without looking as if he was at full pelt.

After a tight opening bend, Kauko Nieminen got the better of Gary Havelock who had made the better gate in heat 5.  Dicken claimed an equally comfortable 3rd place with Keskinen almost half a lap behind.

The Redcar pairing appeared to jump the gate in heat 6, although that may have been exaggerated by extremely poor gates from the Tigers pairing.  The referee certainly felt this was the case and the visitors claimed a very easy 1-5 at the expense of Priest and Ksiezak.

It looked again as if one of the visitors got a bit of a flier in heat 7, James Grieves being the suspect party this time, going on to claim another easy win.  Robert Ksiezak secured second place thanks to an inside pass on Dan Giffard coming out of the second bend.

Mitchell Davey gated in heat 8 but was unable to hold off the challenge of Adam McKinna – in as a reserve replacement for Keskinen - who took the outside line on the opening bends to get past.  McKinna won the heat but Davey looked a bit smoother than of late as he finished second.

Heat 9 was to offer a glimmer of hope to the beleaguered tigers when   Nieminen won the heat comfortably from the gate.  Ty Proctor had got the better of Lee Dicken on the opening bends but as always The Lee never gave up and swept round the outside of Proctor on the fourth bend into second place.  Although Proctor kept challenging, there was no way Lee was going to allow him by and Tigers had got right back into the meeting with their first – and what was to be their only – 5-1 of the afternoon.

There was quite a bit of gamesmanship in heat 10, three starts being needed with Grieves warned twice for rolling.  It was certainly third time lucky for him though as he made a clean and quick getaway to win the heat easily.  Unfortunately for Glasgow, Giffard for the first time managed to outgate Dicken and the visitors had another 1-5.

Yet another heat was won from the gate with Havelock leading the way from start to finish in heat 11 ahead of Ksiezak and Davey.  Mitchell again looked more comfortable but as he headed back to pits his engine blew, resulting in him having to come out on Lee’s bike again in heat 12. Strange machinery did him no favours as he finished well at the back of a shared heat, once again from the tapes, with the impressive Kauko Nieminen once again winning in style.

Kauko was certainly flying but barring one poor start Robert was also having an effective afternoon.  He gated well in heat 13 and held off a very determined challenge from Gary Havelock, particularly in the early stages, to win the heat.  At the back, Ty Proctor made a rare pass, round the outside of Luke Priest, on bend three of the opening lap to share the heat.

Time was now running out for the Tigers but captain for the day Lee Dicken did his best to keep slim hopes alive with a determined opening bend in heat 14, resulting in him coming out of bend two ahead and going on to win the heat.  Unfortunately with Mitchell at the back, it mean the best that Tigers could hope for was a draw.

Nieminen had been unbeaten all afternoon but Havelock chose heat 15 to find his form.  Robert Ksiezak made the gate but a superb manoeuvre from Havelock on the second bend saw him come through hard on the inside into first place, sending Robert to the rear at the same time.  Kauko challenged him for the entire four laps but was unable to find a way through, even trying an outside swoop on the final bend.  Havelock held on and not only did he prevent Kauko’s maximum but he secured the heat win that ensured the points would be heading back to Teeside.

Normally, meetings between the two teams at Ashfield are great racing spectacles but today virtually all action was between the tapes and the second bend.  How much that was down to the track and how much down to makeshift teams is open to debate but there certainly did not seem to be anywhere near as many passing lines as normal.

Another home defeat is certainly sore for the Tigers but, as always trying to look on the bright side, the riders who are left certainly did not give up and went down fighting.  It was quite a remarkable achievement after loosing Ross Brady to take the meeting to a last heat decider.  However the bottom line is that the league tables merely show another two points lost.

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