Determined Display from Tigers
(Posted 20/09/08)

They may have been beaten, but the Tigers were certainly far from disgraced at Armadale last night as they put up a good fight against the Champions Elect.

The Glasgow riders all worked very hard and can take positives out of the meeting - which was run on a rather poor track but the riders just got on with it.

Lee Dicken made the gate in the opening heat but Lawson was well ahead as they hit the back straight and was never going to be caught. Trent Leverington slipped inside Sneddon on bend 2 into third, the heat being well spread out after Sneddon fell and remounted on the tricky fourth bend first time round.

Monarchs strong reserve pairing were expected to be too strong for Glasgow but Anders Andersen had other ideas in heat 2. A superb gate saw him hit the front and Mitchell came up the inside off bend two putting the Tigers in a 5-1 position. It was short lived however as Weathers came inside Davey at the start of the second lap. Summers followed through and was perhaps a little lucky that Mitchell stayed on his bike after contact was made. Out front, Wethers was now pressing Andersen at every turn. Anders rode a very good race to hold him off as long as he did but he had no answer to Wethers inside drive off bend two on the final lap and had to settle for second place.

Shane Parker came out for his first ride in heat 3 and although Wethers gated quicker, Shane came out of bend two ahead, it was all over and we had the first of a few processional well spread out heats.

Heat 4 was similar, Fisher beating Leverington from the gate with Summers claiming third ahead of Andersen who this time was well off the pace.

With Lawson and Parker named as the rider replacements in heat 5, a better race was anticipated but once again it was a well spread processional heat with Parker winning from the tapes.

There was a little action in heat 6 although it came on the opening bends. Trent Leverington was outgated by the Monarchs pairing but came through between them out of bend two to hit the front and - again - the race became follow my leader, Trent claiming the win.

The heat 7 gating contest was won by Shane Parker again with ryan Fisher finishing well behind him in second place, Tigers guest Suchanek well tailed off at the rear.

An easy win from the gate for Derek Sneddon followed in heat 8 but all eyes were on the race for second place. The Tigers pairing held the minor placing's in the early stages but Aaron Summers chased hard, passing inside Andersen at the start of lap 2. Lee Dicken had opened up a small gap but Summers closed this down and was all over the back of Lee for the final lap but Lee held and won the drive to the line to claim second place.

Ryan Fisher and Trent Leverington were side by side for the first three bends of heat 9 before Fisher, with the benefit of the outside line, pulled clear. Monarchs Andrew Tully was all over Trent for the majority of the race but some clever riding from the Glasgow skipper held Tully at bay, Trent making sure that the favoured inside cut back was not made available to the Edinburgh man and claiming a well deserved second place.

Unfortunately the Glasgow pairing completely missed the gate in heat 10 to give Lawson and Sneddon a well spread 5-1 in heat 10.

Strangely, Glasgow chose to bring out number 8 Adam McKinna as the rider replacement ride in heat 11 alongside Lee Dicken. Although Lee tried hard in the opening stages, it was another processional 5-1 for the home side.

Not surprisingly, Glasgow elected to bring Shane Parker out in the black and white helmet in heat 12 and brought in the fast gating Anders Andersen for Mitchell Davey. It was initially announced that Wethers would come in as r/r in this heat but this was later changed to Wethers replacing Summers with Tully taking the r/r.

Shane and Matthew Wethers gated together, a great opening bend by Shane saw him edge Wethers wide and pull clear out of bend two. It was Tully who was to give chase and he never gave up although Shane was never really in any danger of loosing. Unfortunately for Anders, he was to suffer engine failure on the third lap whilst at the back.

Edinburgh hit straight back with a 5-1 from the gate in heat 13 although Trent Leverington never gave up trying to find a way passed second placed Fisher.

Mitchell Davey replaced Tomas Suchanek in heat 14 and he and Anders Andersen made the gate. Tully quickly came through to pass Davey on the inside of the second bend. The heat quickly developed into two separate races with Anders in front doing his best to hold off Tully. He managed to hold him at bay until lap three when the Edinburgh rider went round the outside into the lead and there was never going to be any way back for Anders. At the back, Mitchell Davey and Aaron Summers were having their own battle, Mitchell coming out on top to claim third spot.

Tigers looked as if they could finish off the meeting on a high with a 5-1 when Shane gated ahead and Trent passed William Lawson to come through into second. Ryan Fisher came off at the back on the apex of the third fourth bend however and the stop lights were quickly on, denying the Tigers their opportunity. In the re run, Shane once again gated and won easily but this time William Lawson was not going to repeat his earlier mistake and secured second place ahead of Trent, despite Trent never giving up.

The meeting was not a classic, on a poor and very slick track that didn't allow for racing as such. however the Tigers worked hard and certainly refused to lie down and be the whipping boys many had expected them to be before a wheel was turned. trent certainly went a long way to laying to rest his Armadale hoodoo with a gutsy display and Anders gating was on the whole excellent.

Special mention should be given to the way in which the Tigers team handled the name calling that has been leveled at Glasgow in recent weeks. The chicken mask worn by Shane Parker and the chicken dance by the riders as they were introduced was class and the best way to diffuse what had become to some a heated argument.

 

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