Tigers 'Fab 4' Secure Away Win
(Posted 01/05/09)

Glasgow Tigers had their own version of the Fab 4 at Owlerton as they recorded a narrow but impressive victory over Sheffield.

Things did not start very well however with Glasgow going down by 5-1 in the opening two heats. The opening heat was from the gate and although Shane Parker was close, the team riding of the Sheffield pairing kept him out.

Glasgow had gated in the minor placing's in heat two but Auty relegated Smart to last place at the end of the opening lap. Mitchell did his best to hold on to second place but Auty's track knowledge saw him time a drive past Mitchell to perfection off the final bend to give the home side the 5-1.

After being beaten out of the gate, Josh Grajczonek fought his way into first place off the opening bends and quickly pulled clear to win in convincing style with Sheffield filling the minor placing's. James Grieves was then involved in a tough opening bend with Richard Hall in heat 5, Grieves taking Hall wide on the opening bends to get the advantage and pulling away for the win with Sheffield again filling the minor placing's.

Shane Parker recorded a win from the tapes in heat 5 but with Joel Parsons passing inside Lee Smart to claim third spot it was another shared heat and Glasgow were struggling to cut in to the Sheffield Tigers lead.

Indeed, Sheffield increased their lead with Ricky Ashworth winning heat 6 from the gate after a very physical opening couple of bends. In the race for third place, Paul Cooper got the better of Mitchell Davey who was not far off him but unable to mount any serious challenge.

Glasgow immediately reacted by sending Josh Grajczonek out in the black and white helmet in heat 7. Mills outgated Josh and although it was a decent race with Grajczonek challenging Mills and having to watch out for Hall who was challenging him at the same time, there was no passing and again we had a share of the spoils albeit 4-4 this time.

The Queensland duo teamed up in heat 8 and gave Glasgow a lift with both making good gates and good defensive riding in the early stages from Mitchell in particular ensuring that Glasgow had their first 5-1 of the evening, knocking some of the confidence out of the Sheffield ranks at the same time.

James Grieves was unable to capitalise on a good gate in heat 9, Ritchie Hawkins getting the better of him on the opening lap leaving James to settle for second place ahead of Joel Parsons.

Sheffield hit back straight away however with a 5-1 off the opening bends in heat 10 although there was a suspicion that the race - already restarted once for an unsatisfactory start - should perhaps have been called back with Grajczonek impeded by Cooper. However, the loss of the 5-1 also worked in Glasgow's favour to a certain extent with the deficit now 12 points giving the Tigers the opportunity to bring Shane out as a TR in heat 11.

Shane and partner Mitchell Davey both made excellent gates and hit the front. Richard Hall gave chase but overcooked his challenge on the third lap, coming off and leaving the Tigers to claim the 8-1 with Shane and Mitchell crossing the finish line almost side by side.

Initially it seemed that this boost was going to be short lived however. Davey and Juul gated in heat 12 but were obviously unsure of each other's riding , early attempt to team ride being unsuccessful. Ritchie Hawkins was able to take full advantage of this squeezing inside Peter Juul towards the end of lap 2. Hawkins then moved to the outside line and swooped round Mitchell at the start of lap 3 and quickly pulled clear. Meantime Peter was working hard to try and hold off the challenge of Josh Auty and was unlucky to lose out to what was a perfectly timed inside drive by Auty off the last bend of lap 3.

The interval came at just the right time for the Tigers and although the home side may have looked home and dry the buzz around the away pits showed that, once again, Glasgow are a team who refuse to believe they are facing defeat.

James and Shane came out after the interval in heat 13 to lead the charge to the finish with a fine 5-1 from the tapes that the home duo had no answer to.

Mitchell came in as a reserve switch in heat 14 to team up with Josh again but although Mitchell made an excellent start again, Josh was somewhat sluggish out of the trap and was stuck at the rear. He made Joel Parsons work very hard for all four laps, trying inside and out to find a way through but Parsons held firm, resulting in a shared heat leaving Glasgow 3 points down going into the final heat.

With nails being bitten all over the stadium, Shane and James came to tapes against Ritchie Hawkins and Ricky Ashworth. When the tapes went up it was the Glasgow duo who made the gate and followed that with four laps of a superb display of team riding at its best to claim the victory for Glasgow despite Ricky Ashworth trying everything he could to enforce a mistake.

Glasgow once again showed the character that is almost like an extra man for the Tigers this year. Only four riders scored on the night but those four all put in excellent performances. Josh has already developed into the third heat leader he aimed to be at the start of the season and Mitchell's scoring at reserve is crucial.

Peter failed to score but reports from Sheffield were that he did actually ride not too badly and he will benefit from a spell at reserve. Lee did not get the start he wanted to his Glasgow career but appeared to blow his engine in his opening ride and again was not off the pace at all.

Finally much has been made of Glasgow victories and the use of TR's. Many don't like the TR system - myself included - but the rules are there and it is time that it was acknowledged that far from it highlighting Glasgow are weak, the clever structuring of the team to ensure a strong finish actually highlights astute team management from the Tigers.

 

 

 

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