Late Rally Knocks Tigers
(Posted 20/08/09)

With three heats to go, Glasgow looked as if they could perhaps pull off another surprise at Sheffield last night but it was not to be and they left Owlerton without a point.

Parker and Grajczonek did their best to give Glasgow the best possible start with Josh forcing himself into second place behind his captain coming out of bend two. the Glasgow pair looked comfortable out front and with people already starting to mark the 1-5 on their pizza menu's bad luck struck with Josh suffering an engine failure on the penultimate bend and only being able to watch helplessly as first Ashworth and then Mills passed by.

Unfortunately the Glasgow reserve pairing were off the pace in heat 2, Sheffield claiming the 5-1 from the gate.

Sandi Conda was able to take advantage of an error by Joel Parsons in heat 3 when Parsons slid off allowing the youngster to claim third spot despite obviously struggling. Lawson had to settle for second place behind the fast gating Hall although he never gave up trying to chase.

James Grieves was made to work hard especially in the latter stages of heat 4 to hold off firstly Hugh Skidmore then Josh Auty and claim the win whilst Lee Dicken joined the list of strugglers as he was well off the pace at the back.

Hall was electric from the gate in heat 5 with Grajczonek in second place and Shane Parker unusually left at the rear. Sheffield held a 5-1 after Parsons passed inside Grajczonek on bend 3 but Parker quickly followed him through and then made up a considerable amount of ground on Parsons, nipping through the inside on the final bend to split the home pairing.

Mills fell again in heat 6 although this time he was at the rear anyway and with James Grieves leading from start to finish with only an early challenge from Ricky Ashworth, Glasgow took a heat advantage.

The next two heats were very much a case of from the gate, William Lawson being the quickest out of the traps to win a shared heat 7, Josh winning heat 8 in similar style with Mitchell in third place.

A quick gate from Richard Hall took him to the front in heat 9 and he was followed surprisingly by Mitchell Davey with James Grieves coming off worst in a tough opening bend battle with Joel Parsons. Parsons then went inside Mitchell on bend 3 but was carrying too much momentum. It took him out to the fence and not only did Mitchell come back through into second but James followed for third. Parsons gave determined chase and came very hard under Grieves on the second bend of the following lap only for his bike to pack up, allowing James back through and giving Tigers a share of the spoils.

It was back to 'from the gate' in a shared heat 10, Conda holding off the attentions of Mills at the back to ensure third place.

The Glasgow pairing of Parker and Grajczonek gated in heat 11 but Josh lifted badly coming into the back straight and did well to stay on, albeit that it sent him to the back of the field and Glasgow had to again settle for a share of the spoils.

A superb ride from William Lawson saw him hold off everything Skidmore could throw at him in heat 12 including one rather naughty move in the early stages when he tried to physically move Lawson off line.

Heat 13 was probably the most competitive meeting of the evening. Ashworth was quickest out of the gate and Shane Parker was all over his back wheel trying to find a way through. At the same time, Josh Auty was all over the back of Shane ready to pounce on any small error. It was close for all four laps when off the final bend Auty nudged under Parker, moving him out of the way and coming through for second spot.

Things were starting to slip away from Glasgow and they understandably brought Mitchell Davey in to replace Sandi Conda in heat 14. Mitchell repaid their faith with a second place, being the latest rider to be unable to find an answer to the impressive Hall, but with Lee trailed off at the rear any chance of an away win had gone.

Glasgow needed a heat advantage in the final race to sneak a point but it was not to be with Hall and Ashworth quickly out of the gate and well clear within a lap.

After 12 heats Glasgow must have expected to take something from the meeting but it was not to be with Sheffield responding when it mattered. It sounds like a worn record but injuries are definitely still taking their toll, Sandi and Lee struggled badly. Mitchell plodded away and the feeling was that Josh was probably worth more than his points tally suggests. Shane was as expected, James once again showed that his Sheffield hating days are well over but the Tigers best man on the night was William Lawson who rode with a determination and enthusiasm that was missing on his last visit with Berwick.

Many thanks to Terena for her help with this report

.

 

 

 

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