Back Down to Earth With a Bump
(Posted 31/03/09)

After the elation of last weekends excellent meeting, the Tigers were brought back down to earth with a bump as they were comprehensively beaten in a challenge meeting at Belle Vue last night.

With hindsight, the result was always a foregone conclusion and it might not have been the most sensible fixture to agree to but hindsight is a wonderful thing and last night should just be put down to experience. An Elite League club on their home track were always going to be too strong for a Premier League side made up mostly of developing youngsters and whose equivalent Elite league average - even with 8 men - was more than 10 points less.

The majority of the heats were won from the gate with the Elite League side again showing how to trap.

Tigers guest for the evening Rory Schlein was caught out at the start of the opening heat, leaving the way for Kasprzak and Wright - previously warned for moving - to record the win.

The second heat required a re-run after a nasty coming together between the two Tigers riders at the rear on lap 3. Andersen's bike packed up, Brady was unable to avoid him and both riders ended up on the deck. Anders seemed to have taken a knock to his shoulder whilst Brady suffered a wrist injury.

Anders was excluded as the primary cause of the stoppage whilst Davey came into replace non starter Brady in the re-run which was won easily from the gate by the Belle Vue pairing.

A decent gate from Shane Parker saw him in contention at the start of heat 3 as he went down the back straight almost side by side with the home pair. He elected to go wide on the final bend of the lap, with both Aces riders taking the opportunity to pass on the inside line and going on to record another 5-1.

Anders Andersen came out in heat 4 but looked far from comfortable, retiring on the second lap. Despite being outgated, Grieves had managed to find a way inside Ostergaard on the opening bends of this heat into second place but Ostergaard regained second place at the start of the following lap. Grieves never gave up the chase but was unable to mount any real challenge.

Guest Rory Schlein came out on a TR in heat 5, made the gate and won the heat from the Belle Vue pairing.

Despite an excellent gate from Grieves, Aces were back on the 5-1 trail in heat 6 with Kasprzak passing him on the back straight and Wright following suit at the start of the second lap. Things didn't get any better for the Tigers in the next one when Shane Parker's bike packed up when he was comfortably in second place and looking to put pressure on Ostergaard.

Wright was penalised for delaying the start in heat 8 and Belle Vue elected to put him off 15m. What looked like an opportunity for Glasgow to stop the rout of 5-1's soon evaporated as Davey and Juul baulked each other on the opening bends, Wright came out of the second bend in second place and it was heat over.

Grieves again gated in heat 9 and was looking good in the early stages but Gjedde passed outside him at the end of the opening lap. Grieves tried to block Bager from doing the same to him at the end of the second lap only for Bager to squeeze through on the inside line.

Wright shot from the tapes in heat 10 and this time was followed by the Glasgow pairing for Grajczonek and Parker with Kasprzak bringing up the rear. Kasprzak quickly rounded Grajczonek on the opening bends and gave chase. Shane looked relatively comfortable until towards the end of lap 2 when his bike started to play up. Cruelly it gave up going into bend 2 on the third lap leaving the way clear for the Aces to continue their demolition.

There was a break from the trend in the next one with Schlein getting the better of Ostergaard at the end of the opening lap, going on to claim the win in what was to be the only shared heat of the night.

Heat 12 saw another 5-1, the Tigers electing to bring Grieves out on a TR in heat13. In the first running, there was a coming together between Kasprzak and Schlein resulting in Schlein being dispatched heavily into the fence. Thankfully the fence did its job and Schlein was able to take his place in the re-run from which Kasprzak was excluded. Rory won the race from the gate fairly comfortably and with Grieves on a TR in third place Glasgow had their only heat advantage of the evening.

The meeting finished with another two straightforward 5-1's from the gate, the only thing to report being Grajczonek falling on his own it heat 15 though thankfully only his pride was hurt.

It certainly was not a good night for the Tigers or for the paying public as the meeting was far too one sided and provided little in the way of entertainment.

From a Glasgow point of view, it was a step - or perhaps a few steps - too far. It is demoralising getting beat by such a margin but in reality nothing else can have been expected. Hopefully the riders can see that it was just a misjudgment agreeing to the fixture in that format and put it behind them.

Many thanks to Sue and Gary for providing the above information and report

 

 

 

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