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30 Mar 2008: Glasgow (47) Workington (43) |
| Match Report Sunday 30th March 2008 Premier Trophy 'Buildbase' Glasgow Tigers - (47)
Workington 'Thomas Armstrong' Comets - (43)
Heavy overnight rain put today's match in doubt but some sun and wind helped dry the track out enough to be declared raceable, if a little greasy in the early stages. Tigers welcomed back Ross Brady from injury, after a mid-week practice and the Comets ventured north with a formidable triple heat-leader threat, including 'old boy' Kauko Nieminen, but a suspiciously long tail which had seen them suffer heavily in Friday's match against Edinburgh. Gate pattern A in operation. Heat 1 Ross started his second home stint with the Tigers, with a terrific gate and cut across in front of Daniel Nermark on turn 1. The Swede kept his eye on Ross and, when the Scot failed to keep tight to the line on turn 4, he dived under him for the lead. Shane Parker and Ross swapped places on lap 2 and it looked as though we were heading for a shared heat until lap 3 turn 4 when Ross got into a spot of bother on turn 3 and the awkward looking Scott Smith nipped under him for the point and a Comets race win. Nermark, Parker, Smith, Brady (2-4) (2-4) - 59.2 Heat 2 Josh Grajczonek and Lee Dicken got the better of their opposite numbers at the start and looked to be on their way to a maximum heat advantage, but the young Aussie got into trouble on turn 3 on the tricky surface and Lee headed through on the inside. He had more trouble next time around and Joe Haines took advantage on turn 4 but Josh wasn't for giving up and a brave blast round the boards on turn 1 took him back ahead of Haines. This was short-lived as Josh had the same trouble on turn 3 third time around and this time he locked up enough to let both Comets through with no comeback this time. Dicken, Haines, Branney, Grajczonek (3-3) (5-7) - 62.0 Heat 3 Track specialist Carl Stonehewer got a great start followed by Mitchell Davey. Trent Leverington took up the chase but the teenager was looking good until he had the same trouble as Josh, getting into bother on turns 3 and 4, letting Charles Wright through. Comets' second string made a hash of the first turn and spun round on the track, with Mitchell aiming for the gap at the fence. This kept getting smaller until, by the time Mitchell arrived, it had closed and the Townsville daredevil treated us to an impromptu demonstration of his skills on the 'Wall of Death'. Second time around, with Wright excluded, Stonehewer raced to a commanding win. Stonehewer, Leverington, Davey, Wright(F.Exc) (3-3) (8-10) - 62.1 Heat 4 Lee and Kauko Nieminen raced for the turn with the Finn prevailing and Robert dropped back behind John Branney. Robert knew he would have another chance and this came on turn 3 with a good entry taking him across in front of Branney. Branney kept the pressure on and was close at the end but the points were shared. Nieminen, Dicken, Ksiezak, Branney (3-3) (11-13) - 61.1 Heat 5 Nermark and Trent hit the turn in front. Trent went wide on turn 4, giving Smith a chance but the Aussie got it together and didn't make the same mistake again. The Comets, though, had doubled their lead. Nermark, Leverington, Smith, Davey (2-4) (13-17) - 60.8 Heat 6 Shane and Nieminen fought for the same bit of dirt on turn 2 with the Finn sliding off. 'All four' was the referee's call. The rerun saw more tight racing with Nieminen getting the edge on the turn and holding Shane's pressure in check. Nieminen, Parker, Brady, Haines (3-3) (16-20) - 60.8 Heat 7 Stonehewer made the start, but Josh blasted round the former Grand Prix star and showed he is a quick learner by running a more controlled race. He was still giving it all he had though and had our hearts in our mouths until his win was greeted with a cheer to bring the house down, having taken his biggest scalp to date. With Robert taking care of Wright, Tigers had clawed back half of the Comets' advantage. Grajczonek, Stonehewer, Ksiezak, Wright (4-2) (20-22) - 61.8 Heat 8 Workington Team Manager elected to swap reserves in this one, Haines coming in for Branney. Ross made one of his sharp starts, followed by Lee. The big Yorkshireman kept his eye on Smith but he was always likely to win that battle, Lee's wide, sweeping turns having the edge over Smith's attempts to lock up tight. Ross was the one who caught the eye with his first win on his return to the Stripes, and edging our noses in front. Brady, Dicken, Smith, Haines (5-1) (25-23) - 63.2 Heat 9 Nieminen got away from Trent and then Haines rounded Mitchell and it looked as though our lead would be short-lived. The two had a good battle and it looked as though Mitchell lost his chance when Haines moved out on turn 4 lap 3. The Aussie teenager wasn't for giving up and, when they approached the final turn, he cut back inside to take the verdict by quarter of a wheel. Nieminen, Leverington, Davey, Haines (3-3) (28-26) - 62.3 Heat 10 Ross got the drop on Stonehewer but the Comets' legend swept round him. Ross, still recovering from his broken collarbone, wisely let Shane take up the chase but, in doing so, ended up getting out of shape on turn 3, giving Wright an opportunity which the youngster grabbed with both hands, and the scores were tied again. Stonehewer, Parker, Wright, Brady (2-4) (30-30) - 61.6 Heat 11 Robert made a power start but there was jostling behind him and, just when it appeared Josh had got the edge on the Comets' number 1, the referee stopped the race and ordered all four back. In the restart, Nermark made no mistake this time and shot into the fresh air at the front, although Robert and Josh secured their share of the spoils. Nermark, Ksiezak, Dicken, Smith (3-3) (33-33) - 62.4 Heat 12 Branney switched places with Haines. In a tight bit of first bend action, Stonehewer slid to ground as Lee tried to keep him in check. The referee's decision was to bring all four back alhough it did appear that there was no contact. Stonehewer's gestures towards Lee showed he thought otherwise. Stonehewer got away in the restart but it was clear that the former Belle Vue man had upset Lee as he roared through under Trent off turn 4 and set off in hot pursuit. Stonehewer, Dicken, Leverington, Branney (3-3) (35-37) - 62.2 Heat 13 This was always going to be a crucial heat with the Comets' big guns unbeaten at this stage. From the first turn, two battles emerged. Shane was in pursuit of Nermark and Nieminen was chasing Robert. It stayed tight for four laps but the positions remained the same and Tigers' might just have got the psychological edge. Nermark, Parker, Ksiezak, Nieminen (3-3) (39-39) - 61.8 Heat 14 Lee came in to replace Mitchell and Haines again replaced Branney. Lee and Josh did the business from the gate and were clearly delighted as they punched the air at the finish as the timekeeper consulted with his calendar! Dicken, Grajczonek, Haines, Wright (5-1) (44-40) - 64.6 Heat 15 With the Tigers' pair knowing that they had to beat one of the Comets, Nermark got away at the start but Shane manoeuvred himself round Stonehewer to put Tigers in the driving seat. Trent saw a gap on turn 3 and went for it, relegating Stonehewer to last and, although he fought to the end, the Stripes emerged victorious. Nermark, Parker, Leverington, Stonehewer (3-3) (47-43) - 62.7 What a difference a week makes! The heroes were Shane, looking as though he is catching up on match fitness, and Lee, clearly with his engines back on song again. Both were disappointed with their scores last week and emerged top men this week in a solid team performance. In the battle of 'top heavy' against 'more balanced' the crucial results were Josh's defeat of Carl Stonehewer and Shane and Trent holding Kauko Nieminen behind them. The difficult surface caused early problems for some, not least of them our Townsville Tearaways, but they got used to conditions that are more commonplace here than at home. Ross will have been glad to get his comeback underway although he still looked understandably tentative and will hopefully get better as the tracks dry out and his injury continues to heal. Report by : John Sloss |
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