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25 May 2008: Glasgow (42) Redcar (48) |
| Match Report Sunday 25th May 2008 Premier League 'Buildbase' Glasgow Tigers - (42)
Redcar 'TLS' Bears - (48)
The dry, sunny weather meant the track was likely to be slick and dusty, so gating, not Tigers' strongest trait, would be at a premium today. Workington's Kauko Nieminen was again recruited as a guest for injured skipper Shane Parker. Home fans would be hoping he could turn in a performance like last week's outing although the Bears' top two, long time Tiger and renowned Ashfield expert James Grieves, and 1992 World Champion Gary Havelock, would stand in his way. Tigers' mounting injury crisis had stand in captain Trent Leverington put out last week after Andrew Moore's challenge put him into the fence, so Tigers could utilise Rider Replacement for him with everyone being eligible for a ride. This situation meant that Tigers could now field a guest for wrist injury victim Josh Grajczonek, and, after scouring the country for someone with a suitable average, Luke Priest, himself the victim of horrendous injuries in 2006, took his place. Ross Brady continued to defy his own injury problems and lined up at reserve again, with much expectation on his shoulders. Redcar lined up with their declared team, apart from Adam McKinna, son of Tigers' great Kenny, deputising for former British under 15 champ Josh Auty away on World under 21 championship duty, and tracking rookie signings Joni Keskinen and Ty Proctor as well as former Ashfield second halfer Arlo Bugeja. Gate pattern A in operation. Heat 1 Kauko Nieminen came in to take the first Rider Replacement ride and he went straight for the turn to get an early advantage on Gary Havelock, looking quite commanding at the end. Luke Priest managed to get ahead of Joni Keskinen, before the Finn retired on lap 2, and this had got the Tigers off to a winning start, not an experience they've enjoyed too much this season. Nieminen, Havelock, Priest, Keskinen(Ret) (4-2) (4-2) - 58.1 Heat 2 Ross Brady made a good start, but Mitchell Davey got caught up with Arlo Bugeja and bit the dust. The referee called all four back for the rerun. As before, Ross got a good start and built up a good first lap lead. He looked awkward on turn 1 lap 2 and slowed on turn 2, letting Bugeja through before pulling on to the centre green, clearly in some discomfort from his injured knee. The Redcar reserves duly competed their race with Mitchell Davey some way back and taking the Bears into the lead. After the track doctor had taken a look at Ross' injury, he ruled him out of the rest of the meeting and the already depleted Glasgow team now lost their hero of the previous two weeks, with only fellow reserve Mitchell able to cover, short of being able to revert to a Tactical Substitute option. (Rerun) Bugeja, McKinna, Davey, Brady(Ret) (1-5) (5-7) - 60.7 Heat 3 Kauko hit the turn first and managed to hold off the strong James Grieves challenge on turn 2. Lee Dicken outrode Daniel Giffard on turn 2 to pull away. Kauko gave the home fans a scare on turn 2 second time around but he had enough in hand to keep his lead and Lee made a great effort to get on to Grieves' tail at the finish. Nevertheless, Tigers had pulled back level with their visitors. Nieminen, Grieves, Dicken, Giffard (4-2) (9-9) - 59.0 Heat 4 Mitchell had to come in for Ross' ride. Robert Ksiezak had his gating head on to make a super start, but looked under threat as Ty Proctor hit the outside run on the first turn, Unfortunately for Proctor, just when he looked as if he might steal the lead, his back end came round too far and he was thrown into the fence. He seemed to be okay but the referee ruled him out of the rerun. Robert repeated the dose and was quickly in fresh air although Bugeja started to catch him near the end as the Tiger seemed to slow, borne out by the slow time. Mitchell took third and that was enough to put Buildbase Tigers back in front. (Rerun) Ksiezak, Bugeja, Davey, Proctor(F.Exc) (4-2) (13-11) - 62.7 Heat 5 Kauko showed first but Havelock blasted round the outside. The Finn held his line and that was enough to edge ahead off turn 2 and go on to complete a significant win. Lee was never likely to trouble the ex World number one, but easily took care of Keskinen's challenge, the Finnish youngster finishing well off the pace. Nieminen, Havelock, Dicken, Keskinen (4-2) (17-13) - 58.7 Heat 6 Robert came in as Rider Replacement. Proctor seemed to be moving at the start and that might have explained Robert's slow start, but the referee did not see anything wrong and the Bears' duo hit the front to take a surprise maximum to level the scores again, with Adam McKinna looking a real chip off the old block, just on the wrong side for the Tigers' faithful. McKinna, Bugeja, Ksiezak, Priest (5-1) (18-18) - 59.8 Heat 7 Grieves made the turn first and it was left to Robert and Giffard to fight out for second, with the Aussie stifling Giffard's early challenge to pull away on the back straight although Redcar had done enough to take the lead again. Grieves, Ksiezak, Giffard, Davey (2-4) (20-22) - 59.8 Heat 8 Mitchell again came in for injury victim Ross and McKinna came in for the struggling Keskinen. This time the Aussie rookie got his gating sorted out and led into the turn before a quite superb blast round the outside took McKinna all the way to another impressive looking victory and, with Luke being unable to trouble Bugeja, the Bears had stretched their lead. Mitchell looked much more confident in this one, clearly attacking the turns with vigour. McKinna, Davey, Bugeja, Priest (2-4) (22-26) - 60.3 Heat 9 Kauko was again masterful at the start but Proctor headed Lee into the turn. The big Yorkshireman kept his outside run going until the Aussie shut the door on the back straight, but Lee was in determined mood and headed wide again on turn 3 to powerfully round the Bears' rookie, teaming up for a maximum and pulling the home team back level. Nieminen, Dicken, Proctor, McKinna (5-1) (27-27) - 58.9 Heat 10 Lee came in as Rider Replacement. Grieves tried to anticipate the start and was clearly moving as the tapes went up. The referee called all four back for another try. Again Grieves was moving at the start and the referee again called all four back with a public warning for the Scot when some thought his second effort warranted more. The third attempt went off without an infringement, but it was Grieves and Giffard who hit the front and although Lee put in plenty of effort, it was not enough to prevent Redcar taking the lead again, with time starting to run out. Grieves, Giffard, Dicken, Priest (1-5) (28-32) - 60.3 Heat 11 Havelock sorted out his duel with Robert fairly quickly and Mitchell came out on top in his own battle with Keskinen to keep the Bears in sight. Havelock, Ksiezak, Davey, Keskinen (3-3) (31-35) - 60.4 Heat 12 Mitchell took Ross' final ride. Kauko fired out of the start with Grieves having no answer to the Ashfield favourite in this form. Nieminen, Grieves, McKinna, Davey (3-3) (34-38) - 59.1 Heat 13 Team Manager Dickson was out of options so Luke, with only one point from his programmed rides, had to take the final Rider Replacement ride. Havelock appeared to have got away but Robert got a great run off turn 2 to pass the former World Champ. Proctor got caught up in traffic and this let Luke come through on the same turn, but this proved to be short-lived as the Aussie put in a determined run on the outside of turn 3 to retake his position. Havelock made a late attempt to catch Robert, closing right up as they came off turn 4 lap 3, but the Tiger picked his line carefully to thwart the veteran and take an impressive scalp for what was worth more than a shared heat. Ksiezak, Havelock, Proctor, Priest (3-3) (37-41) - 61.0 Heat 14 McKinna was drafted in to replace the handy Bugeja and Mitchell came out for his seventh ride. Lee blasted round the turn to leave the others trailing in his wake but, unfortunately, Mitchell had nothing left in the tank to support him so it meant that the Buildbase Tigers were to go into the final race looking for a maximum to share the spoils. Dicken, Giffard, McKinna, Davey (3-3) (40-44) - 61.8 Heat 15 With two seasoned campaigners lining up for Redcar a draw looked unlikely, especially when Havelock made the gate, but Robert took a great outside line to challenge on turn 2 until the former Team GB captain shut the door on him, letting Kauko and Grieves through. Robert showed determination to pull himself level with the Scot with a fine inside cutback off turn 4 and a hard drive into turn 1 could have paid off but Grieves had the better line. Kauko gave it all on the final lap to try and get his maximum with a fine outside drive on turn 3 and, as Havelock moved out to cover, a sharp cut inside, but the move came up short and the Bears had all three points. Havelock, Nieminen, Grieves, Ksiezak (2-4) (42-48) - 60.0 Already struggling to cope with injuries, the last thing Stewart Dickson needed was to lose Ross, matchwinner of the last two weeks, so early. Mitchell tried to cover, and a another fall in heat 2 can't have helped him, but there were some signs of his confidence returning with a good start and fighting second place in heat 8. Kauko again deputised superbly for Shane and Robert and Lee both pulled off crucial wins which, on another day might have been better rewarded. The crucial difference in the sides was Adam McKinna, with a paid 13 score complementing the big two of Gary Havelock and James Grieves and on that kind of form, leaving everyone wondering why Berwick dropped him and how long it will be before someone else snaps him up. Report by : John Sloss |
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