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Glasgow Tigers v Berwick Bandits
Premier League, 22 May 2005
Ashfield Stadium, Glasgow

Glasgow 46
1George StanclRR^32*0 ..51
2Matthew Wethers22Fx00 ..40
3Trent Leverington0126^2 ..110
5Shane Parker334!33 3.190
6James Cockle20110 ..40
7Jamie Birkinshaw001*2*. ..32
Berwick 48
1Adrian Rymel33211* ..101
3(g)Chris Mills12*01*1 ..52
4Tom P Madsen3221. ..80
5Michal Makovsky23302 ..100
6Scott Smith132*3R R3121
7Joachim Kugelmann1110. ..30

* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).

Glasgow discovered the downside of having a rider guesting for another side as Claus Kristensen was unable to take his place in the team having suffered a hip injury at Berwick last night requiring the Tigers to use R/R for him. There was some speculation as to the team Berwick would arrive with. In the end they used R/R for Chris Schramm who was taking part in the under 21 championships and had Chris Mills recently dropped by Reading at number 3. New signing Tom P Madsen was at number 4 and Scott Smith and Joachim Kugelmann formed the reserve pairing.

What a sensational start Berwick made to this match. Even their staunchest fans must have rubbed their eyes in disbelief as Glasgow threw away points like confetti. They started with three 2-4 heat wins. In heat 1 George Stancl had an engine failure at the gate as Rymel romped to a win ahead of Wethers with Scott Smith third. Then Smith won heat 2 from Cockle with Kugelmann beating Birkinshaw for third. Heat 3 was no better as Madsen won from Wethers taking a R/R ride with Mills third. It didn’t help Glasgow’s cause that Leverington had forgotten to turn his fuel on in this heat discovering his mistake at the first bend. It took a Shane Parker win in heat 4 for a share of the points to steady Glasgow’s nerves. The score after heat 4 was 9-15.

If Glasgow thought that was bad little did they think they would only be taking one point from the next two heats. Adrian Rymel and Chis Mills took a 1-5 ahead of Trent Leverington in heat 5 to open up a 10 point lead and heat 6 was a complete disaster for the Tigers. Firstly George Stancl, who had been nomiated for a TR, suffered another engine failure on the first lap then Wethers, who was leading the race, crashed on the second bend of the last lap to gift all five points to Makovsky and Smith making the score 10-25. In heat 7 Parker beat Madsen with Cockle third to shave two points off Berwick’s lead but deperate measures were needed to get the Tigers back into the match. So in heat 8 Shane Parker took a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back. Smith and Kugelmann got past Wethers on the second bend as Parker took off after them. He got past Wethers and Kugelmann but Scott Smith held on for the win and Glasgow had only shared the heat 4-4. The heat 8 score was 14-27 and Glasgow still had a mountain to climb.

Heats 9 and 10 were shared then Glasgow finally got into gear. In heat 11 Shane Parker beat Adrian Rymel with James Cockle third for a 4-2 to take the score to 28-39. Then Trent Leverington took a TR in heat 12 and won it. With James Birkinshaw following him home Glasgow scored the big 8-1 and there were now only four points between the teams at 36-40. Parker and Stancl finally levelled things with a heat 13 5-1 over Rymel and Makovsky to make the score 41-41.

Back came Berwick with a 2-4 in heat 14 thanks to a win from Scott Smith taking his seventh ride. Trent Leverington was second and Tom P Madsen third so the 2-4 put Berwick two points ahead at 43-45. The Bandits must have had a sinking feeling knowing that they would be facing Stancl and Parker in the last heat and would remember the Premier Trophy match earlier in the season when they led by four points only for Glasgow’s big two to thwart them. This time though there was a happy ending for the Bandits. Although Parker was away for the win a battle developed at the back between Rymel, Makovsky and Stancl with the Berwick pair winning out by taking the minor places for the shared heat which saw them home for the win.

Match Report by Merlin