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Glasgow Tigers v Edinburgh Monarchs
Premier Trophy (Group), 30 April 2006
Ashfield Stadium, Glasgow

Glasgow 49
1Danny Bird33311 ..110
2David McAllanF1Fx1. ..20
3Lee Dicken101*1. ..31
4Kauko Nieminen3323. ..110
5Shane Parker31333 ..130
6Robert Ksiezak2*300. ..51
7James Cockle3010. ..40
Edinburgh 44
1Henrik Moller1*1*20. ..42
2Theo Pijper226^1*2 ..131
3Matthew Wethers0T02. ..20
4William Lawson2221*. ..71
5Rusty Harrison22320 ..90
6(g)Richie Dennis000.. ..00
7Derek Sneddon11*02*3 2.92

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

Glasgow tracked their usual team for this derby match but Edinburgh again had Richie Dennis at number 6 in place of Sean Stoddart.

This was a very good match between two committed teams. There were some exciting races and, although Glasgow had 12 of the race winners, they were never able to shake off a solid Edinburgh side.

Danny Bird made a fast start for a tapes to flag win in heat 1 but Theo Pijper and Henrik Moller followed him home for a shared race. Glasgow then took a four point lead with a 5-1 in the reserves race from James Cockle and Robert Ksiezak. They added another two points to the lead in heat 3 as Kauko Nieminen led from tapes to flag from William Lawson. Behind them Lee Dicken and Matthew Wethers battled hard for the third place point but Wethers never quite made up for his poor start so the Glasgow man took the third place point and the Tigers had a 4-2 win. Then came the first pass of the match. Rusty Harrison made san excellent start to lead from Shane Parker but Parker reeled him in and made his party-piece pass on the fourth bend for an excellent win. This time though Derek Sneddon beat James Cockle for third place so the race was shared. The heat 4 score was 15-9.

Another fast start by Kauko Nieminen was good enough to win heat 5 but Pijper and Moller again shared the heat as Lee Dicken trailed in last. Glasgow went further ahead in heat 6 with another tapes to flag win for Danny Bird. David McAllan tucked in behind him but Rusty Harrison passed McAllan to limit the damage to a 4-2 which put Glasgow eight points up. In heat 7 Robert Ksiezak made a fast start and Shane Parker slipped in behind him. They almost held on for a 5-1 but Ksiezak wasn’t going fast enough and William Lawson moved onto the fourth bend ‘Parker-line’ to sweep past Parker on the run in to the line for second place. The result was another 4-2 which put Glasgow 10 points in front. Edinburgh then gave Theo Pijper a TR in heat 8. In the first running of the heat Pijper and Sneddon led from McAllan. James Cockle came to grief on the fourth bend of the second lap but remounted then McAllan made a desperate charge under Sneddon on the first bend of the third lap causing the Edinburgh rider to fall. McAllan was excluded from the rerun in which Theo Pijper was again fast away. James Cockle got into second place but Derek Sneddon swept round him for a comfortable second place and a big 1-8 to the Monarchs. So once again the TR rule made a mockery of the score. Glasgow had worked hard for their ten point lead but in one fell swoop they found seven points knocked off it by this ridiculous gimmick. The score after heat 8 read 27-24.

Rusty Harrison had an excellent win ahead of Kauko Nieminen in heat 9 for a shared heat as Edinburgh found a new lease of life. However Glasgow added two more points to their lead in heat 10. Danny Bird had his third tapes to flag win while William Lawson and Matthew Wethers tucked in behind him for a share of the points. However Wethers got out of shape on the third bend and David McAllan slipped past him for the point and a Glasgow 4-2. In heat 11 Shane Parker again showed how to use the fourth bend to maximum advantage. Henrik Moller shot to the front from the second bend followed by Theo Pijper but, as the Monarchs sorted themselves out in an attempt to team ride, Moller left Parker too much room round the outside and the Glasgow man passed both of them to win the heat with ease. The shared heat kept the gap at five points but Edinburgh got back to within a point after heat 12. Derek Sneddon was fast away and Matthew Wethers took an inside line round the opening two bends to join him with the Monarchs’ pair then racing off to a 1-5 ahead of Lee Dicken. This took the score after 12 races to 38-37.

Glasgow were now looking for their customary big finish to stretch their lead but they could only add another four points to it. ‘Bird flew’ from the gate with Shane Parker for what looked like a certain 5-1 in heat 13 but Rusty Harrison was having none of it. On the fourth bend of the last lap he swept round Danny Bird to follow Parker home restricting the Tigers’ advantage to a 4-2 and a three point lead. There might have been a very interesting race in heat 14 when Derek Sneddon and William Lawson got themselves to the front on the first bend but Robert Ksiezak fell and the race was rerun with all four back. At the second time of asking Derek Sneddon made the start but Kauko Nieminen passed him to win the heat and share the race then in the last heat Glasgow went with Bird and Parker again. For the second time in three heats Glasgow’s big two hit the front looking for a 5-1. Rusty Harrison challenged briefly but retired from the race on the last lap. Theo Pijper had been charging hard round the inside and on the last bend he caught and passed Danny Bird on the inside to restrict Glasgow to a 4-2 which gave them a 5 point win.

Match Report by Merlin