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Glasgow Tigers v Newcastle Diamonds
Premier Trophy (Group), 24 May 2005
Ashfield Stadium, Glasgow
| 1 | George Stancl | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2* | 2* | . | . | 12 | 2 |
| 2 | Matthew Wethers | 0 | 2 | 2* | 3 | 0 | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 3 | Trent Leverington | 1* | 3 | 1* | 3 | 2 | . | . | 10 | 2 |
| 5 | Shane Parker | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | . | . | 14 | 0 |
| 6 | James Cockle | M | R | 2* | R | 2* | 1* | . | 5 | 3 |
| 7 | Jamie Birkinshaw | 1 | 1* | 2* | 2 | M | . | . | 6 | 2 |
| 1 | Phil Morris | 1* | 1* | 2 | 0 | . | . | . | 4 | 2 |
| 2 | Christian Henry | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1* | . | . | . | 5 | 1 |
| 3 | Richard Juul | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | . | . | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Josef Franc | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6^ | 0 | . | . | 12 | 0 |
| 5 | James Grieves | 3 | X | 3 | 2^ | 1 | . | . | 9 | 0 |
| 6 | Lubos Tomicek | 2* | 1 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Jamie Robertson | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | . | . | . | 4 | 0 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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There was nothing at stake other than pride in this Premier Trophy match because neither side could qualify for the semi-finals. Glasgow were still without Claus Kristensen with an injured hip and used R/R for him at number 4. Newcastle were at full strength. Glasgow got off to another poor start losing a 1-5 in a farcical heat 2. Lubos Tomicek was fined Ł50 for delaying the start then James Birkinshaw charged through the tapes. Finally James Cockle was excluded for failing to beat the time allowance so the race was run with three riders, the Glasgow man from 15 metres back. The other four of the first five heats were all shared so Glasgow trailed 13-17 after heat 5. The turning point came in heat 6 when James Grieves, who had taken Shane Parker from the back to win heat 4, was excluded for bringing down Matthew Wethers on the first bend and Glasgow tied the scores with a 5-1 in the rerun. They followed this with another 5-1 in heat 7 as Shane Parker protected James Cockle from the efforts of Richard Juul and virtually ended the Diamonds’ hopes with a third successive 5-1 in heat 8 from Matthew Wethers and James Birkinshaw. The Tigers had turned a deficit of four points after heat 5 into a lead of eight points after heat 8 at 31-23. Wins from Grieves and Franc in heats 9 and 10, the latter supported in third place by Richard Juul, shaved two points off the Glasgow lead and their resistance continued with a shared heat 11. However two killer blows by Glasgow in heats 12 and 13 all but secured the bonus point as well as the win. Firstly Leverington and Cockle beat Richard Juul in heat 12 then James Grieves took a TR in heat 13 but finished third to Parker and Stancl for a 5-2 taking Glasgow to a 46-33 lead in the match and putting them five ahead on aggregate. Newcastle’s last throw of the tactical dice came in heat 14 as Josef Franc took a TR. Although he won the race the Tigers’ pairing of Leverington and Cockle filled the minor places to limit the damage to 3-6 taking the score to 49-39 with one heat to go. This meant that Newcastle needed at least a 2-4 to contest the bonus point in heat 15 but it was all academic as Parker and Stancl disappeared into the distance ahead of James Grieves again to wrap up all three points. Match Report by Merlin |