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Glasgow Tigers v Sheffield Tigers
Premier Trophy (Group), 02 April 2006
Ashfield Stadium, Glasgow

Glasgow 51
1Danny Bird1T22*. ..51
2David McAllan01*3Fn. ..41
3Lee Dicken0010. ..10
4Kauko Nieminen32330 ..110
5Shane Parker32*333 ..141
6Robert Ksiezak2*230X ..71
7James Cockle312*1*2 ..92
Sheffield 44
1Ricky Ashworth331*0. ..71
2Ben Wilson2*112. ..61
3Emiliano Sanchez2136^2 ..140
4Kyle Legault1*0Fx4^. ..51
5Andre Compton23211* ..91
6Paul Cooper0001. ..10
7Benji Compton1001*. ..21

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

Glasgow finally got their home season under way with this match against Sheffield . Both teams were at full strength and approached the match in good form. Glasgow already had recorded an away win at Berwick while Sheffield had produced some creditable away results e.g. going down by just two points at Berwick last night

Glasgow kicked off with the worst possible start as Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson skated off to win heat 1 by 1-5 against Danny Bird but their joy was short lived as the Glasgow reserves, James Cockle and Robert Ksiezak, reversed that score in heat 2 to level the scores. Kauko Nieminen won heat 3 for a 3-3 then Glasgow hit the front. Shane parker passed Andre Compton for the heat win as James Cockle outpaced Benji Compton. This took the heat 4 score to 13-11.

Sheffield were back on level terms when Ricky Ashworth beat Nieminen in heat 5 with Ben Wilson third for a 2-4 then heat 6 had to be run three times. In the first running, David McAllan had moved at the start so the referee called all four back although Sheffield were on a 2-4 at the time. In the rerun, Danny Bird touched the tapes as his bike seized so he was excluded. Robert Ksiezak came into the race and took second place behind Andre Compton. With David McAllan third the race was shared and the scores still tied but Glasgow made a decisive move in heats 7 and 8 both resulting in 5-1s to the Glasgow species of Tiger. In heat 7 Robert Ksiezak made the start and Shane Parker slipped in behind him to deny the Sheffield pair of Sanchez and Legault. Then in heat 8 David McAllan and James Cockle repeated the dose leaving Ben Wilson in their wake for another maximum. This brought the score after eight heats to 28-20 with Sheffield in danger of slipping out of the match completely.

They fell ten points behind in heat 9 when Kauko Nieminen held off the challenge of Andre Compton for the race win with Lee Dicken taking his only point of the match in beating Paul Cooper for third. This gave Glasgow a 4-2. Heat 10 was rerun after a nasty looking accident between Legault and McAllan. Legault was excluded although this was not a universally held view of the incident. In the rerun Emiliano Sanchez passed both James Cockle then Danny Bird for a shared heat. In heat 11 Shane Parker won again but this time he was on his own as Ben Wilson and Ricky Ashworth relegated Robert Ksiezak to the back. Sheffield got back into the match in heat 12 though. Emiliano Sanchez took a TR and, although James Cockle made the start, He was passed by the Sheffield rider who got support from Paul Cooper who took his only point of the match in beating Lee Dicken. This gave Sheffield as 2-7 which brought the score after 12 heats 40-35.

Any hopes that the visitors might have entertained of continuing their challenge effectively ended when Parker and Bird took a 5-1 from Andre Compton to put the Glasgow side 9 points ahead again. Sheffield then took advantage of the situation by giving Kyle Legault a TR in heat 14. In the first running of the heat Legault was brought down by Robert Ksiezak who was excluded for his trouble. In the rerun Kauko Nieminen raced round the Sheffield pair on the first two bends for another race win but, since the Sheffield pair filled the minor places in the correct order, the visitors scored a 3-5 which narrowed the gap to 7 points. Glasgow were unable to stretch their lead any further in heat 15 despite a fine race win from the back by Shane Parker. Kauko Nieminen rather spoiled an excellent home debut by trailing in last behind Emiliano Sanchez and Andre Compton.

Match Report by Merlin