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Hull Vikings v Glasgow Tigers
Premier Trophy (Group), 06 April 2005
Craven Park, Hull

Hull 52
1Paul Thorp33333 ..150
2Emiliano Sanchez12*22*. ..72
3Lee Dicken2*01*2. ..52
4Emil Kramer3223. ..100
5Garry Stead3322*0 ..101
6(g)Ben WilsonFx10.. ..10
7Craig BranneyFx01*1*2* ..43
Glasgow 41
1George Stancl236^12 ..140
2Matthew Wethers010.. ..10
3Jamie Birkinshaw0R03. ..30
4Paul Bentley1210. ..40
5Shane Parker21302! 1*.91
6(g)Danny Norton2*00.. ..21
7Trent Leverington31*310 ..81

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

Hull lost by 12 points at Glasgow last Sunday so the bonus point was very much up for grabs in this return meeting. Both sides tracked guests at reserve. For Hull Ben Wilson replaced the injured Joel Parsons while, for Glasgow, Danny Norton did likewise for James Cockle.

An opening heat 4-2 for the Vikings from Paul Thorp and Emiliano Sanchez with George Stancl second was followed by a bizarre heat 2 which saw no home finisher after Craig Branney and Ben Wilson had collided. The 0-5 put the Tigers in front at 4-7 but their lead didn’t last long as a Hull 5-1 from Emil Kramer and Lee Dicken put them back in front at 9-8. A shared heat 4 was followed by a 2-4 to Glasgow from George Stancl and Matthew Wethers to put the Tigers back in front at 14-15 before a 5-1 to the Vikings from Thorp and Sanchez once again put Hull in front at 19-16.

Hull opened up a five point lead with a 4-2 from Garry Stead and Ben Wilson in heat 7 with the next two heats shared to take the score to 29-24. In heat 10 the Thorp/Sanchez pairing registered another 5-1 to put Hull 9 in front so Glasgow immediately gave George Stancl a TR and he duly obliged by winning. With Trent Leverington (in for Matthew Wethers) picking up third place this resulted in a 2-7 to Glasgow which brought the score to 36-32 with just 4 heats to go and Glasgow looking good for at least the bonus.

A shared heat 12 won by James Birkinshaw, who suddenly burst into life, brought us to the battle of the big guns in heat 13. This went very much the way of Hull as they registered a 5-1 from Paul Thorp and Garry Stead over George Stancl and Shane Parker and the Vikings were eight points ahead at 44-36. Glasgow then gave a Tactical Substitute ride to Shane Parker from 15 metres back but he couldn’t prevent Hull from taking maximum points with a 5-2 heat win from Emil Kramer and Craig Branney, who finally got the better of Parker and Bentley going into the last lap, to put the Vikings 11 points ahead needing a 4-2 from the final heat to take the bonus point. However it was Glasgow who took the bonus when the heat was shared as Paul Thorp completed his full maximum. So the two points from the third place in heat 14 turned out to be a bonus point winner after all for Glasgow! Strangely enough Glasgow were the second team this week to win a bonus point by 93-92 as Newport did the same thing at Reading on Monday night.

Match Report by Merlin