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Rye House Rockets v Glasgow Tigers
Premier League, 14 May 2005
Hoddesdon Stadium, Rye House
| 1 | Stuart Robson | 2 | 2* | 3 | 3 | 1 | . | . | 11 | 1 |
| 2 | Edward Kennett | 1* | 3 | 3 | 2* | . | . | . | 9 | 2 |
| 3 | Chris Neath | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2* | . | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 4 | Tommy Allen | 0 | 2 | 1* | 2* | . | . | . | 5 | 2 |
| 5 | Brent Werner | 1* | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | . | . | 10 | 1 |
| 6(g) | Harland Cook | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Daniel King | 3 | 2 | 2* | 3 | 3 | . | . | 13 | 1 |
| 1 | George Stancl | 3 | 3 | 6^ | 0 | 2 | . | . | 14 | 0 |
| 2 | Matthew Wethers | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | . | . | . | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | Jamie Birkinshaw | 1* | 1* | 1 | 0 | . | . | . | 3 | 2 |
| 4 | Claus Kristensen | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | . | . | . | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Shane Parker | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4^ | 0 | . | . | 11 | 0 |
| 6 | James Cockle | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | . | . | 3 | 0 |
| 7 | Trent Leverington | 1* | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 1 | 1 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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In George Stancl and Shane Parker, Glasgow have two of the Premier League's best riders but their combined efforts could not prevent Rye House from recording another home win in the league. The Rockets used Harland Cook as a replacement for the still injured Steve Boxall. Glasgow fielded their new signing from Newcastle, Claus Kristensen. Daniel King once again proved to be a valuable asset at reserve for Rye House, dropping only one point all night. The home fans knew they had a match on their hands after the first four heats were shared. Stancl led from the tapes in heat 1 to beat Stuart Robson and Edward Kennett and Parker followed up in heat 4, ahead of Daniel King and Brent Werner. It might have been worse for Rye House when Chris Neath almost fell on the last bend in heat 3 when well in front of the Glasgow pair of Claus Kristensen and James Birkenshaw, Tommy Allen having fallen on the first lap. The deadlock was broken in heat 5 when George Stancl and Matthew Wethers took a 4-2 ahead of Tommy Allen and Chris Neath. (Neath later discovered a loose bolt on his bike was to blame for his below par performance.) The Rockets hit back in the next heat with a 5-1 thanks to the reliable Robson/Kennett pairing leading Shane Parker and James Cockle (on loan from Rye House to Glasgow). Kennett took no prisoners on the first bend and Parker seemed less than pleased about this after the race was over. The Rockets led 27-21 after eight heats and only an excellent ride from Parker, overtaking the weakened Neath on the second lap, kept the lead down to six points. Robson and Kennett won heat 10 easily against Birkenshaw and Kristensen to stretch the lead to ten points. George Stancl took a tactical ride in heat 11 and managed to hold off Brent Werner, while Wethers finished ahead of Harland Cook to give Glasgow a 7-2 heat win, reducing the deficit to five points. Any hopes of a comeback were dashed in the next heat when Daniel King and Chris Neath scored an easy 5-1 against James Cockle and Birkenshaw. Heat 13 proved to be as good as it looked on paper : Robson and Werner against Stancl and Parker, with Parker taking a tactical ride. Once again, George Stancl flew out of the gate but Robson was right on his tail and he passed Stancl on the first lap, taking an outside line around the fourth bend. Now Stancl had two jobs - to keep Werner at bay and to somehow get Parker into a scoring position. He managed this with the help of a dubious tactic on the last bend of the final lap, when, with Werner right on his inside, he appeared to shut off the throttle for a split second and block Werner's progress. Werner still managed to get ahead of him at the line but the delay allowed Parker to come round the pair of them and take second place for four points and a shared heat. It came as no surprise to see Brent Werner out again in the final heat, partnered by Stuart Robson, against the predictable Parker / Stancl pairing for the visitors. For once, Stancl failed to lead and Werner was soon in control with Robson finishing a close third. After the race, Stancl appeared to apologise for events in heat 13 but Werner didn't care. His team will take a respectable lead to Glasgow for the return match, with every chance of gaining the bonus point. Match Report by Candyman |