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Stoke Potters v Glasgow Tigers
Premier League, 09 July 2005
Loomer Road, Stoke

Stoke 44
1Peter Carr3210. ..60
2Robbie Kessler11*23. ..71
3Paul Clews1*22*1*. ..63
4Alan Mogridge2032*2 ..91
5(g)Phil Morris22121* ..81
6Barrie Evans100.. ..10
7Jack Hargreaves01*1*23 ..72
Glasgow 46
1George Stancl2331. ..90
2Trent Leverington0132*. ..61
3Stefan Ekberg33230 ..110
4Claus Kristensen0101. ..20
5Shane Parker33133 ..130
6Adam Roynon3000. ..30
7James Cockle2*000. ..21

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

For the first time in months Stoke tracked a seven man side welcoming back Peter Carr at number 1. This week’s guest for Jan Staechmann at number 5 was Phil Morris. Glasgow were at full strength.

Considering that they supplied 11 of the 15 heat winners, Glasgow made heavy weather of a match they should have won comfortably. In most of the heats the Stoke riders were left chasing the fast-gating Glasgow heat leaders yet the match still went to a last heat decider.

In the opening heat Peter Carr got a flier much to George Stancl’s disgust and the Potters were off to a 4-2 winning start. They got a real jolt though in heat 2 when the two Glasgow reserves jumped from the tapes to score a 1-5 which was ultimately to prove decisive since neither of the Tigers’ reserves subsequently managed a point between them. Tapes to flag wins from Stefan Ekberg and Shane Parker resulted in shared heats and the heat 4 score was 11-13.

In heat 5 the Potters fans were none too pleased when George Stancl ran Alan Mogridge so wide that the Stoke rider all but fell off and was out of contention for the rest of the heat. Paul Clews at the back got up to pass Trent Leverington on the last bend to limit the damage for Stoke to a 2-4. Peter Carr made another fast start in heat 6 and led Shane Parker for three laps but the Glasgow man had too much speed for him and passed him for the win and another shared heat. Stoke fell further behind in heat 7 when the struggling Phil Morris found himself trailing Ekberg and Kristensen. Both Stoke riders got past Kristensen but Barrie Evans made a real mess of the fourth bend allowing Kristensen back into third place for a 2-4 to the Tigers. Trent Leverington roared from the tapes in heat 8 for another shared heat and the score was 21-27.

Finally Stoke got back into the match thanks to a 5-1 from Alan Mogridge and Paul Clews in heat 9 with Clews blocking Parker’s run off the fourth bend to secure the heat success cutting Glasgow’s lead to two points at 26-28. It was all square after heat 10 when Robbie Kessler finally ended Stefan Ekberg’s winning streak and Peter Carr finished third for a 4-2 making the score 30-30. Another dreadful start from the Stoke pair in heat 11 saw Stancl and Leverington race off into the distance leaving Morris with no chance of catching them for a 1-5 which left Stoke four points behind again. Stefan Ekberg made another fast start to heat 12 and won the heat for a share of the spoils bringing the score after 12 heats 34-38.

With Stancl and Parker out in heat 13, a match-winning 1-5 for Glasgow looked on the cards and so it seemed when the Glasgow pair burst from the tapes to lead with Peter Carr pulling up at the first bend. On the fourth lap Stancl seemed to slow entering the second bend and Phil Morris gratefully took second place as Stancl ambled home for third and a 2-4 putting the Tigers six points ahead with only two heats to go. Heat 14 was crucial for Stoke. Jack Hargreaves stormed from the gate and Alan Mogridge cleverly worked his way into second place and skilfully shepherded his young partner home for a 5-1 to the home side in by far the slowest time of the meeting. This left Stoke two points down going into the last race where, surprisingly, Stoke opted for Phil Morris to partner Alan Mogridge and Glasgow opted for Stefan Ekberg to partner Shane Parker.

The Stoke plan unfolded as Phil Morris pinned Shane Parker to the outside as Alan Mogridge took Stefan Ekberg wide. Although Ekberg was stuck at the back, Parker cut inside the field and with a phenomenal burst of speed left them all for dead as he scurried down the back straight and on to the heat win Glasgow needed for their first away win in the league since 2003.

Match Report by Merlin