GLASGOW boss Cami Brown praised his side’s “battling qualities” after an opening night draw at Edinburgh.
The Allied Vehicles Tigers secured a 45-45 result against the Monarchs in the BSN Series first fixture of the season at Armadale on Friday night.
Brown’s side were eight points down but fought back to grab a vital point.
He said: “It’s never easy coming to Armadale and even harder for the first meeting of the season. But I’m absolutely delighted to get the draw.
“It looked like it was going to be a win but Chris (Harris) was pipped on the last corner by Dan Thompson. But it’s job done to get the point, that could be crucial.
“It’s a tricky place and it was just a matter of our new boys settling in.
“But I felt all the boys acquitted themselves really well. It was hard for Mario (Hausl) and Kevin (Juhl Pedersen) to debut at Armadale.
“Kevin dug in and produced a wonderful win in Heat 14 to keep us in the meeting.”
The Tigers led by 22-20 after the opening seven heats which were very close. The highlight was a sublime pass of Justin Sedgmen by Harris in Heat 5.
But the home side then appeared to take control of the contest with 5-1s in Heats 8 and 9.
However it was a storming finish from the Tigers. Harris won Heat 12 as a tactical substitute before the outstanding Kyle Howarth and Harris narrowed the deficit further with a superb 5-1 in 13.
Juhl Pedersen took a super-quick win in the penultimate race to set up the last heat decider. Howarth and Harris seemed set to wrap up the win before Thompson’s last ditch pass to salvage a draw.
Brown added: “To be honest I was delighted with the battling qualities of the side. I feel Edinburgh are a very good side this year, especially at Armadale. They will be tough to beat.
“The main thing was to get some laps in and keep it close for the return fixture at Ashfield.
“We need to win the tie on aggregate if we want to progress to the BSN semi-finals.
“I felt the boys got stuck in and the reserves did a great job overall. We now need to keep pushing on.
“It will be good for us to get our first home fixture of the season next Friday.”
BSN SERIES SCOTTISH
EDINBURGH 45: Dan Thompson 11, Justin Sedgmen 10, Kye Thomson 8, Jordy Loftus 6+2, Paco Castagna 5+3, Jonatan Grahn 5, Mitchell Cluff 0.
GLASGOW 45: Chris Harris 13+1, Kyle Howarth 13, Leon Flint 6+1, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 5, Sam Hagon 4, Freddy Hodder 3+1, Mario Hausl 1+1.