Glasgow have booked a place in their first final since 2011 after knocking Sheffield out of the League Cup.
The Tigers dug deep to fend off their namesakes in the second leg of their semi-final tonight with the help of top-scoring guest Ricky Wells at No 1.
They went into the meeting with a 14-point lead and despite a 49-41 win for the home side, it wasn’t enough to take them to the first cup final of the Premier League season.
It sets Glasgow up with a potentially mouth-watering showdown with Scottish rivals Edinburgh, who are yet to race it out in the other semi-final with Ipswich.
Tigers team boss Stewart Dickson was full of superlatives for his side – which included two other guests at reserve in Richard Hall and Nike Lunna.
He said: “I’m very happy. It was excellent.
“It got too close for comfort a couple of times but we got there in the end, which is the main thing. Every one of them did their job – every one was a hero.
“The camp is happy. The owners, Gerry and Michael Facenna, were down – everybody was there – and we had a good support down. They did really well and we’re very happy for them.
“We’re in the final. We’ve done a lot of meetings and a lot of hard work to get to the final – the fact that we’re there now is really good.
“It’s a good achievement for the club and a good night for the club.”
Dickson’s plan before the meeting was for his riders to avoid coming back without any points – and they largely did that.
He said: “We weren’t winning races but we were battling for points. The talk before the meeting was, no last places, and that was the name of the game.”
Now he’s keen to see the Monarchs win the other semi-final and set up what would be the biggest meeting of the two Scottish sides in decades.
He added: “In all fairness, [Monarchs co-promoter] John Campbell wished us all the best for tonight, because they want a Scottish final as much as we do.
“We want it, they want it, because we both want big crowds. It’s great for Scottish speedway that the two teams are hopefully going to be in a final.
“But we’ve done our bit – and we’ll wait and see what happens.
“Tonight is all about enjoying it and it makes the tour down south good. We’ve got off to the best possible start and it’s a great feeling.”
The winner of the competition will be determined over two legs – home and away – with the dates yet to be confirmed.
Glasgow last made a final in the KO Cup in 2011, when they were defeated by Newport.
Next up for the Tigers is a visit to Somerset tomorrow on league business and then Rye House on Saturday. Berwick visit the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium on Sunday.
Tigers scorers: Ricky Wells (guest) 10+1, Richard Lawson 10+1, Aaron Summers 8+1, Richard Hall (guest) 6+2, James Sarjeant 6+1, Nike Lunna (guest) 1+1.