After last week’s victory over Redcar, Tigers approached their tie with Newcastle with a bit of confidence. The visitors hadn’t scored less than 42 all season and had already thrashed Redcar home and away showing the scale of their task.
Glasgow 46: J Screen 12+2, J Wright 9, J Grieves 8+1, J Jacobs 8+1, J Ringwood 5, H Horwood 3, H Bager 1
Newcastle 44: Robson 13+3, R Worrall 10+1, Henry 9, Kerr 8, Lindgren 3+2, S Worrall 1, R/R for Tully, no 8 Crang DNR
Heat 1: Christian Henry is the R/R. Henry moves at the start and its all 4 back for the re-run. Joe S makes the start, with Henry second and Joey third. Stuart Robson quickly passes Joey on the fourth bend and it stays that way until the end, although Joey keeps Robson honest. 3-3
Heat 2: The Diamonds are quickest away but Joe J splits them off the second bend and gives chase to leader Lewis Kerr, while at the back Harley retires with bike problems. No change after this 5-7
Heat 3: James W makes the gate and is gone with Henry second. Henning makes a forceful pass on Steve Worrall on the inside of the fourth bend but hits a bump on the second bend next time round which allows Worrall to close the gap but he makes no more mistakes to level the scores 9-9
Heat 4: James G is quickest away with the Worralls behind him but Joe J makes a good pass on the fourth bend to take third from S Worrall. However he hits the second bend bump on the fourth lap allowing Worrall to get inside him going into the third bend but Joe keeps it wound on and goes around him to take third. 13-11
Heat 5: R/R is Ludvig Lindgren. It’s James W from the start but finds Robson on the faster outside line and has to settle for second, at the back Henning looked a bit uncomfortable and couldn’t make any impression on Lindgren 15-15
Heat 6: A hard first bend sees Lewis Kerr lose out allowing Joey to round the field and lead. R Worrall is second but Joe S quickly takes up the chase and like last week was blasting around the outside, finally passing Worrall on the second lap. 20-16
Heat 7: All of a sudden Tigers find themselves eight up after another great start sees Harley and James G on a 5-1. Henry gives chase but seems reluctant to move off the inside and James hangs on for second 25-17
Heat 8: Stuart Robson is R/R. Easy win for Robson from the start but with Joey and Joe filling the minor places ahead of the disappointing S Worrall the gap remains at 8.
28-20
Heat 9: Thoughts of an easy home are quickly dispelled although a suspiciously ragged start by the Diamonds seems to momentarily cause James W to shut off, possibly expecting the red lights. They don’t come on and although he gives chase, a mistake on the third lap ends his challenge. 29-25
Heat 10: Newcastle now had the bit between their teeth now and Christian Henry is fastest away. Joe S slotted into second and passed the former Tiger with a great inside pass on the fourth bend. Unfortunately Joey lost out on the first bend and Lindgren took an easy third. 32-28
Heat 11: Ritchie Worrall is R/R. All of a sudden we’re level with an easy 5-1 from Worrall and Robson. James G is third 33-33
Heat 12: A crucial heat 12 looked like being a welcome home 5-1 after a good couple of bends from James W and Joe J but Joe goes too wide on the fourth bend allowing Henry to forcefully shut him out, Joe doing well to stay on. It looked hard but fair but allowed the Tigers to regain the lead. 37-35
Heat 13: There have been some good races already this season and this was another one!! James G makes the start with Joe getting the better of Robson down the back straight. But with James going a bit slow, Joe was having his work cut out to protect his partner from Robson’s outside bursts. It looked like he had fended off all that Robson could throw at him as they entered the last lap but he had other ideas!! He rode wide on the second bend to pass Joe and then did the same to James G on the final corners to record a stunning win. 40-38
Heat 14: After the result of the previous race it was important that Tigers didn’t lose any heat advantages in this one and both sides recognised this with reserves coming in for both sides. Lewis Kerr for Steve Worrall and Joe Jacobs for Henning Bager. It was the Diamonds who both made the start but Joe was on the quick outside line and shot past both of them on the second bend and despite lifting coming off the final bend, recorded an important win. 43-41
Heat 15: It was a repeat of the heat 13 line up for the decider but crucially Glasgow had gates 2 and 4 and Joe Screen was not surprisingly off the outside. Just before the green light came on there was a sound of a spluttering engine and when the tapes went up it was James G who barely moved although he did manage a lap. Luckily Joe had made the start and was a comfortable winner with R Worrall and Robson never near him to challenge.
46-44
Title challengers Newcastle probably expected to win this one but met a Glasgow side who seem to be able to raise their game when needed. They were led by captain Joe Screen who was unlucky not to record a second successive maximum and crucial back up from James Wright and Grieves whilst Joe Jacobs had his best ever match for Glasgow and his heat 14 win was crucial.
The visitors had Robson on good form and Ritchie Worrall gave him good backing. Rider replacement scored 9 which is arguably more than Andrew Tully would’ve scored based on last years form. Former Tiger Christian Henry didn’t win any heats but scored a valuable 9 points. Lewis Kerr impressed on his first visit but it was low scores from Lindgren and Steve Worrall which cost the Diamonds the win
Report by Derek Watson