Tigers finished the season with a comfortable win against Workington but ultimately it was to be an agonising one point short after a second leg 52-38 defeat.
With Craig Cook missing, Ricky Wells had the unenvious task of filling in, whilst Workington were again without Dan Bewley.
The track was a little tricky early on after almost 2 days of continuous rain and that possibly was the reason for James Sarjeant knocking off Mason Campton in heat 1. Campton easily won the re-run, with Wells second after Bach stopped on the first bend.
Jack Thomas just held off Campton in heat 2, as the Tigers took the lead, which they increased with an easy 5-1 in heat 3, Jensen becoming the third Comet to stop in as many heats.
Workington looked like they would hit back in heat 4 as they gated 5-1 but Chris Harris passed both of them on the inside of the 4th bend for a shared heat. Tigers extended their lead further with successive 4-2s in heats 5 and 6 and looked like they would maintain it, with Harris again coming from the back in heat 7, only to break down yards from the flag, allowing both Comets through. That would come back to haunt Glasgow later in the evening.
Campton was then excluded in heat 8 after Stewart fell although it didn’t look like an obvious decision. Sarjeant looked like he would win the re-run but Rasmus Jensen, who looked close to being over the white line, passed him coming out the 4th bend on the third lap.
It was Tigers turn to get some luck with Proctor falling in heat 9 whilst chasing leader Starke to hand the home side a 5-1 and a 9 point lead.
Wells had to pass Klindt in heat 10 to split the Comets, Sarjeant falling before Harris won heat 11 to maintain the 7 point lead.
Both Tigers gated in heat 12 but Campton made a superb move up the inside to take the lead. Vissing then stalked him for 3 laps before going round him on the last two bends to snatch victory on the line. Stewart’s third increased the lead back to 9.
It was Wells in heat 13 with Harris having to work hard to get a point after starting on the graveyard gate 4. Jensen won heat 14 which was shared before Vissing completed his maximum in heat 15, with again Harris picking off Klindt for the odd point and a 13 point win.
So the season ends in disappointing fashion, with Glasgow’s third successive play off semi final defeat. ultimately Craig Cook’s absence proved costly although Wells was the top scorer over the two legs. Maybe food for thought for 2019 was that the opposition reserves outscored the Tigers by 30-16 over the two legs.
Glasgow Tigers 33 Workington Comets 26 SGB Chmapionship Play off 1st leg 14/10/2018 Glasgow Tigers Ricky Wells 2 3 2 3 10 James Sarjeant X 1 2 R 3 Claus Vissing 2* 3 2* 3 3 13 + 2 Paul Starke 3 1 3 1* 8 + 1 Chris Harris 3 1 3 1 1 9 Jack Thomas 3 0 0 0 3 Jordan Stewart 1 0 1* 1 2 5 + 1 Workington Comets Rene Bach R 2 2 0 4 Dan Bewley R/R Nicolai Klind 1 0 2* 3 0 0 6 + 1 Rasmus Jensen R 3 3 1 3 2 12 Ty Proctor 1* 2 F 2 5 + 1 Kyle Bickley 0 0 1 1 Mason Campton 3 2 2 X 1* 2 R 10 + 1 Heat 1 - (re-run)Mason Campton ; Ricky Wells ; James Sarjeant(X) ; Rene Bach(R) ; 57.2 (2-3)(2-3) Heat 2 - Jack Thomas ; Mason Campton ; Jordan Stewart ; Kyle Bickley ; 58.82 (4-2)(6-5) Heat 3 - Paul Starke ; Claus Vissing ; Nicolai Klind ; Rasmus Jensen(R) ; 57.7 (5-1)(11-6) Heat 4 - (re-run)Chris Harris ; Mason Campton ; Ty Proctor ; Jordan Stewart ; 56.85 (3-3)(14-9) Heat 5 - Claus Vissing ; Rene Bach ; Paul Starke ; Nicolai Klind ; 57.6 (4-2)(18-11) Heat 6 - Ricky Wells ; Ty Proctor ; James Sarjeant ; Kyle Bickley ; 57.81 (4-2)(22-13) Heat 7 - Rasmus Jensen ; Nicolai Klind ; Chris Harris ; Jack Thomas ; 58.62 (1-5)(23-18) Heat 8 - (re-run)Rasmus Jensen ; James Sarjeant ; Jordan Stewart ; Mason Campton(X) ; 58.65 (3-3)(26-21) Heat 9 - Paul Starke ; Claus Vissing ; Kyle Bickley ; Ty Proctor(F) ; 57.56 (5-1)(31-22) Heat 10 - Rasmus Jensen ; Ricky Wells ; Nicolai Klind ; James Sarjeant(R) ; 57.83 (2-4)(33-26) Heat 11 - Chris Harris ; Rene Bach ; Mason Campton ; Jack Thomas ; 57.92 (3-3)(36-29) Heat 12 - Claus Vissing ; Mason Campton ;Jordan Stewart ; Nicolai Klindt ;58.92 (4-2)(40-31) Heat 13 - Ricky Wells ; Ty Proctor ; Chris Harris ; Rene Bach ; 58.14 (4-2)(44-33) Heat 14 - Rasmus Jensen ; Jordan Stewart ; Paul Starke ; Mason Campton (R) ;58.19 (3-3)(47-36) Heat 15 - Claus Vissing ; Rasmus Jensen ; Chris Harris ;Nicolai Kilndt ; 57.9 (4-2)(51-38)