Somerset all but confirmed their status as no 1 seeds for the play-offs after a narrow win at Ashfield today.It always looked as if Glasgow would struggle to win this match when the Rebels announced their guests, with Thomas Jorgensen and Dan Bewley always likely to outscore the riders they were replacing(Jake Allen and Zach Wajtknecht, neither of whom have ridden at Glasgow).
So it proved, with Bewley being the match winner, making a mockery of his 3.00 average.
Somerset got off to a stunning start, taking a 16-8 lead after the opening four races. Bewley winning his first two, including passing Richard Lawson on the opening lap, after the Tiger looked as if he was heading for victory down the back straight.
It quickly became apparent that gates 2 and 4 had an advantage(the Rebels having it on the first 4 races), as the Tigers used them to lead by 2 after 8 heats. Heats 7 and 8 both featured more Nike Lunna classics, having to pass Paul Starke twice in the opening two laps and then holding off Jorgensen in heat 8.
Another couple of 4-2s followed, although it took a brilliant piece of last bend overtaking by Bewley in heat 10 to stop Fernando Garcia taking a 5-1, a crucial pass as the final score shows.
At this point Glasgow had their tales up, although with two inside gates to follow, the meeting wasn’t over. However an extended track break seemed to completely affect them as Somerset came out and hit the home side with a maximum in heat 11. Richie Worrall became the first rider to win off an odd numbered gate in heat 12 and with Glasgow off 2 & 4 in heat 13, a home win looked on. However Josh Grajczonek and Rohan Tungate had different thoughts and took a surprise 5-1 to put Somerset two up.
Bewley won heat 14 and Lunna couldn’t get the better of Charles Wright, meaning Tigers needed a 5-1 for a draw.
Somerset surprisingly took 1 and 3 and for a couple of bends, Tigers had the 5-1 but Worrall couldn’t stop Tungate passing him down the back straight for the match winning second place.
Whilst Somerset deserved their win, Glasgow will feel that with one or two riders scoring slightly more they would’ve picked up the three points.
Richie Worrall was the best of the home men although Aaron Summers and Rene Bach tried hard but just couldnt get enough drive to pass their opponents. Richard Lawson unfortunately is going through a bad spell, while Danny Ayres contiunes to struggle after his comeback from injury.
For the visitors, Bewley had three sensational wins, plus his pass of Garcia, while Tungate had his best score at Ashfield.
Most will point to the break after heat 10 with Glasgow on a roll and it seemed to have a negative effect, especially with Somerset being well known for their late meeting surges. The starting area also had a say with 13 of the 15 heats being won fron gates 2 or 4. This can also be seen in the fact that only one rider from each team didnt record a last!
The only consolation from a home point of view, is that should the sides meet again, two of the visitors will be making their debuts and are unlikely to get anywhere near the paid 20 of the guests today.
However Glasgow may need more away points if they want to avoid the extra round of the play-offs and the perils of one or two teams that may lurk there!
Glasgow Tigers 44 Somerset Rebels 46 Premier League 21/8/2016 Glasgow Tigers Aaron Summers 1 2 3 0 3 9 Fernando Garcia 0 1* 3 1 5 + 1 Richie Worrall 0 3 3 3 1 10 Rene Bach 2 1 1 2 6 Richard Lawson 2 3 0 1 6 Nike Lunna 2 2* 2* 1 0 7 + 2 Danny Ayres 1* 0 0 1 + 1 Somerset Rebels Josh Grajczonek 3 2 2* 2* 0 9 + 2 Thomas Jorgensen(G) 2* 0 1 3 6 + 1 Charles Wright 1 0 1* 2 + 1 Paul Starke 3 1 0 1 5 Rohan Tungate 1 3 2 3 2 11 Bradley Wilson-Dean 0 0 0 0 Dan Bewley (G) 3 3 0 2 2 3 13 Heat 1 - Josh Grajczonek ; Thomas Jorgensen(G) ; Aaron Summers ; Fernando Garcia ; 56.33 (1-5)(1-5) Heat 2 - Dan Bewley (G) ; Nike Lunna ; Danny Ayres ; Bradley Wilson-Dean ; 56.55 (3-3)(4-8) Heat 3 - Paul Starke ; Rene Bach ; Charles Wright ; Richie Worrall ; 56.96 (2-4)(6-12) Heat 4 - Dan Bewley (G) ; Richard Lawson ; Rohan Tungate ; Danny Ayres ; 56.22 (2-4)(8-16) Heat 5 - Richie Worrall ; Josh Grajczonek ; Rene Bach ; Thomas Jorgensen(G) ; 56.2 (4-2)(12-18) Heat 6 - Rohan Tungate ; Aaron Summers ; Fernando Garcia ; Bradley Wilson-Dean ; 57.07 (3-3)(15-21) Heat 7 - Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Paul Starke ; Charles Wright ; 56.92 (5-1)(20-22) Heat 8 - Fernando Garcia ; Nike Lunna ; Thomas Jorgensen(G) ; Dan Bewley (G) ; 57.56 (5-1)(25-23) Heat 9 - Richie Worrall ; Rohan Tungate ; Rene Bach ; Bradley Wilson-Dean ; 56.54 (4-2)(29-25) Heat 10 - Aaron Summers ; Dan Bewley (G) ; Fernando Garcia ; Paul Starke ; 58.05 (4-2)(33-27) Heat 11 - Thomas Jorgensen(G) ; Josh Grajczonek ; Nike Lunna ; Richard Lawson ; 57.51 (1-5)(34-32) Heat 12 - Richie Worrall ; Dan Bewley (G) ; Charles Wright ; Danny Ayres ; 57.51 (3-3)(37-35) Heat 13 - Rohan Tungate ; Josh Grajczonek ; Richard Lawson ; Aaron Summers ; 57.57 (1-5)(38-40) Heat 14 - Dan Bewley (G) ; Rene Bach ; Paul Starke ; Nike Lunna ; 57.31 (2-4)(40-44) Heat 15 - Aaron Summers ; Rohan Tungate ; Richie Worrall ; Josh Grajczonek ; 57.44 (4-2)(44-46)