In the end it never looked like a 6 point lead would be enough in this Quarter Final cup tie and that’s the way it turned out after a 23 point defeat in the second leg.
The main damage was done in yet another one of the made up European individual titles that have popped up in recent years, with Victor Palovaara damaging an ankle on Saturday. Unfortunately it was too late for a guest to be sourced and ultimately the tie was won and lost at reserve, with the Diamonds outscoring Tigers by 28-9.
In the first leg at Ashfield, Tigers just couldn’t get any momentum built, having to contain the Diamonds in the early heats with the scores level after heat 8. James Sarjeant had passed Anton Rosen in that race and he did it again over Simon Nielsen in heat 9 as Tigers took a two point lead, with Aaron Summers also smashing Steve Worrall’s heat 1 track record. He was out again in heat 10 and took advantage of Nick Morris taking the Diamonds wide for the only 5-1 of the meeting. Richard Lawson then passed both Diamonds on the second bend in heat 11 but Aaron Summers couldn’t catch Matej Kus in heat 12 and with Tero Aarnio passing Hynek Stichauer, the lead was back to 4. Richard Lawson just failed to beat the two minutes in heat 13 although he passed Lindgren to share the race.
Stichauer then superbly repassed Aarnio in heat 14, after the Finn had got inside him on the fourth bend, as Tigers took a 4-2 with Summers well ahead.
Tigers looked to get a big 5-1 in the last heat but both Diamonds gated, although Summers quickly passed Worrall, Lawson also getting him late on.
Newcastle were obviously happy with their performance and their reserves did their job by beating their counterparts more often than not. Tigers top 4 maybe could’ve scored a few more but Diamonds could also point to a poor score from Lindgren and Rosen struggling to get around. Kus riding better than his last two appearances.
Hopefully Aaron Summers hasn’t damaged his wrist too much after the away leg, as Glasgow badly need their own 7 riders and with Kauko Nieminen due back soon and Palovaara not as badly hurt as previously thought, it hopefully won’t be too long.
Glasgow Tigers 48 Newcastle Diamonds 42 Knock Out Cup QF 1st leg 30/8/2015 Glasgow Tigers Nick Morris 2 1 3 2 8 James Sarjeant 0 3 2 1 2* 8 + 1 Aaron Summers 3 3 3 2 3 2 16 Kauko Nieminen R/R 0 (6) Richard Lawson 2 3 3 1* 1* 10+2 Liam Carr 0 0 0 0 Hynek Stichauer 3 1 1 0 0 1 6 Mark McIlkenny 0 Newcastle Diamonds Steve Worrall 3 2 2 3 0 10 Christian Henry R/R (3+1) Matej Kus 2 2 1 3 3 11 Anton Rosen 0 1* 1 0 2 4 + 1 Ludvig Lindgren 3 0 2 0 5 Simon Nielsen 1 2 0 0 1* 4 + 1 Tero Aarnio 1* 1 2 3 1 0 8 + 1 Heat 1 - Steve Worrall ; Nick Morris ; Simon Nielsen ; James Sarjeant ; 56.4 TR (2-4)(2-4) Heat 2 - Hynek Stichauer ; Simon Nielsen ; Tero Aarnio ; Liam Carr ; 57.7 (3-3)(5-7) Heat 3 - Aaron Summers ; Matej Kus ; Hynek Stichauer ; Anton Rosen ; 56.5 (4-2)(9-9) Heat 4 - Ludvig Lindgren ; Richard Lawson ; Tero Aarnio ; Liam Carr ; 57.5 (2-4)(11-13) Heat 5 - Aaron Summers ; Steve Worrall ; Hynek Stichauer ; Simon Nielsen ; 56.5 (4-2)(15-15) Heat 6 - (re-run) James Sarjeant ; Tero Aarnio ; Nick Morris ; Ludvig Lindgren ; 57.8 (4-2)(19-17) Heat 7 - Richard Lawson ; Matej Kus ; Anton Rosen ; Hynek Stichauer ; 56.5 (3-3)(22-20) Heat 8 - Tero Aarnio ; James Sarjeant ; Anton Rosen ; Hynek Stichauer ; 58.8 (2-4)(24-24) Heat 9 - Aaron Summers ; Ludvig Lindgren ; James Sarjeant ; Simon Nielsen ; 56.1 TR (4-2)(28-26) Heat 10 - Nick Morris ; James Sarjeant ; Matej Kus ; Anton Rosen ; 57.5 (5-1)(33-27) Heat 11 - Richard Lawson ; Steve Worrall ; Simon Nielsen ; Liam Carr ; 57.5 (3-3)(36-30) Heat 12 - Matej Kus ; Aaron Summers ; Tero Aarnio ; Hynek Stichauer ; 57.2 (2-4)(38-34) Heat 13 - Steve Worrall; Nick Morris ; Richard Lawson ; Ludvig Lindgren ; 58.3 (3-3)(41-37) Heat 14 - (re-run)Aaron Summers ; Anton Rosen ; Hynek Stichauer ; Tero Aarnio ; 57.8 (4-2)(45-39) Heat 15 - (re-run)Matej Kus ; Aaron Summers ; Richard Lawson ; Steve Worrall ; 57.1 (3-3)(48-42)