Glasgow overcame a stubborn Berwick side to maintain their unbeaten home league record in a quite superb match.
All eyes were on new Glasgow signings Craig Cook and Nathan Greaves but it was two former Tigers who spoiled the party with an opening 5-1, Cook just unable to get past Kevin Doolan.
James Sarjeant managed to hold off both Bandits at various points in heat 2 for a shared heat and then Claus Vissing and Paul Starke teamed up for a 5-1 to level the scores.
Dany Gappmaier was quick from the tapes in heat 4 with Chris Harris on his tail. Try as he might he couldn’t get past, drawing level numerous times before a tighter bend 2 on the last lap allowed him to pass the Austrian down the back straight. Jack Thomas couldn’t hold off Nikolaj B Jakobsen though and the heat was shared.
Summers nipped up the inside of Vissing on the second bend to win heat 5 and another 3-3.
Heat 6 saw all 4 riders reach the first bend at the same time and the inevitable happened with Pijper and Greaves coming down, the Glasgow man nearly becoming the second rider in as many meetings to fly over the fence, landing on the top of it before hitting the track. After a delay to remove Greaves to the ambulance, Cook easily won the re-run.
It was 21 each after a heat 7 Harris win but heat 8 looked ominous for the home men.
Surprisingly both Tigers gated but Gappmaier managed to get past Thomas down the back straight. He then diced with Sarjeant for a couple of laps before pulling clear. Behind him, Summers had also passed Thomas and was on Sarjeant’s exhaust before sweeping around him on the second bend of the last lap for the 1-5.
Things went from bad to worse when Vissing caught the tapes with his helmet in heat 9, although the tapes didn’t appear to go up properly(interestingly the referee tested them before the re-run) and had to go off 15m.
Bandits gated on a 5-1 but Paul Starke had a terrific battle with Theo Pijper finally passing him on the last lap.
Tigers were now 6 down and the obvious tactical appeared in heat 10 with Harris. It looked as if it had went all wrong when Howe used the inside line on the 2nd bend to take the lead only for Harris to blast under him into bend 3 allowing Cook through for the 5-1.
Heat 11 saw the unbeaten Harris and Summers meet but it was Sarjeant who flew out of the tapes with Harris behind him. Harris managed to team ride with his partner although it wasn’t really needed until the final lap with Summers getting closer.
Vissing had a great scrap with Gappmaier to win heat 12 for a 3-3 making the score 37-35.
The Harris and Cook combo looked like they were on a easy 5-1 in heat 13 until Harris went a little too wide on the third bend of the third lap and spun off.
That put the pressure on in heat 14 but Sarjeant made another fast start and then with the rain falling, Starke picked off both Bandits only to make a mistake on the same bend as Harris, just managing to hang on for third to put Glasgow 4 up.
Cook and Harris then left the Bandits pointless with a last heat 5-1 and a 49-41 win.
Tigers not for the first time this season, made it hard for themselves, throwing away points especially in the second half of the meeting, ironically they won the last 6 heats 25-11 and it should’ve been 28-8!
Craig Cook didn’t disappoint, being unbeaten after his first race while Chris Harris will be kicking himself for not scoring a maximum. James Sarjeant chipped in a useful 10 points from reserve.
Berwick were solid throughout, although heat winners were restricted to 4 and with Summers bizarrely at 2, it meant they struggled after his programmed rides had finished.
With the large crowd and some brilliant racing, the monsoon at the end of heat 15 wouldn’t have dampened the home fans too much, especially with the big Test Match due up next Saturday.
Glasgow Tigers 49 Berwick Bandits 41 SGBC 27/07/2018 Glasgow Tigers Craig Cook 1 3 2* 3 3 12 + 1 Nathan Greaves R F ns 0 Claus Vissing 3 2 T 3 8 Paul Starke 2* 1* 2 1 6 + 2 Chris Harris 3 3 3 2* F 2* 13 + 2 James Sarjeant 3 0 1 3 0 3 10 Jack Thomas 0 0 0 0 0 Berwick Bandits Kevin Doolan 2* 0 0 1* 3 + 2 Aaron Summers 3 3 2* 1 0 9 + 1 Jye Etheridge 1 1* 0 2 + 1 David Howe 0 2 1 2 5 Nikolaj B Jakobsen 1* 2 3 2 1 9 + 1 Theo Pijper 2 1* 1 1* 5 + 2 Dany Gappmaier 1* 2 3 2 0 8 + 1 Heat 1 - Aaron Summers ; Kevin Doolan ; Craig Cook ; Nathan Greaves(R) ; 56.97 (1-5)(1-5) Heat 2 - James Sarjeant ; Theo Pijper ; Dany Gappmaier ; Jack Thomas ; 58.8 (3-3)(4-8) Heat 3 - Claus Vissing ; Paul Starke ; Jye Etheridge ; David Howe ; 58.69 (5-1)(9-9) Heat 4 - Chris Harris ; Dany Gappmaier ; Nikolaj B Jakobsen ; Jack Thomas ; 58.38 (3-3)(12-12) Heat 5 - Aaron Summers ; Claus Vissing ; Paul Starke ; Kevin Doolan ; 57.68 (3-3)(15-15) Heat 6 - (re-run)Craig Cook ; Nikolaj B Jakobsen ; Theo Pijper ; James Sarjeant ; Nathan Greaves(Fns); 57.33 (3-3)(18-18) Heat 7 - Chris Harris ; David Howe ; Jye Etheridge ; Jack Thomas ; 58.18 (3-3)(21-21) Heat 8 - Dany Gappmaier ; Aaron Summers ; James Sarjeant ; Jack Thomas ; 58.96 (1-5)(22-26) Heat 9 - Nikolaj B Jakobsen ; Paul Starke ; Theo Pijper ; Claus Vissing(T, 15m) ; 58.0 (2-4)(24-30) Heat 10 - Chris Harris ; Craig Cook ; David Howe ; Jye Etheridge ; 58.36 (5-1)(29-31) Heat 11 - James Sarjeant ; Chris Harris ; Aaron Summers ; Kevin Doolan ; 59.28 (5-1)(34-32) Heat 12 - Claus Vissing ; Dany Gappmaier ; Theo Pijper ; James Sarjeant ; 59.28 (3-3)(37-35) Heat 13 - Craig Cook ; Nikolaj B Jakobsen ; Kevin Doolan ; Chris Harris(F) ; 59.46 (3-3)(40-38) Heat 14 - James Sarjeant ; David Howe ; Paul Starke ; Dany Gappmaier ; 59.87 (4-2)(44-40) Heat 15 - Craig Cook ; Chris Harris ; Nikolaj B Jakobsen ; Aaron Summers ; 58.26 (5-1)(49-41)