Glasgow survived a mid meeting scare to eventually run out comfortable winners against a stuffy Newcastle side.
The margin of victory was the same as last week at Newcastle, meaning the forthcoming cup tie between the sides should be a close one.
Both sides had riders racing in the European U21 Championship, with Josh Pickering guesting for Dan Bewley and Jason Garrity stepping in for the eventual European winner, Robert Lambert.
Tigers made a good start after a shared opening heat, with the almost expected heat 2 maximum, swiftly followed by a heat three 4-2.
Steve Worrall took the Diamonds’ first heat win in heat 4, holding off a fierce challenge by Aaron Summers, Alfie Bowtell beating Jack Smith for third.
Richard Lawson and Nike Lunna then both got the better of Garrity in heat 5, as Tigers moved 8 clear.
Steve won the battle of the Worralls in heat 6 to maintain the 8 point gap before things went slightly wrong for the home side!
Newcastle looked like taking a 5-1 in heat 7 but Summers made up for a poor start by passing Lindgren on the third lap to limit the damage.
Then came a touch of controversy in heat 8. Pickering appeared to be the meat in the Newcastle sandwich on the first bend and came down. The race continued, with Morris leading from Smith, however Pickering only just cleared the track by the time the riders entered the first bend of the second lap. Inexplicably the referee failing to stop the heat until after the riders themselves had slowed down on the second bend. Pickering was out of the re-run and Diamonds took advantage with a 5-1 to cut the deficit to 2.
Steve Worrall defeated Lawson in heat 9 to share the race and at this point Newcastle looked like they had the momentum.
That was wrestled back off them in heat 10 with a brilliant battle between Pickering and Stuart Robson for second behind Richie Worrall. The two of them were neck and neck down the back straight before Robson got the better of him on the third bend. Pickering then cut back up the straight to take second place entering the first turn, only for Robson to do likewise on the second bend. Pickering gave chase but the experience of the Newcastle man kept him ahead.
Summers made another awful start in heat 11 but Garrity forgot to turn and took his partner out on the first bend, allowing Summers to pass them both, Perry sneaking into third.
Tigers were on a roll now and took their 3rd successive 4-2 in heat 12.
Richie got the better of twin Steve in heat 13, with Summers picking up third after Garrity’s bike gave up the ghost with smoke pouring out of it.
Tigers were now 10 up and couldn’t lose but wanted to end with a flourish.
Lindgren made a rare start in heat 14, with Lunna giving chase. He reeled him in with every passing lap and looked like going round him entering the final lap, when the Swede’s bike packed in. Unfortunately he went out towards the fence, leaving Lunna with nowhere to go and despite a brave effort to stay on he crashed heavily. Luckily he was able to walk away, with the race awarded.
It was left to see who would be top Worrall on the night and that honour went to Richie, just holding off his brother in a close heat 15. Lawson trying everything to get to Robson at the back, after making a mess of the first turn, going too wide.
Tigers got there in the end, with a 14 point win, with both sides being able to say their guests scored less than their own riders probably would’ve. Glasgow could also point to a below par score from captain Summers, although Ludvig Lindgren was also poor, albeit he hasn’t scored more than 5 in his three visits to Ashfield this season.
Worrall and Lawson scored the points when it was needed, whilst Tom Perry had some crucial third places. Special mention to Josh Pickering who gave it his all but luck wasn’t on his side.
Next week it’s possibly the biggest match of the season so far, with high flying Sheffield looking to secure top spot and Glasgow needing a win to cut the gap.
Glasgow Tigers 52 Newcastle Diamonds 38 SGBC 26/8/2017 Glasgow Tigers Richie Worrall 3 2 3 3 3 14 Josh Pickering 0 1* Fx 1 2 + 1 Richard Lawson 3 3 2 3 0 11 Nike Lunna 1 2* 1* 3 7 + 2 Aaron Summers 2 2 3 1 8 Tom Perry 3 0 1 1 2* 7 + 1 Jack Smith 2* 0 1 3 + 1 Newcastle Diamonds Jason Garrity 2 1 2 R 5 Ashley Morris 1* 0 3 0 4 + 1 Stuart Robson 2 3 2 2 1* 10 + 1 Ludvig Lindgren 0 1 0 Fx 1 Steve Worrall 3 3 3 2 2 13 Ben Hopwood 0 0 0 0 Alfie Bowtell 1 1 2* 0 1 5 + 1 Heat 1 - Richie Worrall ; Jason Garrity ; Ashley Morris ; Josh Pickering ; 57.39 (3-3)(3-3) Heat 2 - Tom Perry ; Jack Smith ; Alfie Bowtell ; Ben Hopwood ; 59.49 (5-1)(8-4) Heat 3 - Richard Lawson ; Stuart Robson ; Nike Lunna ; Ludvig Lindgren ; 57.61 (4-2)(12-6) Heat 4 - (re-run) Steve Worrall ; Aaron Summers ; Alfie Bowtell ; Jack Smith ; 58.11 (2-4)(14-10) Heat 5 - Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Jason Garrity ; Ashley Morris ; 57.21 (5-1)(19-11) Heat 6 - Steve Worrall ; Richie Worrall ; Josh Pickering ; Ben Hopwood ; 57.97 (3-3)(22-14) Heat 7 - Stuart Robson ; Aaron Summers ; Ludvig Lindgren ; Tom Perry ; 58.13 (2-4)(24-18) Heat 8 - (re-run) Ashley Morris ; Alfie Bowtell ; Jack Smith ; Josh Pickering(Fx) ; 59.32 (1-5)(25-23) Heat 9 - (re-run) Steve Worrall ; Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Ben Hopwood ; 58.26 (3-3)(28-26) Heat 10 - Richie Worrall ; Stuart Robson ; Josh Pickering ; Ludvig Lindgren ; 58.35 (4-2)(32-28) Heat 11 - Aaron Summers ; Jason Garrity ; Tom Perry ; Ashley Morris ; 59.42 (4-2)(36-30) Heat 12 - Richard Lawson ; Stuart Robson ; Tom Perry ; Alfie Bowtell ; 58.21 (4-2)(40-32) Heat 13 - Richie Worrall ; Steve Worrall ; Aaron Summers ; Jason Garrity(R) ; 58.78 (4-2)(44-34) Heat 14 - (awarded) Nike Lunna ; Tom Perry ; Alfie Bowtell ; Ludvig Lindgren(Fx) ;no time (5-1)(49-35) Heat 15 - Richie Worrall ; Steve Worrall ; Stuart Robson ; Richard Lawson ; 59.29 (3-3)(52-38)