Tigers returned to the top of the Premier League with a comfortable victory over Rye House in what was a very entertaining match with a number of good races and plenty of passing.
The main worry going into the encounter was that Glasgow looked weak at reserve with guests in short supply to replace Nike Lunna. Rye House meantime had Edward Kennett missing, not for the first time at Glasgow, replaced by Ricky Wells.
Richard Lawson just got the better of Wells in heat 1 but worringly Fernando Garcia was at the back and when the Rockets took a 5-1 in heat 2, it looked like being a long day for the home side.
Richie Worrall and Rene Bach then took their own maximum in heat 3, although Bach had to pass Heeps to do it, getting him on the third lap after a mistake by the Australian.
Danny Ayres locked up chasing Stuart Robson in heat 4 causing his chain to come off and that 3-3 was equalled in the next after Wells just got the better of Worrall down the back straight of the opening lap.
Garcia just got the better of Robson on the first bend but couldnt keep the visitor behind him as Robson rode around him on the third lap. It did put the Tigers ahead though for the first time in the match.
Two more drawn heats followed to leave the home side only 25-23 up.
The second half of the meeting started with a superb 5-1 with Bach just getting ahead of Robson down the back straight and holding him off for the rest of the heat.
Heat 10 was superb with Garcia and Kasper Lyyke Nielsen almost neck and neck for the first two laps before the Dane made his trademark inside pass on the 4th bend.
Heat 11 looked like being the shock result of the day when Ellis Perks gated along side Aaron Summers. Perks then held off Wells for three laps before the American got the better of him on the last lap.
This allowed the Rockets the chance to use the TR in heat 12 with Heeps. He found himself in last place however and in attempting to pass Ayres he went too wide and fell on the third bend suffering an arm injury.
Wells then got swamped on the first bend in heat 13 as the Tigers went either side of him and then Bach ended a good afternoon by winning heat 14. Perks unable to repeat his earlier heriocs with both Rockets passing him on the back straight.
With Tigers 16 up the only thing to be decided was whether Lawson and Summers could get their maximums.
Summers ran out of room on the opening bends and hit the fence with all 4 being the verdict. Wells then broke the tapes in the re-start before Lawson just got the better of Robson in an excellent race with it going all the way to the line.
After a poor start, the Tigers heat leader strength gradually took them into a commanding lead with the visitors being limited to two heat wins, none after heat 5. However they will be hoping Nike Lunna declares himself fit with the Tigers tail looking long, probably for the first time this season. The reserves were completely outscored 10-3 although guest Ellis Perks rode well.
Rene Bach had his best home match, looking fast and had some great races notably against Heeps and Robson.
For the visitors their main problem was a lack of heat winners with the team just about all riding to their averages with Ben Morely bizarrely being top scorer(including bonus points) despite only beating two home men!!
Glasgow now face a period where away wins will be needed to maintain their table topping status with 4 of the next 5 matches being away from home. Hopefully Lunna will be back giving Glasgow back their trump card at reserve.
Glasgow Tigers 54 Rye House Rockets 36 Premier League 17/7/2016 Glasgow Tigers Richard Lawson 3 3 3 2* 3 14 + 1 Fernando Garcia 0 1 3 1 5 Richie Worrall 3 1* 3 3 10 + 1 Rene Bach 2* 2 2* 3 9 + 2 Aaron Summers 3 3 3 3 1 13 Ellis Perks 0 0 1 R 1 Danny Ayres 1 R 0 1 2 Rye House Rockets Ricky Wells 2 3 2 1 8 Leigh Lanham 1* 0 2 0 3 + 1 Cameron Heeps 1 2 0 Fx 3 Kasper Lyyke Nielsen 0 1* 2 2 5 + 1 Stuart Robson 2 2 1 0 2 7 Rob Branford 3 0 F 2 5 Ben Morley 2* 1* 1* 1* 0 5 + 4 Heat 1 - Richard Lawson ; Ricky Wells ; Leigh Lanham ; Fernando Garcia ; 57.03 (3-3)(3-3) Heat 2 - Rob Branford ; Ben Morley ; Danny Ayres ; Ellis Perks ; 58.25 (1-5)(4-8) Heat 3 - Richie Worrall ; Rene Bach ; Cameron Heeps ; Kasper Lyyke Nielsen ; 56.8 (5-1)(9-9) Heat 4 - Aaron Summers ; Stuart Robson ; Ben Morley ; Danny Ayres(R) ; 57.29 (3-3)(12-12) Heat 5 - Ricky Wells ; Rene Bach ; Richie Worrall ; Leigh Lanham ; 56.99 (3-3)(15-15) Heat 6 - Richard Lawson ; Stuart Robson ; Fernando Garcia ; Rob Branford ; 57.15 (4-2)(19-17) Heat 7 - Aaron Summers ; Cameron Heeps ; Kasper Lyyke Nielsen ; Ellis Perks ; 57.98 (3-3)(22-20) Heat 8 - Fernando Garcia ; Leigh Lanham ; Ben Morley ; Danny Ayres ; 57.33 (3-3)(25-23) Heat 9 - Richie Worrall ; Rene Bach ; Stuart Robson ; Rob Branford(F) ; 57.35 (5-1)(30-24) Heat 10 - Richard Lawson ; Kasper Lyyke Nielsen ; Fernando Garcia ; Cameron Heeps ; 58.81 (4-2)(34-26) Heat 11 - Aaron Summers ; Ricky Wells ; Ellis Perks ; Leigh Lanham ; 57.51 (4-2)(38-28) Heat 12 -(awarded) Richie Worrall ; Rob Branford ; Danny Ayres ; Cameron Heeps(Fx) ; no time (4-2)(42-30) Heat 13 - Aaron Summers ; Richard Lawson ; Ricky Wells ; Stuart Robson ; 57.91 (5-1)(47-31) Heat 14 - Rene Bach ; Kasper Lyyke Nielsen ; Ben Morley ; Ellis Perks(R) ; 59.05 (3-3)(50-34) Heat 15 - (2 re-runs) Richard Lawson ; Stuart Robson ; Aaron Summers ; Ben Morley ; Wells (XT) 58.15 (4-2)(54-36)