Tigers moved back into second place in the league with a comfortable win over an injury hit Berwick side who only had three of their own riders.
The Bandits actually took the lead in heat 1 when Nick Morris just got the better of Richie Worrall on the first bend for a 4-2 and Jye Etheridge won heat 2 .
That was as close as the visitors got as successive 5-1s in heats 3 and 4 took Tigers 6 ahead. Jack Smith getting his first ever Glasgow paid win in the latter race after a brave first bend.
Richard Lawson just held off the pressing Morris in heat 5 before James Sarjeant fell foul of the referee for the second time in the meeting (after a heat 3 warning), trailing in last as Tigers increased the lead to 10 in heat 6.
Kevin Doolan was out in the black and white helmet in heat 7 but he found himself behind partner Sarjeant with Tom Perry pressing hard behind. Sarjeant slowed down on the last lap allowing Doolan through but Perry also went past. He tried to ride around Doolan on the last bend but went too wide allowing Sarjeant to pass him on the inside coming off the last bend.
Bandits looks like they would cut the gap further in heat 8 but Dan Bewley brilliantly rode around both of them on the third and fourth bend to share the heat.
Tigers took another 5-1 in heat 9 before a series of 3-3s kept the gap at 12.
Best of those heats being heat 13 when Worrall cleverly moved Morris out on the first bend allowing Summers to nip up the inside, only for Morris to pass them both down the back straight.
Sarjeant found himself off the 15m handicap in heat 14 after another jump, whilst Nike Lunna had to pass the quick starting Etheridge on the 4th bend.
Lawson was going for his maximum in heat 15 but both Glasgow riders missed the start. However a clever first bend saw all four riders abreast going into the second bend with Summers pulling ahead of Morris with Lawson third . Morris kept the pressure on but the heat finished 4-2.
Tigers heat leaders only dropped points to Nick Morris whilst Nike Lunna had 3 unbeaten rides.
The bottom half of the team all chipped in with useful points with Jack Smith having his best match in Tigers colours winning man of the match.
Berwick were well served by former Tigers Morris and Doolan, whilst Etheridge showed he has improved from the 2016 Monarch/Bear. Sometimes teams can be strengthened with guests but Lewis Bridger would surely have scored more than 2 points gained by R/R, whilst Ty Proctor could only score 6 which David Howe probably would’ve bettered.
Tigers move on to Workington on Saturday with the return on the Sunday, as the Comets make their second visit to Ashfield, this before some teams have even appeared once!!
Glasgow Tigers 54 Berwick Bandits 38 SGBC 4/6/2017 Glasgow Tigers Richie Worrall 2 2* 3 1* 8 + 2 Dan Bewley 0 3 3 Fx 6 Richard Lawson 3 3 3 3 1 13 Nike Lunna 2* 0 2* 3 7 + 2 Aaron Summers 3 3 3 2 3 14 Tom Perry. 1* 0 0 1 2 + 1 Jack Smith 2 2* 0 0 4 + 1 Berwick Bandits Nick Morris 3 2 2 3 2 12 Ty Proctor 1 1* 2 1 1* 6 + 2 Kevin Doolan 1 4^ 2 2 0 9 James Sarjeant 0 0 1* 1* 0 2 + 2 Lewis Bridger R/R Jye Etheridge 3 111* X2 1* 2 9 + 2 Danny Wallinger 0 0 0 0 0 Mark McIlkenny Heat 1 - Nick Morris ; Richie Worrall ; Ty Proctor ; Dan Bewley ; 57.42 (2-4)(2-4) Heat 2 - Jye Etheridge ; Jack Smith ; Tom Perry ; Danny Wallinger ; 59.1 (3-3)(5-7) Heat 3 - (re-run) Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Kevin Doolan ; James Sarjeant ; 57.71 (5-1)(10-8) Heat 4 - Aaron Summers ; Jack Smith ; Jye Etheridge ; Danny Wallinger (frmt) 57.89 (5-1)(15-9) Heat 5 - Richard Lawson ; Nick Morris ; Ty Proctor ; Nike Lunna ; 57.21 (3-3)(18-12) Heat 6 - (2 re-runs) Dan Bewley ; Richie Worrall ; Jye Etheridge ; James Sarjeant (delaying start, 15m); 57.27 (5-1)(23-13) Heat 7 - Aaron Summers ; Kevin Doolan (TR) ; James Sarjeant ; Tom Perry ; 57.65 (3-5)(26-18) Heat 8 - Dan Bewley ; Ty Proctor ; Jye Etheridge ; Jack Smith ; 58.09 (3-3)(29-21) Heat 9 - Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Ty Proctor ; Danny Wallinger ; J Etheridge(X 2mins); 57.96 (5-1)(34-22) Heat 10 - (awarded) Richie Worrall ; Kevin Doolan ; James Sarjeant ; Dan Bewley(Fx) ; no time. (3-3)(37-25) Heat 11 - Aaron Summers ; Nick Morris ; Ty Proctor ; Tom Perry ; 58.15 (3-3)(40-28) Heat 12 - Richard Lawson ; Kevin Doolan ; Jye Etheridge ; Jack Smith ; 58.34 (3-3)(43-31) Heat 13 - Nick Morris ; Aaron Summers ; Richie Worrall ; Danny Wallinger ; 57.74 (3-3)(46-34) Heat 14 - (re-run) Nike Lunna ; Jye Etheridge ; Tom Perry ; James Sarjeant (delaying start) (15m); 58.77 (4-2)(50-36) Heat 15 - Aaron Summers ; Nick Morris ; Richard Lawson ; Kevin Doolan ; 58.16 (4-2)(54-36)