Glasgow 55 Sheffield 40-Premier League- July 20th
The Allied Vehicle Tigers ended a useful weekend with 3 points to add to the two picked up at Ipswich to remain in 10th place and keep their chances of a play off place alive.
Rider replacement was in action for the injured Christian Henry, Tom Perry was in for Dimitri Berge. James Serjeant replaced Josh Bates for the visitors.
Kevin Wolbert kept his recent heat 1 winning streak intact with a tapes to flag win over Simon Stead, Ben Wilson was third with Theo Pijper retiring whilst last.
Like his last visit, Tom Perry won heat 2 whilst behind him Kasper Lykke took until lap 3 to pass Taylor Poole, with Sarjeant a distant fourth.
Theo Pijper(R/R) won heat 3, while it looked like the Sheffield pairing would take the 3-3. That was until the final lap when Anders Thomsen closed up on Leigh Lanham down the back straight. He took the outside line in bend 3 and very nearly passed Andre Compton as well as Lanham, just finishing in third behind Compton.
After a unsatisfactory start, Ty Proctor was first away but the chasing Rusty Harrison moved inside him off bend 4 and easily won the race. Perry was riding a wide line into the corners and he did it once too often into bend 1, made a mistake allowing Sarjeant to pass him on the inside in lap 3 for a 15-9 home lead.
Stead took a spectacular heat 5 win with Thomsen second, Lykke third after passing Wilson at the end of the opening lap.
Glasgow extended their lead with an easy 5-1 in heat 6 through Pijper and Wolbert over Poole, whilst Proctor retired on the opening lap. Proctor pulling out of the meeting shortly after, having aggravated an injury.
With the score 23-13, Sheffield used Compton as a TR and after another unsatisfactory start he led, with Harrison in pursuit. Rusty kept it close early on before dropping back. Behind him Lykke slipped into third after Lanham made a mess of the fourth bend.
It was a straightforward win for Pijper in heat 8 with Wilson holding off a determined Perry who tried the outside line which nearly took him past on a couple of occasions.
Glasgow looked set to extend their lead again when both Harrison and Thomsen gated in heat 9 but Anders got too close to Rusty on bend four locked up, hit a pile of dirt and went over the high side. He was taken off in the ambulance but declared himself fit for his next race!! Rusty easily beat the Sheffield reserves in the re-run.
Tigers opening heat pairing took another 5-1 over the woeful Lanham and Compton who had missed the start.
This allowed the visitors to bring out Stead as the TR but it was Harrison and Lykke who led out of the opening bends. Stead took a lap to pass Wilson but was quickly on Kasper’s tail. Kasper managed to fend him off and just as he looked like defeating the opposite no1 for the second home match in a row, Stead wound it on around the outside of bends 1 and 2. This took him slightly ahead down the back straight but he kept it going around the outside on the final two bends to comfortably take second place and tie the heat 4-4.
Sheffield’s best hope now was for a point for a 6 point defeat but that went out the window when Lanham took a nasty looking fall in heat 12, just after the race had been stopped for another unsatisfactory start. It looked like his throttle jammed as he hit the second bend fence with his back wheel and fell on the back straight. He was immediately taken to hospital. After a delay, awaiting the return of the ambulance, it was a repeat of heat 2, with the same result, although Lykke passed Perry to win the heat.
With the score now 47-30, Glasgow knew they almost had the three points in the bag and despite Stead ending Wolbert’s maximum in heat 13, the 3-3 gave them full points.
Compton made another great start in heat 14 to win easily but Thomsen and Lykke shared the heat.
Stead just got the better of Harrison in the opening lap with Compton a good third over Wolbert who retired at the end of the third lap.
A fairly straightforward win for the home side, who had everyone on form.Rusty keeping up his recent good form, Theo only dropping points in heat 1 and the reserves easily outscoring their counterparts. Tom Perry put in another useful display as a guest.
Sheffield had the spectacular Stead and former Glasgow Tiger, Compton, to thank for keeping it respectable and its doubtful Proctor’s early withdrawal would’ve changed things
Glasgow : Wolbert 10+1, Pijper 11+1, Henry R/R(10+1), Thomsen 5, Harrison 14+1, Lykke 9+4, Perry(G) 6+1, Macdonald (no 8) DNR
Sheffield: Stead 15, Wilson 3+1, Lanham 1, Compton 12, Proctor 2, Poole 5, Sarjeant 2+2
<Match report by Derek Watson>