Glasgow boss Stewart Dickson says he will stand by his riders despite a big defeat to their fiercest rivals in the League Cup final.
The Monarchs ran out as comfortable champions today after a 45-all draw at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.
It followed a 55-34 in the first leg on Friday night that left the Tigers needing a massive turnaround to claim the silverware.
In the first 21 heats of the final, Glasgow managed just two winners in front of huge crowds from both sides, and that ultimately proved to be their downfall.
And even though they fought back from 12 behind in the second leg to get the draw, it was too little, too late for the club in their first final under their new owners.
Dickson said he couldn’t put his finger on what had gone wrong this weekend but will back his men to come good again when they take on Plymouth in the Premier League play-offs next weekend.
He said: “The better team won over the two legs. On Friday night we were simply blown away, unfortunately, and today was looking very much the same. We were 12 points down and then we got back to a draw.
“As the meeting started with a 5-1 to Edinburgh, I thought, ‘here we go again’. We showed a bit of character to get back but I’m not going to get overly excited about that because we should never be 12 points behind on our home track.
“The riders had asked for the track to be a lot slicker than what I normally prepare it, to help one or two riders whose confidence was low.
“I don’t think it made that much difference – we were trying to get Victor Palovaara and Nick Morris going, because they seemed to be struggling in the deeper track – whereas Aaron Summers and Richard Lawson are comfortable on virtually anything.
“But at the same time, this was Edinburgh, the team who finished at the top of the league – so did it work? I don’t know. We never won, so maybe it didn’t.
“It’s disappointing – you don’t want to lose the final. I’m sick of the sight of Edinburgh celebrating up at the fourth bend with their fans every time they come to Ashfield.
“My riders are feeling it – they’re down about it as well – because you want to be winning things. It’s an achievement to get to the final but nobody remembers the losers, that’s the bottom line.”
The Monarchs led the final the whole way – their 5-1 in the opening heat of Friday’s meeting setting a standard that the Tigers just couldn’t match.
The one positive for Glasgow was captain Aaron Summers, who continued his fantastic form of late to top score in both ties and he was beaten only once today – twice heading home the league’s top rider Craig Cook.
On Friday, Glasgow travel to Plymouth for their play-off quarter final first leg, before the return meeting a week today.
And Dickson said: “We’ll hopefully bounce back next weekend. We’ve still got a lot to race for this season. We now have only one thing to concentrate on, which is next week.
“I’m not going to mention any riders’ names or whatever. The bottom line is that when we’re good, we all win as a team, so I’m not singling anybody out for criticism. Nobody turns up for a cup final not to do their best – it was just that a couple of the guys didn’t have a good weekend. It happens, and I feel sorry for my riders it happened to.
“But I will back them, like I backed them last week and I’ve backed them all season. They won’t be criticised in public, because they are the guys I will turn to next Friday and Sunday to get us into the semi-finals of the play-offs, and that’s the plan.
“I’m not whipping them, it just didn’t work out, but we’ll bounce back hopefully.”
Tigers scorers today: Aaron Summers 14, Nick Morris 11, Victor Palovaara 6+1, Kauko Nieminen 5+1, Richard Lawson 5, James Sarjeant 3, Hynek Stichauer 1+1.
Tigers scorers on Friday: Aaron Summers 10+1, Nick Morris 8, Kauko Nieminen 5+1, James Sarjeant 4, Hynek Stichauer 3+3, Victor Palovaara 2, Richard Lawson 2.