A “sensational” last-bend swoop by Nick Morris saved Glasgow from a late bid by Ipswich to win at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium today.
Now, Tigers team manager Stewart Dickson has told the Australian ace that he needs more of those performances from his No 1.
The 21-year-old passed Danny King then stalked Rohan Tungate to get by him on the final bend in an incredible heat 13 to halt a Witches 5-1 and almost certainly an away win.
Glasgow only won the match by two points, 47-45, having led by 11 points at one stage.
Morris’s team-mate Richard Lawson, unbeaten before heat 13, had the perfect view of the race as he was behind the three riders involved in the action.
He said: “I had VIP seats. Nick really rode well in that one. He had struggled in his earlier heats but swapped bikes for that one and he pulled off a good win.
“We were looking like we were in trouble at one point but he managed to get a 3-3, so he got us away with that.
“He was trying inside and outside, and he was close all the way through. Then on the last lap, on the last bend, he managed to go right round him (Tungate) and got him over the line.”
Dickson said: “We won, which is the most important thing, but to lose last week and then to scrape home today is a wee bit of a concern. It’s not convincing.
“Nick didn’t get going until his third ride, which I spoke to him about. He knows it’s putting a bit of pressure on the team that he’s not coming to the party early enough. That’s a couple of times it’s happened now.”
He added: “I had a choice in heat 15 and really it should have been Richard and Aaron. Richard was on nine points and Aaron was on nine, paid 10. But Nick had a sensational pass in heat 13 on Tungate and I just thought that if they made the gate, which they did, Nick had more chance of passing than Aaron.
“I told him that we needed three points in the race, and when they popped out they were on a 5-1. Richard and Nick both went by Nico Covatti on the second bend and they rode sensibly.
“All in all, it’s six points from the weekend. My worry was that we were going to do what we did last weekend – win on the Friday night and lose on the Sunday. But we held on, although it certainly wasn’t convincing.”
Glasgow gained three points with the win, while Ipswich took one due to the narrow margin of their defeat. It moves the Tigers into third place in the Premier League ahead of away matches at Peterborough on Wednesday and Berwick on Saturday.
Tigers scorers: Richard Lawson 10+1, Aaron Summers 9+1, Dimitri Berge 8+2, Nick Morris 8+1, Victor Palovaara 7, David Howe 5+2, James Sarjeant R/R.
- Visit the Tigers website later this week when Stewart will reveal more of his thoughts on the team’s current form.