TEAM boss Cami Brown admits his side have a “mountain to climb” after a tough defeat at Scunthorpe.
The Allied Vehicles Tigers lost 53-37 in their Championship Play-Off semi-final first leg at the Eddie Wright Raceday last night (Friday).
Brown’s side held firm until the latter stages as the Scorpions ran up a 16-point lead to try and defend at Ashfield on September 25.
Tate Zischke was an excellent guest and top scored with 13 while fellow guest Anze Grmek also delivered a strong six points including a vital Heat 8 win.
He said: “We always knew it was going to be a tough place to go. Scunthorpe are sensational on their own track.
“I think the boys did a pretty good job to stonewall as much as possible in the early stages.
“But we let it slip in the second half of the meeting. We now have a mountain to climb.
“Chris (Harris) and Leon (Flint) have carried the side over the past few weeks, especially in the absence of Kyle Howarth.
“However, it’s totally out of character and recent form that they both had an off-night.
“Our guests Tate Zischke and Anze Grmek did a fantastic job and we must thank them for their efforts, they were both terrific all night.”
It all seemed to be going to plan for the Tigers as they trailed by just four points after Heat 8, following a fine win from Grmek.
The Scorpions doubled that lead but the hammer blows came in the final three heats with a 5-1 in Heat 13 and successive 4-2s.
Brown added: “We will need to find something special now. We know what the target is and over the last few seasons we’ve done well in comebacks at Ashfield. We can do that on our home track.
“Last year we fought back from 14 points down in the semi-final with Edinburgh to reach the final and then 12 points down in the Grand Final. So we know what the task is.”
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF, SEMI-FINAL, 1st leg
SCUNTHORPE 53: Josh Pickering 15, Michael Palm Toft 11, Connor Mountain 10+1, Luke Harrison 8+1, Ryan Ingram 4+2, Jordan Jenkins 4, Nathan Ablitt 1+1.
GLASGOW 37: Tate Zischke 13, Anze Grmek 6, Kevin Juhl Pedersen 5+2, Chris Harris 4+1, Leon Flint 4, Freddy Hodder 4, Sam Hagon 1+1.