GLASGOW’S Richie Rich duo won more than half the races between them as the Tigers grabbed a last-gasp 46-44 win at Ipswich to go top of the Premier League.
Richie Worrall and Richard Lawson racked up a combined score of 29 to give the Scots three massive points.
It was ex-Witch Worrall who was the star of the show – winning 17 out of a possible 18 points – although Lawson’s pass on Ben Barker, who’s just left Glasgow for Ipswich, in heat 13 was hailed as “brilliant” by fans.
The Tigers almost lost their grasp on the meeting as Ipswich threatened to pull away when going four points clear in the middle of the tie – but the visitors bagged three 4-2s in the last four heats for a sensational victory.
Rene Bach had a steady start to his Glasgow career with five, including a crucial win in the 14th heat, and the others chipped in with second and third places along the way.
Team manager Stewart Dickson said: “That was a meeting I had to win tonight. When I saw the line-up for heat 15 I thought, the script is either written for Ben Barker or it’s written for me.
“That was massive. I didn’t feel we got the rub of the green on a couple of decisions but we got there. It was very pleasing and it’s a big win – because they are stronger now.
“I’ve got to give special mention to Richie Worrall, just like I did with Aaron Summers when he got 17 at Newcastle. Aaron only got five tonight but I spoke to him and said that the one point he got in heat 13 beating Danny King turned out to be massive.
“We got the choice of gates in heat 15 and we picked two and four. For some reason the Ipswich boys seemed very happy when we did, but we know what we’re doing when we come to places like this, and the boys did the business in the last race.
“If anything I believe Richard could’ve passed Danny King but he just sat and got the point because it was enough to win us the match.
“The reserves had a hard time – they were in falls and crashes. But the most important thing is that the guys are all fit.
“Rene Bach had a couple of races to get going but he won heat 14. I said to him that he had to go and reward Richard and Richie with something to fight for in heat 15 and he went out and won the race very comfortably.
“He was over-powered all night and seemed to be lifting, but I’m pretty sure he’ll turn out to be a good signing.”
Dickson also thanked youngster Connor Mountain for turning up to be the Tigers’ No 8, providing back-up with rider replacement running for Nike Lunna.
He’ll travel with the side to Peterborough tomorrow for a top-of-the-table clash with Sheffield’s Kyle Howarth guesting in Bach’s place.
Dickson said: “It’s a strange match tomorrow because they’ve got two guests in – Michael Palm Toft and Lasse Bjerre – for two of their other Danes.
“We’ve got Kyle in. We don’t just look at averages – we look at their scores – and he scored paid 13 there before and scored eight a few weeks ago. We know he likes the track and we’re hoping he’ll do us a turn.
“The bottom line is that the guys have all come through tonight and we’ll go there tomorrow in search of more points.”
Tigers scorers: Richie Worrall 17, Richard Lawson 12, Rene Bach 5, Aaron Summers 5, Danny Ayres 4+1, Coty Garcia 3+1, Nike Lunna R/R.