STEWART Dickson says things are finely poised in Glasgow’s bid to beat Sheffield to the Premier League championship final.
The Yorkshire Tigers beat their Scots rivals 49-41 in the first leg of their play-off semi-final at Owlerton tonight.
Dickson would have liked a closer affair – but believes it’ll make for a more exciting return fixture at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium tomorrow at 7.30pm.
His team would have found themselves just four points behind had Nike Lunna not suffered a snapped chain in heat 11, while the Tigers were on a 5-1.
The Glasgow team boss said: “The plan was to get 40-something but we would have liked to have kept it a wee bit closer.
“But it keeps the tie alive. There are only eight points in it, but it’s still eight points we’ve got to make back up. It’s still there for both teams.
“We’re just not firing all at the same time – hopefully that will come tomorrow night. The reserves are badly in need of a confidence-boosting race win to get them going.
“Richard Lawson and Aaron Summers were solid scorers, and Nike Lunna was having a great evening – he was on a 5-1 in heat 11 when his chain came off on the third lap. He had a good performance.
“Richie Worrall and Rene Bach just couldn’t get out of the starts and neither could the reserves. It was mostly gating, I think there were about two passes all night.
“I would say it’s evenly poised and we will need to get our gating boots on. I’ve been saying since June or July that we’re still not getting the consistency. We’re getting various results.
“But it’s a big team effort. From a supporters’ point of view it keeps the tie alive and hopefully we’ll get a big support out to cheer us on, and see if we can overcome that.
“We need to start well tomorrow night and try to get the confidence going. If the supporters can get behind us tomorrow and we do a job, we can get ourselves into the final.”
Sheffield travel north with Stuart Robson guesting at No 1 and Cameron Heeps at No 3, with Jason Garrity and Dimitri Berge both out injured. They also employ rider replacement for the sidelined Simon Stead.
Tigers scorers: Aaron Summers 12, Richard Lawson 11+1, Nike Lunna 7, Richie Worrall 4, Rene Bach 3+1, Coty Garcia 2, Danny Ayres 2.