Two points is the deficit that Glasgow must overcome if they’re to make the semi-finals of the Premier League play-offs.
The Tigers lost 46-44 at Plymouth tonight to keep the contest tight going into Sunday’s second leg.
It was very much a case of “job half done” for the Ashfield men, who despite never leading the meeting, feel the result gives them a real chance of progressing to the next stage – with the winner facing Somerset next weekend.
It was a mixed night for most of the Glasgow team – but James Sarjeant’s move back to reserve paid dividends as he scored eight from six rides, including back-to-back wins in the middle of the meeting. Nick Morris top-scored with 11+1.
Dickson said: “It was a decent result. We kept it as tight as we possibly could without actually winning so I’m pretty pleased.
“We can live with the two points. We’ve still got to win the match, but fingers crossed we’ll be OK. We now need to finish the job off – we’re only half-way there and there’ll be no complacency. But we’ve given ourselves a very good chance of getting into the semi-finals and that was the target tonight.
“Bringing Sarjeant in for heat eight was what kind of changed the match for us – he won heat eight and nine. That made a big difference. I’m very pleased for him that he’s got a bit of form back again.”
Now, says Dickson, the aim is to get his whole team firing in time for a potential showdown with the Rebels – who were tonight crowned KO Cup winners at Edinburgh.
He said: “Victor Palovaara and Richard Lawson didn’t do what they’re capable of tonight – so we need to get them going.
“We’ve got Nick Morris and James back on form but we’re losing form elsewhere. We need to get all seven firing – we won’t beat the big teams with two or three riders not performing – we need the whole lot of them. That’s my only criticism of tonight.
“Somerset will now be full of confidence and if we get through, we’ll come up against a rejuvenated team.”
Sunday’s meeting starts at 3pm. The winners then take on Somerset in the first leg, away from home, next Friday night. In the other semi-final, Edinburgh will face Peterborough.
Tigers scorers: Nick Morris 11+1, Aaron Summers 10+3, James Sarjeant 8, Kauko Nieminen 6+1, Richard Lawson 5+1, Hynek Stichauer 3+1, Victor Palovaara 1.