SHEFFIELD made it six Premier League wins on the bounce - but only after a dramatic last heat scare.
Eric Boocock's men were taken to the wire by a Glasgow side intent on repeating last season's victory at Owlerton and were bolstered by the recent recruitment of former Elite League star Joe Screen.Chesterfield-born Screen was in a class of his own as he rattled off four comfortable wins as the home side struggled to cope with the absence of Ricky Ashworth, who was injured in a crash at Belle Vue last Monday.
Screen helped set up a tense finish just when Sheffield looked to have done the hard work with three successive mid-match 5-1s which put them in the driving seat at 36-24 with five races to go. But Screen's six-point tactical ride win in heat 11 cut the deficit and gave the Scots a second wind.
And when Glasgow carded a 4-2 in the next race, followed by a Screen-Josh Grajczonek maximum in the 13 th it left Sheffield a fragile 42-39 up going into the last two heats.
Richard Hall sped from the start to lead Aussie Travis McGowan but when skipped Paul Cooper was passed by teenager Nick Morris it set up a last heat decider.
Screen and Grajczonek lined up against Hall and Josh Auty knowing that another 5-1 would give Glasgow the points and shatter Sheffield's hopes of climbing further up the league table. But Screen dramatically threw a chain just 20 yards from the start to leave the home side to notch a 4-2.
Boocock said: "It meant we missed out on the bonus, but we were relieved to take the win. Joe was in superb form and we had to battle hard but it keeps us well on target."
TIGERS: Josh Auty 14, Richard Hall 13+1, Josef Franc 8, Hugh Skidmore 7+3, Paul Cooper 6+2, Arlo Bugeja 1,
GLASGOW: Joe Screen 15, Josh Grajczonek 8+1, Travis McGowan 8, Nick Morris 7+2, John Branney 4, Jamie Courtney 0.
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