Glasgow 53 Sheffield 37 - Tigers not short of battle in heavy defeat

Tigers were without No 1 Kyle Howarth and that cost them dear as they went down heavily at Ashfield Stadium.

Despite lacking their talisman, Tigers worked hard to keep the home side at bay until the halfway point when Glasgow pulled clear.

Stead admitted: “You can see the problem, we only got three points from Kyle’s rider replacement rides and he’s good for at least 12 or 15 round here.

“The boys battled really hard and showed a lot of spirit to stay in the match but in the end we ran out of steam.”

Tigers got off to the worst possible start when the home pair Chris Harris and Lewis Kerr raced clear of rider replacement Charles Wright to register an opening heat 5-1.

But the visitors immediately hit back with a fine race win from Jack Smith on his return to Ashfield and with James Shanes taking third from home Yorkshireman James Sarjeant, the deficit was halved.

Two further heat advantages in Heats 3 and 4 and suddenly the defending league champions were unexpectedly in front by 13-11.

However a sensational ride from Glasgow’s Paul Starke, coming from last to second, saw him join his team-mate Claus Vissing for a big maximum for the hosts and they re-took the lead.

That sparked the home side into action and they increased the lead after Heat 8 to six points thanks to two 4-2 advantages.

Jack Smith then was involved in an awkward crash in Heat 9, tangling with Paul Starke which saw both riders flying from their machines on the second bend.

Thankfully both riders got up with Starke certainly looking very second hand with Smith excluded.

However, the home Tigers then really turned the screw. The next four races saw three home 5-1s and a 4-2 to really knock the wind out of the depleted visitors.

Chris Harris was particularly impressive, diving under Wright in Heat 13 on the first bend which also enabled home No5 Richie Worrall to also go through for another 5-1 and lead 49-29 and it was all over.

SCORERS: Charles Wright 14, Lasse Bjerre 8, James Shanes 5, Jack Smith 4+1, Jan Graversen 3+1, Todd Kurtz 3.