Sheffield speedway boss wants further progress at Owlerton

Sheffield co-promoter Damien Bates was a relieved man following his side's last gasp win over Edinburgh .
Simon Stead leads Sam Masters and Dimitri Berge Ht 1 Sheffield Tigers v Edinburgh. Picture by Andy GarnerSimon Stead leads Sam Masters and Dimitri Berge Ht 1 Sheffield Tigers v Edinburgh. Picture by Andy Garner
Simon Stead leads Sam Masters and Dimitri Berge Ht 1 Sheffield Tigers v Edinburgh. Picture by Andy Garner

The team was almost forced to settle for a draw at Owlerton after holding an eight point lead with two races left.

But Simon Stead and Jason Garrity pulled off heroics in the final two laps to give Sheffield’s play-off hopes a boost. Bates said: “When Edinburgh were on a 5-1 for the first part of heat 15 I was looking for what I could kick! But it was a great ride from Simon and Jason to come through for second and third. We made hard work of it again and we do need to get through this tough period.

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“Things haven’t been easy of late, mainly through our own doings and we need to do something about that. But we just need to make sure we keep chipping away and getting points on the board, then we can wipe the slate clean and start all over again in the play-offs.”

Bates has criticised reserve duo Nathan Greaves and Arthur Sissis recently and is still concerned with the pairing.

“Arthur rode better against Somerset but a mixture of bad luck and bad decision making meant he didn’t score as many points as he should have,” said Bates.

“As for Nathan, three noughts and no points says it all and he knows that’s not good enough.

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“I have been looking around and it’s something I need to keep an open mind about for the next couple of days.

“We haven’t got a meeting until next Thursday at home to Scunthorpe now so I need to take a few days and think about what’s best for the team.”