That the meeting went ahead at all was a testament to hard working track staff at Sheffield who had to work round the clock to get the track in decent racing condition following flash floods earlier in the week.
You got the feeling right from the start that it wasn't going to be Glasgow's night when the much anticipated first clash between Parker and Screen failed to materialise with Joe's bike packing up at the start, leaving the Sheffield pairing to record a relatively untroubled 5-1.
The Scottish Tigers hit back with a maximum of their own in heat two. An excellent ride from Nick Morris saw him win easily from the gate with Michal Rajkowski claiming second spot, again more or less from the gate.
Heat 3 was also to be from the gate and resulted in a share of the spoils before heat 4 saw Ricky Ashworth track down the faster gating Josh Grajczonek for a lap before Ashworth came up the inside of him to take over the lead. With Rajkowski at the rear, the home side opened up a two point lead.
Things had perhaps not been the most exciting up to this point but heat 5 was to change all that with some excellent close racing although unfortunately for Glasgow they were to lose out. Pijper had gated and worked hard for a couple of laps to hold off both Auty and Skidmore until they past him in a pincer movement at the start of lap 3. Joe Screen followed them through shortly after and tried a few lines to split the home pair but to no avail.
Heat 6 was again from the gate, Parker showing everyone a clean pair of heels with Nick Morris struggling from the start and retiring with engine failure in the first half of the heat. The home side stamped their authority on the meeting in heat 7 when Simon Lambert came round the outside of the Tigers pairing of Grieves and Henry to join his fast gating partner at the front and Sheffield recorded another relatively comfortable 5-1 to put them 12 points up.
It was a surprise when glasgow announced that Theo Pijper would come out on a TR in heat 7 but the move paid off despite losing partner Nick Morris to a lap one fourth bend fall which caused a re start. Pijper held his cool and made a good start, having to then work hard to hold off Emiliano Sanchez for all four laps, particularly in the latter stages, to secure the six points for Glasgow.
Nick Morris was out again in heat 9 but once again failed to complete the race with another engine failure seeing him left at the start. Josh Grajczonek however gated well and won the heat from the tapes. Heat 10 was also shared, Shane Parker winning at a canter whilst Christian Henry held off another former Tiger Emiliano Sanchez at the back , Sanchez coming off in an attempt to go round him at the end of the second lap but clearing the track quickly..
There were two good races in one in heat 11 with Joe Screen and Ricky Ashworth spending most of the race trading positions with Joe getting the edge cutting inside Ashworth on the third bend, whilst at the rear Lambert and Pijper traded positions for a couple of laps before Lambert got the better of Theo.
Things looked better for the Tigers at the start of heat 12 when Christian Henry gated well and came out of the opening bends in the lead with Michal Rajkowski in third spot. Michal left a gap inside at the end of the opening lap that Birks was quick to nip through to take over third spot whilst Josh Auty was proving to be quite a handful for Christian. He managed to hold Auty off until the start of the third lap when Auty's track knowledge saw him find the grip needed on the outside line to power past Christian and claim victory.
Heat 13 was a cracker with three riders in the running for first place for the entire race. Ashworth hit the front with Parker and Screen side by side right behind him. At the end of lap two, Parker managed to get a slight advantage over Joe and settled in to try and protect his partner with some excellent defensive riding to give the home side a 5-1.
With Glasgow now 15 points down, Stewart Dickson put James Grieves out on a tactical ride in heat 14 as a last throw of the dice and again his tactical manouvre was to yield the result in no small part down to an excellent gate from Michal Rajkowski. After outgating Lambert with james in third, Michal sweetly moved Lambert over at the end of the opening lap to allow James to come up the inside into the lead and from then on there was no way back from the home side.
The result of heat 14 brought Glasgow right back in it and continued the trend so far this season in tigers meetings for a last heat decider for the points although as it would require someone to beat the unbeaten Shane Parker in heat 15 it was always going to be a tough ask. Any hopes Glasgow had of pulling it off however were quickly put to bed when Parker gated superbly to go on and win the shared heat and all the points for the home side.
Overall, it was an entertaining meeting and engine problems cost Glasgow. joe screen never gave up trying and did not get the reward in points that his efforts deserved whilst James Grieves continues to prove his days of having Sheffield as a bogey track are well behind him. they were ably backed by Josh Grajczonek but with the reserves not picking up the points expected and theo struggling outwith his tactical ride, the home side were just too strong on the night.
Many thanks to Ross for the report details for this one.
