It's fair to say a couple of Leicester riders, most notably Sergey Darkin, struggled to come to terms with the track and the Lions were really a two man team but even the two Richards could not stop the Tigers from progressing.
Tigers were dominant in the opening two heats. Joe Screen made the gate ahead of Darkin in the opener but Leicester's no 1 went way too wide on the opening bends allowing Theo Pijper to slip through on the inside into second spot on bend two. By the end of the first lap the Tigers pair were already comfortably up with Darkin and Oliver both looking unsteady much further back.
Graversen was left going off 15m for the visitors after his bike packed up just before the two minute time allowance ran out. Morris and Rajkowski gated well and with Nick inside and Michal outside they were soon well clear. Graversen caught up with his partner by the second bend but didn't appear to want to pass. Again the visitors were quickly well down, Graversen finally passing outside his partner on the pits bend of the final lap by which time Morris and Rajkowski were almost over the line.
Leicester were to get what was to prove their only heat advantage of the meeting in heat 3 with both Tressarieu and Hall outgating the Glasgow pairing. Matthew Wethers nipped up the inside of Tresarrieu coming out of bend two, Hall pulled well clear and the heat was relatively processional
Richard Sweetman looked very quick from the gate in heat 4 but was under pressure from the Glasgow pairing on the opening bends with Nick trying to come inside him whilst James went for the outside pass. Sweetman held on however and went on to open up a gap when Nick Morris in advertently impeded partner James Grieves on the apex of the third and fourth bend. James dropped back though comfortably held third while Nick gave chase and made up ground on Sweetman but could provide no real challenge.
Nick was out again in heat 5 and did well on the opening bends to block Oliver on the inside. The Glasgow pairing had gated well, by the end of the opening lap they were well clear and recorded another Tigers 5-1.
Theo was baulked on the opening bend of heat 6, leaving him stranded at the back whilst Joe hit the front out of bend two just getting the advantage over Sweetman. then pulling clear. All eyes were on the battle at the rear with Theo close to Jamie Courtney all the way but it took until the final bend for him to pass, going high and catching the drive to pass outside him as they headed for the flag.
Hall was first out of the gate in heat 7 but a good inside drive from Grieves and a determined outside drive from Morris saw the Tigers pair come out of bend two ahead. Hall took full advantage of a wobble from James Grieves on the entrance to bend three which sent him a little wider than intended to come through on the inside into second and quickly chased down Morris. However although he made up ground, Nick held on comfortably for the win.
Theo Pijper made a late switch on to his second bike - the one Nick was using, prior to the start of heat 8 but when the tapes went up it was the visitors who reacted quickest. Theo went round the outside of Graversen coming out of bend two with Rajkowski doing the same on bend four. Theo went hell for leather after surprise leader John Oliver and was all over his back wheel for most of the race. Oliver covered the lines well however, especially on the final bend, and held on for the victory.
Sweetman rode a good opening bend in heat 9 to beat Grieves into the back straight and although Grieves challenged briefly the heat was soon spread with Tigers filling the minor placing's.
Joe Screen saw off Tresarrieu in the opening bends of heat 10 but behind Richard Hall got the better of Theo and that was how it was to finish.
Heat 11 saw Grieves gate ahead of Darkin but Morris was round the outside of Darkin on bend 2 to join James up front. Tigers were very quickly clear and the 5-1 was never in any doubt.
In the initial running of heat 12 it looked as if Tresarrieu had got a flier but the race was called back and Courtney warned to stay still at the gate. Tresarrieu repeated his excellent start in the re run but went far too wide on the opening bends allowing Theo to come through into the lead. Michal Rajkowski made a very hard drive across Tresarrieu to move into second spot but pace took him a little wide and Tresarrieu re claimed second spot going down the back straight. Theo was well clear but Rajkowski continued to try and press Tresarrieu, the two coming very close to contact at the end of lap two, but the Frenchman held and Michal had to settle for third.
There was a good tussle on the opening bends of heat 13 between James Grieves and Richard Sweetman, James trying very hard to take Sweetman wide but Sweetman edged ahead on bend 3. James was not for giving up, coming very close after a switch from outside to inside at the end of lap 3 before an outside drive off bend two was thwarted when Sweetman took him right to the fence leaving James nowhere to go, resulting in him having to back off. James still recovered enough to make a final attempt to pass off the final bend but Sweetman covered the line and moved out when it mattered to thwart any attempt to pass.
Probably the best race of the afternoon was heat 14 with all four riders playing their part. Graversen gated followed by Morris with Hall coming inside Wethers on the second bend. At the end of the opening lap Hall went wide and got by Nick Morris to put the visitors on a 1-5. On lap two, Nick took a very tight inside line off bend two to pass inside Graversen and very nearly got by Hall also but Hall held Wethers now cut up the inside of Graversen coming out of the final bend of lap two to pass as they crossed the line entering lap 3. Nick continued to press Hall and the two had a classic and entertaining battle although unfortunately for Nick he was unable to find a way through.
Joe came round the outside line to lead into the back straight of heat 15 and was never going to be caught, quickly opening up a decent gap. Unfortunately James was left at the rear and a well spread out heat was shared to close the meeting.
Again it was a good all round team performance from the Tigers and as Michael pointed out from centre green every Tiger had at least a paid win to their name.The outstanding performance was again Nick Morris but you had the feeling that Glasgow would have been able to up their game even further this afternoon if they had needed to.
