It’s fair enough to say that it wasn’t perhaps one of the best meetings seen at Ashfield this season and Ipswich had the home fans worried for a while before a strong final 5 heats ensured a Tigers victory.

Surprisingly, the opening two heats turned out to be quite processional.  It looked as if Kevin Doolan made the gate in the opener but Joe Screen made it out of the opening bend first and quickly pulled clear although partner Theo Pijper was at the rear.  The heat quickly became spread and that was how it was to finish.  In heat 2 after a level gate, the Glasgow pairing rode good opening bends to come out of bend 2 well ahead of their rivals and they never looked back.

Matt Tresarrieu made a cracking gate for the visitors in heat 3 only for Christian Henry to ride a very wide line on the opening bends and claim first place coming out of bend 2.  Tresarrieu hit back at the end of the opening lap, squeezing outside Christian as they entered the home straight to regain first place, pulling clear on lap two to ensure the heat win.

A re run was required after a lot of movement at the start of heat 4 and when the tapes went up Poole and Grieves were doing battle at the front with Mills and Rajkowski having a battle for third.  Unfortunately for Glasgow, the Witches riders came out ahead in both contests coming out of the opening bends. Poole quickly put distance between himself and Grieves but Michal Rajkowski was all over the back of Chris Mills.  At the end of lap 3, Michal made the move on the outside line to power past Mills into third place, ensuring the heat was shared.

Kevin Doolan shot from the tapes to win a well spread heat 5 with the Glasgow pair filling in the minor placing's.

In heat 6, Joe Screen gated well and moved Jerran Hart, who had also gated quickly, wide to try and leave room for Theo to come through on the inside but Theo didn’t quite make it, Hart still managing to edge him out into the back straight.  Joe was quickly clear and went on to win what became another spread heat.

Its fair to say Glasgow were unfortunate in heat 7.  The initial running was called back as the referee adjudged it unsatisfactory although it just looked as if James Grieves had made one of his excellent gates with Nick coming through to join him at the front. As can often happen, the re run was the complete opposite, the Ipswich pairing gating well.  Nick Morris in third pressed Tresarrieu hard, briefly getting the better of him on the second bend of the first three laps only for Tresarrieu to hit back down the back straight each time. Nick also pulled level lap 3 bend 4 but the Frenchman held and put a little distance between them on the final lap to give the visitors a heat maximum.

Theo Pijper has got into the habit of making heat 8 his own and tonight was no different despite being outgated by both visiting riders.  Theo used the wide outside line on the opening bends to power himself into the lead going into the back straight and was quickly clear.  Michal Rajkowski did not fare so well however, being out gated and then clamped to the inside on the opening bend and although he made a determined effort to get back into the mix, coming very close to Mills on the final lap, it was not to be.

In heat 9, Jerran Hart appeared to be unjustly excluded after coming down on the opening bends. Christian Henry had gated and Poole tried to muscle through into second spot ahead of Richard Sweetman.  Poole appeared to catch the Sweetman, it slowed Richard up and Hart collected the Glasgow riders rear wheel. Most referees would have taken the decision to allow all four back but the referee decided on this occasion to exclude Hart instead as the cause of the stoppage. The re run was uneventful, Christian winning impressively from the gate with Richard having to settle for third spot after challenging Poole in the early stages.

Tresarrieu was definitely guilty of jumping the start in heat 10 but the referee allowed it to go.  Joe Screen was completely unfazed by this, came out of bend 2 ahead and went on to win comfortably even despite rearing on the third lap on the apex of the third and fourth bends.

Nick Morris appeared to miss the gate in heat 11 but came very hard under Kevin Doolan in bend 2 to slip into second behind the fast gating James Grieves. Kevin Doolan hit back passing outside Nick on bend 4 but when the Ipswich captain left room on the inside of bend 2 on the second lap, Nick again came hard underneath him, taking him right out to the fence, fair but very hard.  Doolan tried to get back round the outside on bend four but Nick very firmly shut the door on the move and began to put some space between them, Glasgow finishing up with a relatively comfortable 5-1.

Again the Ipswich pairing appeared to jump the start in heat 12 but the referee disagreed and the race continued.  Michal Rajkowski made what you thought at that stage had to be the move of the meeting, going wide on the opening bends and keeping it fully wound on all the way round to bend four to go from last to first in superb style. Christian had managed to get into third place ahead of Mills on the opening bends but Mills passed inside him on lap 2 bend 2 to reclaim it.  Trying to go wide off bend four and into the opening bend of lap 3, Christian appeared to catch his foot on the track and came to grief in what looked a very painful crash, finishing up in the fence on bend 1.  The race was awarded, leaving Tigers 8 points up at this stage.

With Joe Screen and James Grieves now pairing up in heat 13, the Tigers look strong but when the tapes went up it was the Ipswich pairing of Doolan and Poole who hit the front.  Not for long!  James went wide on the opening bends whilst a quick thinking Joe cut inside and rode the white line out of bend 2 to take the lead with James slotting in behind him in second spot. Although Doolan never gave up, the Ipswich pair were in reality blown away by the Tigers pairing and Glasgow had another 5-1.

Not surprisingly Ipswich used their last chance by bringing Risager out as a tactical ride in heat 14 – in fact he was out in the black and white helmet before the riders from heat 13 had cleared the track! Richard Sweetman and Nick Morris had been noticeably discussing things together in the pits prior to the heat.  When the tapes went up, Richard Sweetman made a superb gate and was to lead from start to finish.  Nick came through on the inside line he has made his own on bend 2 into second spot and although Chris Mills tried to pass outside him at the end of the opening lap, Nick once again very firmly blocked the move and by the end of the second lap the Tigers pair were comfortably clear for a match winning 5-1.

Tigers chose to bring out Grieves and Morris against Doolan and Tresarrieu in heat 15.  Despite Doolan getting a flier, he was to come out of bend 2 at the back with Matt Tresarrieu leading for the visitors.  For a couple of laps, Nick Morris was able to challenge but Tresarrieu pulled clear to win the race with James and Nick settling into the minor placing's.

In the end it looks as if it was a comfortable win for the home side but Ipswich were a match for the Tigers in the first half of the meeting with Poole and more especially Tresarrieu looking good.  However in the latter stages of the meeting Tigers just blew the opposition away with three 5-1’s in the last five heats. 

It wasn’t one of the better meetings this season from a passing point of view but perhaps we have been a little spoiled with the track this season.  There were plenty of positives to take from the meeting, Joe continues to stand out, James looked back to his normal self despite the one blip, Nick was mixing things well and taking no prisoners, Michal continues to impress with his awesome swoops round the board, Richard is working hard and must be buoyed by his excellent ride in heat 14, Theo had an up and down night but still claimed heat 8 as his own whilst Christian was riding well. 

The visitors were well served by the impressive Tresarrieu and Poole also looked good.  Kevin Doolan appears to be struggling with form although he did try hard to battle back with Nick Morris in heat 11.

Glasgow now move on to the Knock Out Cup ties against Berwick and with new track expert Lee Complin in their line up, next Sunday promises to be a cracker.

Glasgow Tigers Speedway Unofficial Website Glasgow Tigers Speedway Ashfield Stadium Glasgow Tigers Speedway Joe Screen Michal Rajkowski Josh Grajczonek Theo Pijper Christian Henry Nick Morris James Grieves