Things did not start too well for the Tigers.  A good start from Joe Screen in the opening heat was pulled back but he repeated the feat in the re run only for bike problems to kick in on the backstraight of the opening lap whilst in front. He tried to get his machine going again but pulled up at the rear at the end of lap 2.  The home side coasted to an easy 5-1 with Theo stuck at the back.

In the reserves race it was the unknown quantity who was to take the honours.  NL guest for the Monarchs Tom Perry rode a flawless race to win from the tapes.  The action was all in the battle for second spot between Michal and last seasons Tigers captain Lee Dicken who had gated in second spot and held of a determined challenge from Michal out of the opening bends.  Michal was right on Dicken’s tail and on the tricky second bend of lap 2 tried the inside drive, pulling just ahead of Lee.  Dicken then tried to hit straight back on the outside of bends 3 and 4 but Michal held well and continued to block him for the rest of the race to claim second spot.

After a good gate from Christian Henry in heat 3, Andrew Tully went round the outside of him on coming into the back straight and quickly pulled clear to go on and win the heat. James Grieves passed Perry at the same time to slot in to the minor placing's alongside his team mate and the heat quickly became well spread.

Again heat 4 was relatively processional, Craig Cook taking the win from the gate.

The Edinburgh pairing showed the Tigers a clean pair of heels out of the gate in heat 5.  Joe Screen tried to go between them coming down the backstraight of the opening lap but was blocked before he switched to the outside line and passed Tully  on bend 4.  For the remainder of the heat Joe was on Katajisto’s tail, trying an outside pass at the end of lap two, trying the inside line off bend two on lap three but Katajisto held.  Tully meantime had picked up momentum and started to challenge Joe particularly on the opening bends of the final lap when he came close to getting through but Joe was equal to the task and survived that and a last bend drive from Tully to hold on to second spot.

A hard opening bend from Wolbert in heat 6 stopped Summers coming through and allowed Wethers to take full advantage to come through into second place off the opening bends and that was that.

Not surprisingly, James Grieves was brought out as a tactical ride in heat 7.  He made a good start but importantly so did Christian.  Despite a wobble on that troublesome second bend, a determined Christian did enough to hold up the Monarchs pairing and allow James to come out ahead. Craig Cook was soon on James tail however and made a very determined effort to get through on the inside at the end of lap 2 which Grieves did very well to stop.  Cook was buzzing all over the back of James but he continued to ride his own line and block any passing attempts, doing particularly well again on the final lap to block the drive up the inside off bend two.  Christian easily got the better of Lee Dicken at the rear and the Tigers were right back in it.

They were to come to within 3 points of the home side after heat 8 but it is fair to say Glasgow did get the benefit of a shocking piece of refereeing to do so. Matthew Wethers had been very quick out of the gate but became the latest rider to be caught out by the dodgy second bend.  Matthew came down on his own at the front and went into the fence.  The safety fence panel was not only knocked out of place but also snapped and although Tigers were on a 5-1 there is no doubt that in the interest of safety and common sense if nothing else that the race should have been stopped to allow for repairs with Wethers naturally excluded from the re run.  For some reason the referee decided not to do that and unbelievably allowed the race to continue.  Theo was well ahead but Michal had his work cut out to hold off the impressive Perry who pestered him the whole way.  There were quite a few wobbles in the encounter but Michal did well to hold off the determined youngster.

With Andrew Tully out in front and looking comfortable in heat 9, Tigers were to get another bite at the cherry thanks to the unusual source of the home sides Katajisto.  He was at the rear when he tried to go wide on the third bend of lap 3 and spun off.  Rather than clear the track with his partner comfortably ahead, he bizarrely stayed down causing the race to be stopped and giving Glasgow another change.  It was a chance guest Aaron Summers took, gating alongside Tully but pushing him wide on the opening bends to come out ahead and the re run heat quickly became processional.

A good hard opening bend from the impressive Wolbert saw him lead James Grieves out of the opening bends in heat 10 and go on to win the race.  The action was for the minor placing's with a good battle between Matthew Wethers and Christian Henry.  Wethers went inside Henry down the back straight but Christian used the outside line to his advantage to regain third coming out of bend 4,  Wethers however came through the inside again off bend 2 of lap 3 and this time held off Christians attempts on the outside line to hit back and held on for third.

Craig Cook shot from the gate in heat 11 but was caught out by bend 2 and baulked his partner as he recovered his line.  Both Tigers took full advantage to come through into the lead.  On bend 2 of lap 2 a lapse in concentration allowed Cook to come through the inside of Theo Pijper into second spot and he quickly set about pressing Joe Screen.  As they crossed the line at the end of lap 3 Cook passed through on the inside.  Again bend 2 nearly caught him out and he was all over the shop, Joe electing to drop back a little. Cook took full advantage to pull clear and go on to win the race.  Glasgow comfortably filled the minor placing's, Joe slowing and allowing his team mate Theo Pijper to claim second spot.

Glasgow brought Michal Rajkowski in as reserve replacement for Christian Henry in heat 12. Tully shot from the gate and went on to win the heat comfortably but Michal deserves great credit for the way he rode the race.  He went wide on the opening bends to block Tom Perry and leave Adam McKinna the room to come through from the back.  For the rest of the race, Michal was definitely riding a defensive race making sure that partner McKinna was  able to stay ahead of Tom Perry and give Tigers a share of the spoils.

Unusually heat 13 was to be a sore one for Glasgow. A nice move on the opening bends from Craig Cook blocked Joe Screen and made room for Kevin Wolbert to come through from third into first. The Edinburgh pairing pulled clear and went on to record a comfortable 5-1.

Unfortunately it was not the racing that heat 14 was to be remembered for. Lee Dicken cut across James Grieves on the opening bends and locked, leaving Grieves no option but to go to ground.  Incredibly the ‘referee’ allowed the race to continue but even worse was the foul mouthed tirade of abuse, clearly audible from the terraces, that was bellowed at James from the second bend flag marshall.  James, already angered by the lack of red lights, reacted and went to have words.  The situation was thankfully diffused by a rather brave first aider who calmed both down before anything worse could arise. The flag marshall concerned clearly reveled in it later however as he held court on the second bend as fans were leaving, enjoying his time in the lime light and giving his version to all who would listen – again a situation that given the circumstances should have been prevented. While all this was going on, there was also the small matter of a speedway race taking place.  With Michal also having been effected by Dicken’s lock up, the home side were on a 5-1 with Katajisto leading by a country mile.  Michal did try to make a last gasp attempt to challenge Lee on the run to the line but it was too late.

An excellent opening bend from James Grieves in heat 15 gave the Tigers brief hope but Wolbert was determined not to have his maximum spoiled and made a nice move up the inside to lead and was never going to be caught.  At the back Summers had to be alert to hold off Craig Cook to end the meeting with a shared heat.

It was not the greatest of meetings - Tigers were far from firing on all cylinders whilst Wolbert and to a lesser extent Cook were in good form for the home side.  Tom Perry was an eye opener as NL guest and if this is an accurate indication of how he performs regularly it may not be too long before a Premier League berth beckons for him.  Sadly however the talk was all of poor refereeing and that heat 14 incident.  Leaving aside the failure to notice what went on in heat 14, in a month where we have had very stark reminders of how dangerous speedway is it beggars belief that a race can be allowed to continued for four laps with a broken safety fence.

The 11 point gap will be very difficult for a depleted Glasgow side to pull back on Sunday especially with the visitors bringing in Ryan Fisher, but as the Tigers proved last Sunday – never write this side off.

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