Tigers At The Tapes: Glasgow Tigers 50 Redecar Bears 43

Monday, 14 September 2009

Glasgow Tigers 50 Redecar Bears 43

Tigers top scorer, Josh Grajczonek

A slightly surreal meeting all told.... Not that it was anything special you understand, it's just that my perception of proceeding seems to have been at odds with everyone elses. While I'm stotting about with the camera and whatnot, I miss all the things you programme filling types catch. As a result, I usually only have a vague grasp of the score as I wander between the tannoys. I can't quite think why, but I honestly didn't think we'd won by the required seven points to take all three points.

As I said, it was about as exciting as a double header at Armadale until late on in the proceedings, at which point things started to get a bit weird. The main talking point was the collision between Stuart Swales & Lee Dicken in heat 12. Swales made a lunge under Lee at the 1st bend and though he seemed to make it stick, he badly impeded Dicken on the exit of the bend, sending the Tigers reserve sprawling across his bike in an attempt to stay on. He did so, but was clearly not a happy camper and seemingly refused to clear the track like a good boy scout. He was still there when Stoney, Swales & Willie Lawson came round to start the next lap, putting himself and the others in something of a perilous position. I can only imagine the ref didn't put the lights on because he saw no reason for Dicken not to wheel his bike off or get back under power. A war of wills possibly? If so, Big Lee was never going to come out of it well. It wasn't over though. Swales & Dicken were now in the pits and the inevitable rammy took place, with the even more inevitable exclusion of Lee Dicken following.

From where I stood, it looked like an over exuberant move my Swales and in hindsight, maybe wasn't quite as clean as I thought at the time. Thing is, unless they hit the deck, the victim of such a move will tend to get penalised, either through losing ground, or in Lee's case, getting excluded for not clearing the track. Pretty unfair when you think that often the only other option is to wait for the impact and the visit to the ctach fence. Such are the rules (or the manner in which the rules are interpreted by referees). Sadly for Lee, it seems that a fair chunk of his days earnings were swallowed up in fines. The fight was just one of those things that happens in speedway, but not getting off the track when he had the time to do so was probably not the best move from a financial or safety point of view, though it did almost salvage a shared heat in the re-run, with only a shed chain on William Lawsons bike reverting the positions to the pre-re-run conditions in the final metres of the race.

From then on, the meeting looked to be building to an unexpected climax. An unusually subdued Shane Parker pulled off a third place in heat 13 that didn't seem likely with a lap to go and the Tigers had a three point advantage. A shared heat in 14 sent the meeting to the wire and it was Grieves and Lawson who were to provide the final flourish. A re-run after Ty Proctor lost it at the 1st bend saw Grieves & Lawson ease to the 5-1 needed to take three points at home for only the third time this season.

William Lawson leads Carl Stonehewer

'Oor Wullie'

Ty Proctor

Ty Proctor takes the tactical ride, fending off the attentions of James Grieves. Ben Wilson gave up his lead on the line to allow his team mate to take the maximum 8-1 needed to get the Bears back into the match.