Glasgow Qfm Tigers 50 : Edinburgh Ziebart Monarchs 40
Edinburgh win 94 : 86 on aggregate
Spring Trophy Second Leg
Shawfield Stadium Rutherglen
Sunday 22 March 1998
Glasgow fought back from their gubbing at Armadale to win the second leg of the pre-season challenge although losing out on aggregate.
There appeared a fair crowd at Shawfield although it was difficult to judge since the fourth bend terracing was closed off once more. The weather was dry and the track, while rather slick, appeared in better shape than in the corresponding fixture last year.
Edinburgh were again without Peter Carr due to the ankle injury sustained at work and Scott Lamb was again on duty. Lamb has never been particularly effective round Shawfield. Mick Powell won the toss and opted for gates 1 and 3 in Heat 1.
Heat 1: Dalle Andersson, Will Beveridge, Paul Gould, Scott Lamb [66.8]
A perfect start for the Tigers as Andersson and Beveridge gated ahead of Gould. Scott Lamb was left miles behind and although Gould had a valiant attempt to get back in touch, Tiger took a maximum. (5-1) (5-1)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, Brian Turner, Grant MacDonald, Barry Campbell [67.8]
Blair Scott gated and appeared that Campbell was going to join him until he got into trouble on the second bend and Turner and MacDonald swept past. (3-3) (8-4)
Heat 3: Mick Powell, Sean Courtney, Kevin Little, Robert Larsen [65.4]
The top Tigers pairing did it again with another maximum. (5-1) (13-5)
Heat 4: Kenny McKinna, Dave Steen, Barry Campbell [66.2]
McKinna swept ahead from the outside gate while Campbell managed to pass Turner who subsequently fell and remounted but later retired. (2-4) (15-9)
Heat 5: Mick Powell, Scott Lamb, Paul Gould, Sean Courtney [65.5]
Scott Lamb gated but was unable to hold off the rampant Powell. Gould came from behind to pass Courtney. (3-3) (18-12)
Heat 6: Kenny McKinna, Dalle Andersson, Will Beveridge, Blair Scott [66.5]
McKinna gated and withstood a back straight surge from Dalle Andersson to win easily. (3-3) (21-15)
Heat 7: Dave Steen, Kevin Little, Grant MacDonald, Robert Larsen [67.2]
Steen won his first race for the Tigers after a tussle with Kevin Little. Robert Larsen was holding third place when he fell and remounted. (4-2) (25-17)
Heat 8: Paul Gould, Will Beveridge, Brian Turner, Barry Campbell [67.5]
A win from the back by Paul Gould who passed Turner and Beveridge in turn. (3-3) (28-20)
Heat 9: Mick Powell, Kenny McKinna, Sean Courtney, Blair Scott [65.5]
McKinna gated and stayed ahead of Powell until the last lap when Powell edged though on the inside of the fourth bend to win a race for the line on a tight decision. (4-2) (32-22)
Heat 10: Kenny McKinna, Dalle Andersson, Will Beveridge, Kevin Little [66.3]
A win for tactical substitute Kenny McKinna ahead of Andersson and Beveridge. (3-3) (35-25)
Heat 11: Dave Steen, Scott Lamb, Paul Gould, Grant MacDonald [67.2]
A second win for Steen ahead of the disappointing Lamb with Gould collecting another third place. (3-3) (38-28)
Heat 12: Mick Powell, Kevin Little, Paul Gould, Brian Turner [66.2]
Mick Powell kept his 100% record ahead of Kevin Little and tactical substitute Paul Gould. (3-3) (41-31)
Heat 13: Kenny McKinna, Dave Steen, Dalle Andersson, Scott Lamb [66.4]
Kenny McKinna won the heat leaders' race ahead of the Tigers pairing with Lamb trailing again. (3-3) (44-34)
Heat 14: Kevin Little, Robert Larsen, Sean Courtney, Grant MacDonald [66.8]
Tactical substitute Kevin Little picked up his first win for Monarchs and was followed by Robert Larsen to clinch the Spring Trophy for Edinburgh. (1-5) (45-39)
Heat 15: Mick Powell, Dave Steen, Kevin Little, Paul Gould [66.2]
With the match out of reach and the Trophy won, Edinburgh gave Paul Gould a run in the nominated heat in preference to McKinna. Mick Powell picked up his full maximum and was joined by Dave Steen. (5-1) (50-40)
|
Glasgow Qfm Tigers |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
Dalle Anderson |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1* |
|
|
8+1 |
|
Will Beveridge |
2* |
1* |
2 |
1* |
|
|
6+3 |
|
Mick Powell |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
15 |
|
Sean Courtney |
2* |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
4+1 |
|
Dave Steen |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2* |
|
12+1 |
|
Grant MacDonald |
1* |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
2+1 |
|
Brian Turner |
2 |
R |
1 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Ziebart Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
Scott Lamb |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
|
Paul Gould |
1 |
1* |
3 |
1* |
1* |
0 |
7+3 |
|
Kevin Little |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
9 |
|
Robert Larsen |
0 |
0 |
2* |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Kenny McKinna |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
14 |
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
Barry Campbell |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
While Tigers never looked like losing this match, they also never looked likely to overhaul Monarch's 18 point first leg lead. Mick Powell was very sharp again and inflicted a rare Shawfield defeat on Kenny McKinna. Powell app ears to be vastly quicker than last year. Has he got some decent equipment at last? Dave Steen answered his many critics with a solid first home match with just two points dropped (both to McKinna). Dalle Andersson had a quiet first home match although he also was only beaten by McKinna. The Tigers' reserves and second strings performed as expected although Sean Courtney may have hoped for more than 4+1 after his heroics on Friday.
Monarchs really missed the departed Robert Eriksson and the injured Peter Carr around Shawfield. Only Paul Gould and Kevin Little were able to give any real support to McKinna. Scott Lamb's 4 points from 4 rides came as no sur prise to those who have se en Scott around Shawfield recently. Kevin Little started badly but improved as the match went on. Blair Scott and Barry Campbell again found it difficult to come to terms with the Glasgow track.
Man of the match
: Mick Powell for a full maximum.Most exciting rider
: Paul Gould for some excellent outside passes.Brian Sands should be reasonably satisfied with the performance of his team who demonstrated that Shawfield will again be a tough place to visit and that Tigers cannot be written-off at this stage.
Next meeting:
Monarchs v Reading: Premiership first leg at Armadale on Friday 27 March
John Lowe