Sheffield Star Tigers 60
: Edinburgh Century Mortgages Monarchs 30Premier League
Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield
Thursday 29th April 1999
Sheffield turned in an awesome display to crush Edinburgh in the opening day of the Premier League season.
Most of the Edinburgh riders seemed to lack power and only Peter Carr and Ross Brady provided resistance. The meeting was a poor advert for the Premier League and was only enlivened when the home top five missed the gate and passed. Most of the passing used the extra grip on the outside of the second bend or stemmed from sheer speed on the straight.
The day was warm and the track had been well watered.
Gate position B was used with Edinburgh were off 1 and 3 for the first heat.
Heat 1: Sean Wilson, James Grieves, Paul Lee, Blair Scott [64.4]
Grieves had the edge out of the gate but Wilson swept past on the first bend. Blair Scott led Paul Lee for a lap or so with both riders hugging the white line until Lee forced his way through on the inside.
(4-2) (4-2)
Heat 2: Simon Cartwright, Ross Brady, Peter Boast, David McAllan, [65.9]
Brady was slow starting for once and although he passed Peter Boast on the second bend of the first lap he could not make the ground on Cartwright.
(4-2) (8-4)
Heat 3: André Compton, Simon Stead, Kevin Little, Stewart McDonald [63.4]
A very easy maximum for André Compton and Simon Stead over Little and McDonald.
(5-1) (13-5)
Heat 4: Scott Smith, Peter Carr, Ross Brady, Peter Boast [63.9]
Scott Smith beat Peter Carr away and was not challenged. Boast held third place until Ross Brady made a great outside pass on the second lap.
(3-3) (16-8)
Heat 5: André Compton, Simon Stead, James Grieves, Blair Scott [63.6]
Another 5-1 for Compton and Stead, this time over Grieves and Scott. Simon Stead missed the start and passed Grieves and Scott with ease in a single movement on the second bend.
(5-1) (21-9)
Heat 6: Peter Carr, Sean Wilson, Paul Lee, David McAllan [58.8]
Peter Carr dented Sean Wilson’s home record with a win by the proverbial mile.
(3-3) (24-12)
Heat 7: Scott Smith, Kevin Little, Peter Boast, Stewart McDonald [64.3]
Peter Boast was introduced as a reserve change. This was presumably intended to allow Cartwright to come in heat 8 in case a Golden Double was sprung. Smith was the predictable winner with Boast having a good ride for third place.
(3-3) (28-14)
Heat 8: Paul Lee, Blair Scott, Simon Cartwright, Ross Brady [63.3]
It appeared that Monarchs were going to bring Carr in as a tactical substitute. This didn’t happen as Carr had problems with his helmet. Sheffield duly brought Cartwright in for Boast. Lee edged out Brady from the gate and Blair Scott made a great fourth bend pass on Cartwright. Ross Brady then lost position allowing Cartwright to pass.
(4-2) (32-16)
Heat 9: Peter Carr, André Compton, Simon Stead, David McAllan [62.2]
Peter Carr ended the maximum hopes for Compton and Stead with his second win.
(3-3) (35-19)
Heat 10: Paul Lee, Sean Wilson, Kevin Little, Stewart McDonald [64.9]
Another routine 5-1 heat advantage for Sheffield.
(5-1) (40-20)
Heat 11: Scott Smith, James Grieves, Simon Cartwright, Blair Scott [63.5]
Scott Smith had another win over the underpowered Grieves with Cartwright keeping Scott at the back.
(4-2) (44-22)
Heat 12: André Compton, Peter Carr, Peter Boast, Kevin Little [62.8]
Peter Carr came in as a tactical substitute. With Compton lifting at the start, Carr and Little surged ahead from the gate only to be brought back because of an ‘unsatisfactory start’. Compton gated in the re-run and to really rub it in Boast passed the struggling Little.
(4-2) (48-24)
Heat 13: Peter Carr, Scott Smith, Sean Wilson, James Grieves [63.1]
James Grieves gated and was joined by Peter Carr with an outside sweep. Scott Smith and Sean Wilson both passed Grieves to tie the heat.
(3-3) (51-27)
Heat 14: Simon Stead, Ross Brady, Simon Cartwright [64.8]
Kevin Little came in as a tactical substitute to join Brady. The Monarchs’ pair gated but Simon Stead swept past as Kevin Little’s motor blew up.
(4-2) (55-29)
Heat 15: Simon Stead, Scott Smith, Peter Carr, James Grieves [59.3]
Peter Carr missed the start and his attempt to cut inside on the second bend failed with Smith and Stead surging ahead.
(5-1) (60-30)
|
Sheffield Tigers |
|
|
|
||||
|
Sean Wilson |
3 |
2 |
2* |
1* |
|
|
8+2 |
|
Paul Lee |
1 |
1* |
3 |
3 |
|
8+1 |
|
|
André Compton |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
11 |
|
Simon Stead |
2* |
2* |
1* |
3 |
3 |
|
11+3 |
|
Scott Smith |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2* |
|
13+1 |
|
Simon Cartwright |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
6 |
|
Peter Boast |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
3 |
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
5 |
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
6 |
|
Kevin Little |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
E |
|
4 |
|
Stewart McDonald |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
Peter Carr |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
14 |
|
David McAllan |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
Ross Brady |
2 |
1* |
0 |
2 |
|
|
5+1 |
Peter Carr put his knowledge of the Owlerton track to good use and beat all the Tigers’ big guns. Every time Carr gated he pulled away to win by huge margins. However, when he failed to make the start he struggled and probably didn’t have the power to pass the home heat leaders. Grieves was disappointing and definitely looked slow. Kevin Little just could not get his engine to go. Until his last ride that is, when it blew up!
Blair Scott had a poor meeting although he nearly kept ahead of Lee in heat 1 and had a good pass in heat 8. The big track phobic McDonald never looked like scoring. McAllan was also way off the pace. Ross Brady was as gutsy as ever despite looking down on power compared to the home riders and not starting well.
The much-hyped Sean Wilson failed to shine and looked slower than Smith and Compton.
Paul Lee and Simon Stead are probably going to outclass most if not all visiting second strings and most heat leaders as well. Peter Boast had one of his best Owlerton meetings. Simon Cartwright was very impressive.
Man of the match: Peter Carr
Most exciting rider: Simon Stead
Next meeting: v Sheffield, Premier League, Armadale on Friday 30th April 1999
John Lowe