Tigers too strong for Bears!

Glasgow kept their Cab Direct Championship play-off dreams alive with a 55-35 victory over the Redcar “Agilia” Bears, Chris Harris top scored for the hosts with 13+1 whilst Danny King led from the front for Redcar with 13. 

Redcar’s Danyon Hume broke the tapes in heat 1 with Jason Edwards replacing the Bears number 2. However, it was not all doom and gloom for the Bears as Danny King began the meeting in fine style with a comfortable heat win, but with Jason Edwards at the back, Redcar could not take an early lead. 

Heat 2 saw Jason Edwards lead the race until the final bend when Glasgow’s Lee Complin passed the young Brit on the outside to take the win, and with Glasgow guest Jack Smith holding off Luke Harrison, the Tigers took the lead, much to the delight of Complin and the Glasgow crowd. Heat 3 saw the Bears guest, Justin Sedgmen touch the tapes with the Aussie going off 15 metres in the re-run. The re-run saw Ben Basso and Vadim Tarasenko gate but the superb Connor Bailey passed Tarasenko on lap 2 and then set about Basso but the Bears man was unable to track down the Dane which extended Glasgow’s lead to 4 points. 

Heat 5 saw Glasgow sat on a 4-2 until Jack Smith and Luke Harrison tangled with the Glasgow guest excluded from the re-run. The second staging saw Tarasenko take the win ahead of Erik Riss and Luke Harrison with Redcar remaining 4 behind. Glasgow stretched their lead to 6 points as Basso took another win in heat 5, and with Complin clear of Hume, the Tigers had control on home soil. 

After a pair of shared heats won by Vadim Tarasenko and Tom Brennan respectively, Gavin Parr played his tactical substitute in the shape of Danny King in heat 9. However, Basso had the answer for the pairing of King and Riss as he edged out both Bears (3 abreast heading into bend 3) on the opening lap to take the win with Redcar taking some solace in the minor placings to ensure they did not fall further behind. 

The Tigers struck a telling blow in heat 10 as Harris and Brennan combined for a 5-1 to stretch their lead to 12 despite the best efforts of Bailey to split the Glasgow duo. The Bears hit back in heat 11 as King won superbly whilst Hume battled with Tarasenko before the Russian passed the Redcar man, but with Hume comfortable in 3rd, Redcar reduced the arrears to 10. 

Glasgow restored their 12 point lead in the race of the day in heat 12. Basso and Bailey had a superb battle for the win with the Dane just holding off the British under 21 Champion whilst Smith rode gamely to pass Edwards for 3rd to put the Tigers on the brink of victory. Glasgow secured the win with a heat 13 5-1 as Harris and Tarasenko gated and took the win over King and Riss. 

Brennan then rounded off his night with his second win as he defeated Sedgmen, and with Complin defeating Harrison, Glasgow’s lead was 18 points. The final heat of the afternoon saw Harris get the better of King on the opening bends but the Bears stand-in skipper held off Basso to deny the Dane a maximum. However, with Bailey at the rear, Glasgow struck their 9th heat advantage for a convincing home win. 

Glasgow Tigers = 55

1. Chris Harris = 13+1

2. Tom Brennan = 11+1

3. Benjamin Basso = 13

4. Claus Vissing R/R 

5. Vadim Tarasenko = 11+1

6. Lee Complin = 5 

7. Jack Smith (G) = 2

Redcar Bears = 35

1. Danny King = 13

2. Danyon Hume = 3 

3. Connor Bailey = 6+1

4. Justin Sedgmen (G) = 4 

5. Erik Riss = 5+1

6. Jason Edwards = 3+1

7. Luke Harrison (G) = 1+1