Terrific Tigers take another home win!
The Middlesbrough “Heat Floors” Tigers took a superb 48-41 win over a stubborn Sheffield Cubs side at the ECCO Arena. The Tigers 7 point success also gained the side’s first aggregate point of the season after winning by 1 point over the two fixtures. Ben Trigger hit a superb 14 for the Tigers whilst Nathan Ablitt hit 10 for the visitors.
Remarkably, heat 1 saw Middlesbrough’s second successive opening heat 5-0 (at home) of the season. The first staging saw Ablitt fall on the opening bends with the referee adjudging that Ablitt fell on his own with 3 riders being invited back for the re-run. The re-run saw the Tigers gate on a 4-2 but at the end of lap 1, Mickie Simpson had an alarming fall with the young Brit remarkably walking away from the crash moments later. The third and final staging saw Mulford win, and with Ward unopposed in second, Middlesbrough had the perfect start at the ECCO Arena.
The reserves race saw Ben Rathbone take the win on a hugely impressive afternoon for the Middlesbrough man, but with Stene Pijper passing Will Hocaniuk for 2nd, the Tigers had to settle for a 4-2.
After a pair of shared heats won by the Sheffield guest, Dayle Wood and Ben Trigger, the Sheffield management were left cursing their luck after heat 5. Despite Nathan Ablitt being untroubled after a bend 2 cutback on lap 1, the visitors looked set for a 5-1 as Simpson passed Danny Phillips entering lap 2, but Simpson’s nightmare start to the meeting continued as he fell seconds later with the race awarded as a 3-3.
The Tigers extended their advantage in heat 6 as Mulford took his second successive win, and with the ever improving Ward in 3rd ahead of Stene Pijper, the Tigers had a 9 point advantage on Teesside.
After heat 7 was won by Trigger in a shared race, the visitors hit back with a 5-1 heat advantage as Simpson dusted himself down to take a well deserved win, and with Kean Dicken in second, the visitors had a foothold in the contest. The Cubs fightback continued in heat 9 as Ace Pijper took the win, and with Stene Pijper impressively working his way past both Phillips and Halder, the Cubs had reduced the deficit to a single point.
Heat 10 saw a much needed heat advantage for Middlesbrough as Mulford won with ease, and with Ward holding off a hard charging Sheldon Davies for 3rd, the Tigers had a 3 point advantage on home shale. Trigger continued his scintillating afternoon with a hard fought win over Abiltt in heat 11, but with Rathbone at the back, the gap remained at 3 points.
Heat 12 saw all sorts of drama as Phillips suffered mechanical issues whilst he was at the tapes with the Tigers skipper going off 15m in the re-run. The second staging saw Hocaniuk touch the tapes for the hosts. With Hocaniuk disqualified, Rathbone came in under huge pressure, knowing a Sheffield 5-1 would put the Tigers behind. Nevertheless, Rathbone thrived under the pressure and passed Wood on the backstraight of lap 2 for a hugely impressive win, and with Wood falling on the final lap attempting to re-pass, Phillips came through for 3rd to give Middlesbrough some much needed breathing space with 3 heats remaining.
Heat 13 saw Trigger continue his undefeated run with another win, but with Mulford at the back, Sheffield still had hope at 41-36. The penultimate race saw another big race win for Rathbone, and with Halder holding off Dicken on the run to the line, Middlesbrough had secured the 2 match points with the Tigers only two points away from the aggregate bonus point.
The final race of an entertaining afternoon saw Ablitt lower Trigger’s colours for the first time in an extremely close race, but with Ace Pijper unable to get the better of Trigger, Middlesbrough took all 3 points on offer in front of another decent WSRA National League crowd at the ECCO Arena.
Middlesbrough Tigers = 48 (90)
1. Jake Mulford = 9
2. Kai Ward = 5+1
3. Danny Phillips = 5+1
4. Jamie Halder = 5+2
5. Ben Trigger = 14
6. Ben Rathbone = 9
7. William Hocaniuk = 1
Sheffield Cubs = 41 (89)
1. Nathan Ablitt = 10
2. Mickie Simpson = 4+1
3. Dayle Wood (G) = 7
4. Sheldon Davies = 1+1
5. Ace Pijper = 8+2
6. Stene Pijper = 6+1
7. Kean Dicken = 5+1