Tigers tough it out to land vital win over title rivals

The Tigers were in the wars with three men all bashing the air fence on bend one - but they still stopped the in-form visitors from landing a blow and sent them home with nothing.

Captain Aaron Summers was one of those to bounce back from a tumble - securing the 49-40 win with a third place in heat 15 despite being pushed all the way by GB wonderkid Robert Lambert, one of two Diamonds to equal the 56.1-second track record along with Steve Worrall.

Summers said: “Newcastle are a strong team around here and they came out fighting.

“We had a team talk after a few heats and tried to make the track a little bit easier for some of our boys. I told the boys they had to be harder and certain other little things, and it seemed to help. It changed us around a bit and we got the win.

“I landed on my backside and it was a bit sore - it’ll probably be a bit sorer tomorrow. But I was OK. It was a tight first turn and I didn’t really have anywhere else to go in the end, and I saw the fence coming up before I knew it.”

There were plenty of highlights in front of a big crowd - none more so than Danny Ayres joining Richie Worrall for a vital 5-1 in heat 12 that put the Tigers nine points ahead, the score having been much closer until that point.

Ben Barker thankfully walked away from a horrific tumble in his third ride, soldiering on to complete the meeting, as did Coty Garcia - who was struggling with a finger injury but still managed to battle to five points.

The result gives Glasgow three points and crucially Newcastle miss out on a consolation point, which could be vital given the Diamonds are tipped to be challenging the Tigers for the title.