BSN Final, first-leg: Poole Pirates 62, Glasgow Tigers 28; Cab Direct Championship: Oxford Cheetas 53, Berwick Bandits 37
Rory Schlein top scored with 11 points as Berwick Bandits suffered a 53-37 defeat in the Cab Direct Championship at pace-setting Oxford Cheetas. Their top man was Sam Masters with 14 points.
Elsewhere, Glasgow Tigers’ boss Cami Brown admitted it was a very “disappointing performance” after a heavy defeat at Poole when the Allied Vehicles Tigers crashed to a 62-28 defeat in the BSN Final first-leg.
It was a night when nothing went right for the visitors with Tom Brennan suffering a frightening crash in Heat 7 and Lee Complin enduring mechanical issues.
But Poole were far too quick out of the starts and Brown said: “It’s another very disappointing performance. Poole have outridden us out of the starts and that’s what it takes to win matches here. It’s going to be extremely difficult in the second-leg.
“Poole were electric out of the gates. It sounds like sour grapes, and I don’t mean it to be, but there’s not much passing after that. If you don’t get out of gate after half a lap the race is over.
“We are racers and come up to Glasgow and you’ll see lots of passing. It’s a track if you miss the gate, you still get a chance. If you miss the gate here, you’re lost. We need to try and re-group. It wasn’t for the lack of trying.”
Brown said that 16-year-old Ace Pijper’s five-point return was the only highlight of the night and he added: “Tom hit a rut in the middle of the corner and it spat him off. He’s been shaken up but he’s OK. Tom’s a tough lad. Ace did really well, but there were too many failures as well.”
Poole 62: Steve Worrall 14+1, Richard Lawson 13+1, Ben Cook 11, Zach Cook 8+3, Anders Rowe 7+2, Kyle Newman 5, Adam Roynon 4+1.
Glasgow 28: Chris Harris 7, Ben Basso 7, Ace Pijper 5, Claus Vissing 5, Tom Brennan 4, Marcin Nowak 0, Lee Complin 0.
PICTURE: Chris Harris by Taylor Lanning and courtesy of Allied Vehicles Glasgow Tigers.
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