Sheffield go down at Rye House

RYE HOUSE 53 SHEFFIELD 40, TIGERS opened up their Premier League campaign with defeat at Rye House - but the performance was on a different level to their tame Hoddesdon surrenders of last season. On three visits to the Hertfordshire venue in 2005 Tigers conceded over 60 points, but they kept things much tighter on this occasion despite a nightmare start, and should be capable of taking the aggregate bonus later in the season.There were early alarm bells when the Rockets started with three 5-1s, but Tigers then got to grips with the slightly slippery surface and took their first race win when Andre Compton headed Stuart Robson home in Heat 6. That was the first of two consecutive 4-2s with Emiliano Sanchez also winning his second ride, and when Compton won his tactical ride in Heat 9 the gap was down to seven points - which became five mainly thanks to another Sanchez success in the following race, Robson passing Kyle Legault for second place in the closing stages. In Heat 11, however, Ricky Ashworth was excluded for causing Luke Bowen to fall as Chris Neath finally came to life with a race win, and the Rockets then eased clear with maximum points in the next race.Ashworth, though, did not allow the exclusion to get to him as he impressively won Heat 13 from Robson and Neath, and although Rye took another 5-1 in Heat 14, Tigers finished well with Compton's last race win and Ashworth's third place leaving the gap at 13 points after a creditable effort. RYE HOUSE: Edward Kennett 12+1, Steve Boxall 9+2, Stuart Robson 9, Luke Bowen 9, Tommy Allen 7+2, Chris Neath 4+1, Jamie Courtney 3+2. TIGERS: Andre Compton 13+1, Emiliano Sanchez 7, Ricky Ashworth 7, Ben Wilson 5, Paul Cooper 3, Kyle Legault 3, Benji Compton 2.