Narrow loss at Glasgow..

GLASGOW 51 SHEFFIELD 44.. TIGERS were unable to make the most of a storming start at Ashfield as they paid the price for a mid-meeting stumble in an incident-strewn affair. Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson combined for a shock 5-1 over Danny Bird in the first race, but the early advantage was immediately cancelled out by the Glasgow reserves in Heat 2. Bird's disastrous start continued when he touched the tapes in Heat 6 but Sheffield could not take full advantage as the scores stayed level. The visitors suddenly found themselves ten points down as Glasgow took the next three heats by a 14-4 margin, and Kyle Legault was then harshly excluded from Heat 10 after appearing to be left little room by David McAllan. A tactical ride win for an impressive Emiliano Sanchez helped the visitors to halve the gap in Heat 12, but Bird rescued his afternoon by linking with paid maximum man Shane Parker for a 5-1 in Heat 13 which virtually clinched the match for the home side. Legault was in the wars again in his final ride as he was taken down by Robert Ksiezak, but the Canadian picked himself up to bank four points from his tactical ride. Sanchez and skipper Andre Compton then combined to shut out Kauko Nieminen in the final race to at least keep the margin down to seven points, which will make Sheffield's task for the bonus point somewhat easier when the sides meet at Owlerton. GLASGOW: Shane Parker 14+1, Kauko Nieminen 11, James Cockle 9+2, Robert Ksiezak 7+1, Danny Bird 5+1, David McAllan 4+1, Lee Dicken 1. SHEFFIELD: Emiliano Sanchez 14, Andre Compton 9+1, Ricky Ashworth 7+1, Ben Wilson 6+1, Kyle Legault 5+1, Benji Compton 2+1, Paul Cooper 1. Next action Thursday 6th Apr 7.45 (2.45 et) vs Glasgow