SHEFFIELD were made to work hard for their two valuable Premier League points against Mildenhall in their 52-38 win at Owlerton.

The unfancied Mildenhall kept the scores tight all the way through and even provided six of the first ten race winners to set the nerves jangling in the home camp.

And when Sheffield finally started to pocket race wins, the Fen men packed the minor placings to leave the hosts leading by just six points going into the last three heats.

But two successive 5-1s, firstly from Ricky Ashworth - springing into life after a disappointing start - and Joel parsons and then James Birkinshaw and Paul Cooper prised open a 14-point lead for Reg Wilson's men to take to West Row later this summer for the return match.

TIGERS: Andre Compton 13, Ben Wilson 10+1, James Birkinshaw 7, Paul Cooper 6+4, Joel Parsons 6+2, Ricky Ashworth 6, James Cockle 5
MILDENHALL: Kyle Legault 10, Paul Fry 9+1, Jason King 6+1, Shaun Tacey 5+1, Tom Madsen 4+1, Mark Thompson 4+1, Tomas Suchanek 0.