GUTSY Sheffield gave strongly fancied Leicester a scare on home shale in their opening Premier League Cup tie of the season.

The Sheffield Window Centre Tigers held the home side for the majority of the meeting but ran out of steam to lose 47-43 - which was enough to claim a consolation point in a group which also includes Scunthorpe.

Skipper Simon Stead was unstoppable in his first three outings and notched 13. He had good support from former Leicester man Richard Hall with 11+2 and American World Cup star Ricky Wells who carded 9+1.

Boss David Hoggart said: "I'm proud of the boys, they all worked hard tonight and all of them can be satisfied.

"Yes, we were ahead for the bulk of the meeting but we have riders in our side who have never even seen this track before.

"And Leicester are strongly fancied to win things this season. It's a big effort by the Sheffield boys and I'm extremely pleased despite the defeat."

Tigers are back at Owlerton this Thursday for a mouthwatering League Cup tie against rivals Scunthorpe when a bumper crowd is expected.

LEICESTER: Lasse Bjerre 11, Kauko Nieminen 9+1, Simon Nielsen 8+2, Jan Graversen 7+1, Kevin Doolan 6+2, Lewis Blackbird 6+1, Adam Roynon r/r.

SHEFFIELD: Simon Stead 13, Richard Hall 11+2, Ricky Wells 9+1, Joe Haines 4, Damien Koppe 2+1, Facundo Albin 2, Jake Knight 2.