THE SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE TIGERS crashed to their first home defeat of the season as Redcar left Owlerton with four league points.

An under-strength Sheffield needed contributions right the way through the team but they didn’t get them and the Bears took full advantage.

Powered by the brilliant Micky Dyer at reserve, the Teesiders took control from an early stage with three 4-2’s in the first four heats and they never let that grip go.

Aaron Summers, Dyer and Matej Kus all won their opening races and Sheffield’s only resistance came from Simon Stead, who was once again outstanding.

The Bears continued to pile the pressure and after eight heats they found themselves ten points ahead, and team boss David Hoggart entrusted Ricky Wells with the black and white helmet in heat nine.

Wells joined Haines at the front for a potentially match-changing 7-1, and Stead won heat ten to give the Sheffield faithful genuine hope of a turnaround.

That hope was quickly extinguished by Redcar though as they registered two consecutive 5-1’s to go 12 ahead, and when Micky Dyer and Carl Wilkinson grabbed a 4-2 in heat 14 the match, and all four league points, were secured.

The bright spot for Sheffield was Stead, who registered a second maximum in a row, and battling performances from Haines and Wells but they were comprehensively outclassed overall.

Richard Hall’s rider replacement rides yielded eight points, including Wells’ four in heat nine, and they will again use that facility at the South Tees Motorsport Park on Friday night for the return fixture.

Tigers manager Hoggart was naturally disappointed with the result; “Redcar were very strong at reserve with Micky Dyer, who is performing better than a heatleader at the moment. We knew we wouldn’t be able to stand up to him.

“When one of the top five has an off night, as Facu did, and when you’re already missing a heatleader, it’s always going to be tough. It was an off night, we know that, but now we’ve got to bounce back at their place and see what we can do.”

SHEFFIELD 39: Simon Stead 15, Ricky Wells 11+1, Joe Haines 10+1, Damian Koppe 2, Jake Knight 1, Facunda Albin 0, Richard Hall R/R.

REDCAR 53: Micky Dyer 16+1, Aaron Summers 10+1, Matej Kus 10+1, Ulrich Ostergaard 7+2, Hugh Skidmore 4+1, Carl Wilkinson 4+1, Mitchell Davey 2.