A BATTLING performance from the Sheffield Window Centre Tigers was overshadowed by a horrifying crash that saw Friday’s meeting at Armadale abandoned early.
A depleted Sheffield side were 13 points down with three heats remaining when home man Claus Vissing and guest Robert Branford locked together and smashed through the safety fence, with both men being taken to hospital.
Vissing was taken in as a precautionary measure while Branford suffered suspected shoulder and arm injuries, but both riders were talking to medics in the ambulance.
Although a win was out of reach the Tigers were still in with a shout of a point at the time of the postponement, even if it would have taken something very special, but the Monarchs deserved the win in an entertaining battle.
They raced in to an early lead and never really looked back, however Ricky Wells’ single-handedly dragged his team back within touching distance mid-meeting with a double-points victory.
The Tigers couldn’t capitalise on that though and Edinburgh pulled away once again, and with three heats remaining they were odds-on to take all three league points should the meeting have gone the distance.
Despite another away defeat, Sheffield team boss David Hoggart was heartened by his side’s battling display; “It was a good meeting and in many ways it was typical Sheffield, we were really up for it and it resulted in bad luck and an injury.
“We really attacked the track and that was good to see, but it resulted in three bent bikes and then obviously the injury to Rob Branford. We gave it a real go though and Ricky Wells was a star again, he makes it look so easy sometimes and he was very, very good.
“It’s a real shame that the meeting ended the way it did and hopefully both Claus and Rob are back on a bike very soon.”
