THE SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE TIGERS defied the odds to grab a hard-earned home draw with Ipswich on Thursday.
Tracking two guests, rider replacement and handing a British debut to German youngster Danny Maassen Sheffield were up against a powerful Ipswich side strengthened by the inclusion of Australian star Jason Doyle.
The Tigers started well, with Andre Compton equalling the fastest time of the season at Owlerton in heat one, and after six races they held a four-point lead.
A succession of shared heats followed before the sides traded 4-2’s, and after 12 races the home side remained four ahead and within touching distance of a brilliant win.
Doyle teamed up with Morten Risager in heat 13 to slash the Sheffield lead to just two, but reserve duo Facundo Albin and Oliver Greenwood snatched a 3-3 in the penultimate race to set up yet another last-heat decider.
Sheffield needed to avoid a last place to grab an unlikely win but the Witches made a better start, and they got the 4-2 they needed to go back to Suffolk with a draw and two league points.
As seems customary for the Tigers in recent weeks Ricky Wells topped the scorechart, he dropped just three points to end the night with 15. Andre Compton enjoyed his best performance since returning to Owlerton as he scored 13, while guest Richard Lawson notched eight.
Facundo Albin worked hard for his paid-six and Oliver Greenwood again impressed at reserve with paid-five. Danny Maassen, making his Premier League debut, deserved more than just the single point as he battled hard in unfamiliar conditions.
Joint team boss David Hoggart was delighted with his side’s effort; “I’m not going to lose any sleep at all because we did very well in adversity to come up with a draw.
“We had two guests, rider replacement and we handed a debut to a young kid and we managed to draw against an excellent Ipswich team who don’t give you any easy races. We led for most of the meeting and I must admit I expected Ipswich to turn it around after the interval, but we held on and we were one race away from beating them.
“I don’t think anybody expected us to pull off a win, in fact I think most expected us to lose, so we did very well and I’m proud of how they rode.”
Sheffield: (Ricky Wells 15, Andre Compton 13, Richard Lawson 8, Facundo Albin 5+1, Oliver Greenwood 3+2, Danny Maassen 1, Adam Roynon R/R)
