THE SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE TIGERS will have to beat Scunthorpe on their own patch if they are to send off owner Neil Machin with a final piece of silverware.
Machin has announced his intention to sell the club when the season finishes and his last meeting at Owlerton was a disappointing defeat to the Scorpions in the first leg of the Retro Cup.
Reverting back to the old 13 heat format with a Rider of the Night second half, the two sides put on an entertaining show but it was the league champions Scunthorpe who carry the edge.
Sheffield started strongly with victories for Kevin Doolan, Ricky Wells and Andre Compton and it looked as if the home side were going to take a lead to Lincolnshire on Sunday, but the Scorpions came back strong.
The difference between the two sides proved to be the reserves, with Scunthorpe’s duo of Lewis Blackbird and Ryan Douglas out-pointing Facu Albin and Damien Koppe 22 to six.
It was only in the last two races that the visitors edged ahead with two heat advantages to grab victory and take a six-point lead back to the Eddie Wright Raceway.
Although both sides were desperate to win, team boss David Hoggart says it was good to see the riders enjoying themselves on a more relaxed occasion than normal; “All the riders really enjoyed racing and that was great to see.
“It was a good meeting and I thought we rode quite well, but the two Scunthorpe reserves were the difference and of course they were able to take more rides due to Tyson Nelson’s absence.
“When we found out he wasn’t going to make it we agreed that it wouldn’t have been fair to run races with only three riders so we let them use their reserves, which was the right thing to do.
“We were disappointed to lose but there were positives and we’ll go and try win on Sunday now.”
Former Tiger Josh Auty was the man who claimed the Rider of the Night trophy, and a cheque for £400, as he came from the back to win the final race of the evening.
Sheffield’s next meeting is at Berwick on Saturday for the Ricky Ashworth Benefit meeting, where a while host of riders have volunteered to ride for the Tigers for Ricky.
“The main thing on Saturday is to have a bit of fun and raise a load of money for Ricky. We’ve had a lot if riders volunteering so we’ll use some guests and everyone will try and raise as much as possible, and try and put on an entertaining meeting.” said Hoggart.
The Window Centre Tigers then travel to Scunthorpe on Sunday afternoon for the return leg of the Retro Cup in what looks likely to be Neil Machin’s 651st, and last, meeting as owner of Sheffield Speedway.
