SHEFFIELD put in a resilient display to edge a 40-38 victory over Redcar in a nervy clash at Owlerton.

With only three of their own riders and three guests in their side, the patched up Tigers edged a superb win to move off the bottom of the Premier League table.

A fine display from Aussie reserve Taylor Poole led Sheffield to victory, with guests Olly Allen and Kevin Wolbert providing solid support.

New boy Nico Covatti also claimed a composed race win as he enjoyed an encouraging home debut to help get his Tigers' career get off to a winning start.

However, a tight clash came to an abrupt end with guest Liam Carr suffering a suspected broken femur in a nasty heat 14 crash leading to the meeting being abandoned due to the 10pm Owlerton curfew.

It was a disappointing end to what had been an entertaining night of action which had been set to come to a blockbuster conclusion.

Tigers' boss Joe Screen remained pleased with a hard-fought win nonetheless - although he sent his well-wishes to Carr following his unfortunate injury.

Said Screen: "It's been a nightmare for us with injuries recently, and we had another patched up side tonight.

"It was another tough meeting but everyone worked really hard to put in a good performance.

"Olly Allen was a good guest, Taylor (Poole) had another great meeting and everyone else chipped in as well.

"It's a shame the meeting ended as it did as it was set up for a really tight finish, but we send our best wishes to Liam Carr.

"A win's a win so we are pleased to come out on top and get two points given the number of riders we had missing."

Screen's side will travel to Teeside for the return fixture at Redcar on Friday night aiming to add more points to their Premier League tally.

Simon Stead and Josh Bates remain late doubts as they recover from illness and injury respectively whilst Chris Mills steps in as a guest for Andre Compton.

It will be another tough test for the depleted Tigers at the South Tees Motorsport Park - but Screen is in optimistic mood.

He added: "It's going to be tough again up at Redcar with more guests, but hopefully we can put in another good performance and get some points.

"We'll be doing what we can to try and get something, then once we've got through this week we'll hopefully start getting back to full strength."

SHEFFIELD 40: Taylor Poole 14, Olly Allen 9, Kevin Wolbert 6, Nico Covatti 5+2, Ben Wilson 3+2, Liam Carr 3+1, Andre Compton r/r

REDCAR 38: Mark Lemon 10, Richard Lawson 9, Hugh Skidmore 7, Aaron Summers 6, Jan Graversen 3, Carl Wilkinson 2+1, Rafal Konopka 1

Abandoned after 13 heats due to curfew - Result

STANDS Premier League points: Sheffield 2 Redcar 1