AN injury to James Birkinshaw marred an otherwise good night for Sheffield as the Tigers defeated Edinburgh 59-31 at Owlerton.

Birkinshaw was involved in a frightening spill on the first bend of heat 1 which saw all four riders hit the deck and the safety fence demolished. Both Birkinshaw and Edinburgh’s Derek Sneddon were eventually taken from the track by ambulance to hospital. Initial reports suggested that the Sheffield rider has a suspected shoulder injury and Sneddon had cuts to his face.

The meeting was held up for over an hour, but when proceedings finally got underway Ricky Ashworth and Paul Cooper finally raced to a 4-2 heat advantage.

There was more drama in heat 4 when James Cockle lost control whilst challenging Monarchs star Matt Wethers for the lead on the first lap and the Tigers star was thrown over the handlebars. Thankfully track medics reported nothing broken and he was fit to resume racing. However, he did appear to be feeling the effects of the crash as he repeatedly dropped points throughout the remainder of the meeting.

After all the thrills and spills it was very much one-way traffic and after six races Sheffield had opened up a 25-11 lead. Not even a tactical ride by Kaj Laukannen in heat 7 could reduce the arrears, as the Finn conceded a 5-1 to Joel Parsons and Cooper. From that point on there was no stopping a rampant Tigers team as they stormed into a 42-18 lead after heat 10.

The Monarchs did reply with a 5-1 in heat 11, but their joy was short-lived as two 5-1’s in the final three races saw Sheffield rack up another big home win. Star of the show was Ashworth fresh back from his injury scoring a magnificent 16 (paid 18) maximum and he had great support from Compton who raced to a 15-point full maximum.

SHEFFIELD: Ricky Ashworth 16+2, Andre Compton 15, Paul Cooper 13+3, Joel Parsons 9+1, James Cockle 6+1, James Birkinshaw 0, Ben Wilson R/R

EDINBURGH: Andrew Tully 8+2,George Stancl 7+1, Matt Wethers 7, Kaj Laukkanen 5, Kalle Katajisto 3, Jack Roberts 1+1, Derek Sneddon 0