SHEFFIELD team boss Simon Stead praised his side for digging deep following their 52-38 Championship Shield win over Scunthorpe.

But after pulling off a late fightback against their rivals, he also admitted the 14 point margin flattered the Tigers against their rivals.

The lead exchanged several times between the two sides in the opening nine races before a good piece of fortune went the Tigers way to draw them back level.

Jake Allen looked set to take the chequered flag in Heat 10 before his bike packed up, allowing home duo Kyle Howarth and Todd Kurtz through for a 5-1.

And that was the first of six successive heat advantages for the hosts as they finished strongly to move to the top of the Northern Group table.

Said Stead: "That's pleasing of course but there's still a long way to go.

"It's good to get another win on the board though - but I do think the scoreline flattered us a little bit.

"Having said that, we had to contend with falling behind on a couple of occasions as well as them taking a reserve out in Heat 14 and bringing in their guest No.1 (Richard Lawson) when they used their tactical sub.

"So with all that considered I think the boys deserve a lot of credit for the character they showed in the end.

"Scunthorpe are a good team this year and they gave us a good meeting, but the boys dug deep when it mattered most and ground out what could prove to be an important result."

Winter signing Charles Wright continued to settle into his new surroundings in impressive fashion, top scoring for the Sheffield Window Centre Tigers for his second successive fixture.

Captain Kyle Howarth bounced back from a disappointing last place in his opening ride to reel off four straight wins and combined with Todd Kurtz for two 5-1s as the Australian again also reached double figures.

Lasse Bjerre secured two race wins on an up and down night for the Dane while there were plenty of encouraging signs from reserve Jack Smith throughout the meeting who also played a crucial role in holding off Lawson as a tactical substitution for the visitors in the penultimate race.

James Shanes gave it his all as ever but was forced to settle for a trio of third places in the end.

The Tigers head to the Eddie Wright Raceway for the reverse fixture on Friday (7.30) and a full preview will be available on the morning of the meeting.

SHEFFIELD 52: Charles Wright 14+1, Kyle Howarth 12, Todd Kurtz 10+3, Lasse Bjerre 7, Jack Smith 6+1, James Shanes 3+1, Josh Bates R/R.

SCUNTHORPE 38: Richard Lawson 8+2, Stefan Nielsen 8, Jason Garrity 7, Gino Manzares 5+2, Jake Allen 4, Danny Phillips 3, Josh Auty 3.