FLYING Sheffield star Charles Wright admitted losing No 1 Kyle Howarth was a “bridge too far” at Glasgow.
The Tigers went down 53-37 at Ashfield on Friday night and simply ran out of firepower without key man Howarth.
Despite lacking their talisman, Tigers worked hard to keep the home side at bay until the halfway point when Glasgow pulled clear.
Wright admitted: “It was tough for us. We held them as best we could in the early stages but they get stronger as the meeting goes on and that showed in the end.
“It was a bridge too far without Kyle. We’re already missing a second string really with Josh Bates, but we struggled tonight.
“We battled hard but we couldn’t contain Glasgow who are particularly strong at home. Hopefully we’ll get back to full strength soon.”
Team boss Simon Stead added: “You can see the problem, we only got three points from Kyle’s rider replacement rides and he’s good for at least 12 or 15 round here.
“The boys battled really hard and showed a lot of spirit to stay in the match but in the end we ran out of steam.”
Tigers got off to the worst possible start when the home pair Chris Harris and Lewis Kerr raced clear of rider replacement Charles Wright to register an opening heat 5-1.
Two further heat advantages in Heats 3 and 4 and suddenly the defending league champions were unexpectedly in front by 13-11.
A nasty Heat 9 crash saw Paul Starke and Jack Smith tangle. Thankfully both riders got up with Starke certainly looking very second hand with Smith excluded.
However, the home Tigers then really turned the screw. The next four races saw three home 5-1s and a 4-2 to really knock the wind out of the depleted visitors.
Chris Harris was particularly impressive, diving under Wright in Heat 13 on the first bend which also enabled home No5 Richie Worrall to also go through for another 5-1 and lead 49-29 and it was all over bar the shouting.
GLASGOW 53: Chris Harris 13+1, Richie Worrall 11+2, Claus Vissing 10, Lewis Kerr 8+1, James Sarjeant 5+1, Paul Starke 3+2, Jack Thomas 3.
SHEFFIELD 37: Charles Wright 14, Lasse Bjerre 8, James Shanes 5, Jack Smith 4+1, Jan Graversen 3+1, Todd Kurtz 3, Kyle Howarth r/r.
