SHEFFIELD skipper Kyle Howarth says he can be proud of his efforts during Monday’s British Championship Final.

Tigers No.1 battled hard to total ten points from his five programmed rides - winning his fifth in ruthless nature to book his place in the semi-finals.

And despite temporarily leading the penultimate heat, Howarth was eventually relegated to the back in what was a breathtaking night of racing in Manchester.

Said Howarth: “Every heat I had was such a hard race.

“I had last pick in the semi and I ended up with gate four which was always going to be a task.

“It was a shame to do all the hard work, get to that semi and then get knocked out. But all-in-all it was a great night.

“It was some nice progress for me, it’s a stepping stone, I’ve done myself proud and I can keep my head held high.”

Sheffield’s Jack Smith also had two outings as track reserve, the first of which saw him disqualified despite making an intelligent switch back to the inside after locking up in front of Wolverhampton and Ipswich man Rory Schlein.

The meeting was won by Great Britain star Robert Lambert.

Tigers return to Owlerton this Thursday (June 14, 7.30) when high-flying Berwick are the visitors.

SCORES: Robert Lambert 15, Craig Cook 11, Dan Bewley 10, Jason Garrity 10, Scott Nicholls 10, Kyle Howarth 10, Rory Schlein 9, Danny King 8, Chris Harris 7, Josh Auty 7, Richard Lawson 6, Lewis Kerr 5, Adam Ellis 3, Steve Worrall 3, Richie Worrall 3, Ashley Morris 3, Jack Smith (res) 0, Kyle Bickley (res) 0.
SEMI-FINAL: Bewley, Garrity, Nicholls, Howarth.
FINAL: Lambert, Bewley, Cook, Garrity.