TIGERS skipper Kyle Howarth has been taken to hospital in Newcastle with a dislocated shoulder.

Club bosses are sweating on the extent of the damage sustained in his first outing in Sheffield’s 54-36 Championship defeat.

And with new signings Broc Nicol and Georgie Wood falling to score it was always going to be an impossible task for the Owlerton side.

Boss Damien Bates, in for the unavailable Simon Stead said: “Obviously this is a disappointing night for us and we must do better going forward.

“But the injury to Kyle has been a crushing blow and we need to hope there is no long term damage there.

“Hopefully the shoulder is back in place and there is nothing longer term to worry about.”

Howarth was in second place behind Ludvig Lindgren in Heat 1 at Brough Park but came to grief on the third bend, and although Carl Wilkinson and Todd Kurtz managed to take avoiding action Howarth was still left in agony.

Charles Wright won his first two rides, including an early tactical substitute outing in Heat 5, but he found himself on the wrong end of a 5-1 in the next race as Matthew Wethers and Ludvig Lindgren extended the Diamonds’ lead into double figures.

Kurtz also took a fall in Heat 8, before Wright and Shanes brought Sheffield back into contention with maximum points in the ninth.

But Newcastle responded instantly, first with a 4-2 in an awarded Heat 10 when Nicol became the latest Tigers rider to come down, and then with a 5-1 from Stuart Robson and Wilkinson in the next.

Shanes was also disqualified for a fall in Heat 12 as Sheffield’s troubles continued, although Wright exemplified his battling spirit with a hard-fought second place against Robson in Heat 13.

A further Newcastle 5-1 rubbed salt into Tigers’ wounds before Wright had the satisfaction of spoiling Lindgren’s maximum with a fine ride to win Heat 15, with a hard-working Lasse Bjerre supplying third place in a consolation race advantage.

NEWCASTLE 54: Ludvig Lindgren 13+1, Matthew Wethers 11, Carl Wilkinson 10+3, Stuart Robson 9, Ashley Morris 7+1, Matej Kus 4+1, Tero Aarnio r/r.

SHEFFIELD 36: Charles Wright 16, Lasse Bjerre 11, James Shanes 8+1, Todd Kurtz 1, Broc Nicol 0, Georgie Wood 0, Kyle Howarth 0.