SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead was pleased with his side’s steely determination as they got back to winning ways on their travels on Monday.
The Tru7 Group Tigers denied Birmingham the 5-1 they required in a last heat decider at Perry Barr to win 47-43.
It ended a four fixture losing sequence away from home and saw them close the gap on league leaders Ipswich.
Guest Max Fricke top scored for the Tigers as he teamed up with Jack Holder in the last heat decider to seal the victory, Chris Holder won two of his four rides, including a spectacular, unorthodox one wheel pass to help steal a late 5-1 on the final lap of Heat 12.
Both Josh Pickering and Kyle Howarth’s final scores didn’t overly reflect their typical battling efforts.
But it was a big night for youngsters Jason Edwards and Dan Gilkes who outscored their reserve counterparts 12-5.
And whilst it’s easy to say after the event, Stead feels losing the coin toss at the start of the night actually worked in Sheffield’s favour.
“I felt having gate choice in Heat 15 could prove vital and that did prove to be the case,” he said.
“We just had to make sure we didn’t finish last and Jack and Max rode well together to make sure that didn’t happen and got us over the line.
“It is difficult getting the right guests but it’s something we’ve been doing pretty well lately; Max was brilliant for us and he fit into the team really well.
“Everyone played their part in the final result and whilst I don’t necessarily like singling anybody out, I was really, really pleased for the two reserves and when you look down the two scorecharts, that’s the area that stands out the most so a big well done to both Jason and Dan and let’s hope that gives them some extra confidence and belief going into the next one.”
The Tigers are back on home shale this Thursday (July 25, 7.30pm) when Oxford are the visitors to Owlerton.
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: BIRMINGHAM 43: Freddie Lindgren 13+1, Zach Cook 10, Wiktor Lampart 7, Tom Brennan 5+1, Michael Palm Toft 3+1, Paco Castagna 3+1, Leon Flint 2. SHEFFIELD 47: Max Fricke 12, Jack Holder 8+2, Jason Edwards 7+2, Chris Holder 7+1, Josh Pickering 5, Dan Gilkes 5, Kyle Howarth 3+2.
