SHEFFIELD Tigers suffered a 57-38 defeat in their opening Premier League meeting of the season at Scunthorpe.

But the Sheffield Window Centre-backed side emerged with plenty of credit for playing their part in a thriller in front of a big crowd and the Sky Sports cameras.

Going into the last three races they were only 42-35 down thanks to a brilliant 8-1 win from in-form reserve Josh Auty and Ritchie Hawkins.

But Scunthorpe clicked into gear with former Elite League stars Magnus Karlsson (14+1) and David Howe (12+1) hitting fine form to hand them a more emphatic win.

Sheffield skipper Ricky Ashworth was involved in some sensational racing and deserved much more than the four-points he gained.

Tigers fans turned out in big numbers and were naturally disappointed – and there are certain weak links in the team which must be a worry for the club bosses.

But Premier League racing was again the winner in front of the big TV audience and Tigers more than played their part.

SCUNTHORPE: Magnus Karlsson 14+1, David Howe 12+1, Carl Wilkinson 10, Viktor Bergstron 7+2, Simon Lambert 6, Jerran Hart 5+3, Byron Bekker 3.
SHEFFIELD: Josh Auty 15+2, Richard Hall 8, Ritchie Hawkins 7+1, Ricky Ashworth 4, Chris Mills 2, Joel Parsons 1+1, Paul Cooper 1.