SHEFFIELD moved up to fifth place in the Premier League table following their 58-37 victory against Newcastle at Owlerton.

It was a solid team performance by the Tigers who had Richard Hall in fine form again scoring 13 points. Joel Parsons (9+3) and Josh Auty (8+2) also gave good backing, but there was consistent scoring all down the order with every rider paid for at least seven points.

The Yorkshire side hit the front with a 5-1 from Hugh Skidmore and Ricky Ashworth in heat 1 and with the visitors only managing five race winners all evening they were never seriously troubled there-after.

Paul Cooper and Chris Mills followed that up with a 4-2 in heat 2 and then Hall and Parsons slammed in another five-pointer in heat 5 to stretch the lead to 20-10.

Ashworth and Skidmore then increased it to 24-12 in heat 6, but the Diamonds pulled a couple of points back with a 5-3 in heat 7 when Jason King scored double-points whilst finishing second to Auty, with team-mate Rene Bach in third.

Newcastle’s joy was short-lived as Sheffield upped the tempo with two quick-fire 5-1s, but they did come fighting back over the next two races. Heat 10 saw Bach and King strike with a 5-1after Ashworth had to go off a 15-metre handicap for previously jumping the start and then Kenni Larsen won heat 11 as a tactical ride ahead of Auty and Cooper

That was as close as the visitors were to get though as Parsons and Mills replied with five more points in heat 12 and when Ashworth and Auty repeated the feat in heat 13, it secured three valuable league points for the Tigers with two races to spare.

SHEFFIELD 58: Richard Hall 13, Joel Parsons 9+3, Josh Auty 8+2, Ricky Ashworth 8+1, Hugh Skidmore 8, Chris Mills 7+2, Paul Cooper 5+2

NEWCASTLE 37: Jason King 10+1, Rene Bach 9, Kenni Larsen 7, Trent Leverington 6, Mark Lemon 4, Derek Sneddon 1, Adam McKinna 0