TIGERS made the perfect start to their Premier League campaign with an emphatic 62-31 win over Berwick at Owlerton on Thursday.


As the scoreline suggests, they were by far the better side with every team member contributing to a bumper scoreline which gives them a great opportunity to win the aggregate bonus point when the sides meet again at the Border track on Saturday.

Skipper Andre Compton moved into the No.1 slot for the first time this season and, not surprisingly, reeled off a perfect score as he was unbeaten by an opposing rider, and at the same time offered a superb example of team riding with Ben Wilson on two occasions.

Berwick offered little resistance, to the extent that they were half a lap behind on occasions, which hardly made for spectacular racing, but the home fans were not complaining.

Former Tiger Benji Compton, younger brother of Tigers skipper Andre, was an impressive winner of race 2 as he just managed to hold off a strong challenge from Tigers reserve Paul Cooper, and he went on to score seven points from his six rides despite an awkward fall midway through the meeting.

Bandits boss Peter Waite nominated Michal Makovsky for double points in Heat 11 and he responded in style with a fine win over Joel Parsons, and with Benji Compton third the Bandits enjoyed their only race advantage of the night, 7-2.

After that, Tigers rounded the meeting off in style with three race wins in the next four heats and skipper Compton completed his maximum when he brushed aside Makovsky after a tight first turn in Heat 15.

Tigers will be without Ben Wilson on Saturday as he defends his British Under-21 crown at Eastbourne, and Redcar's Californian Chris Kerr comes in as a guest replacement after scoring ten points on his last visit to Shielfield Park recently.

SHEFFIELD: Andre Compton 13+2, Ben Wilson 12+1, Ricky Ashworth 10+1, James Birkinshaw 9+2, Paul Cooper 8+3, Joel Parsons 7, James Cockle 3+2.

BERWICK: Michal Makovsky 14, Benji Compton 7, Andreas Bergstrom 7, Stanislaw Burza 1+1, Jacek Rempala 1, Rob Grant 1, Michael Coles 0.