Speedway: Hard times at Glasgow Tigers but we can still claim top-6 place, says Alan Dick

Jun 20 2012 By Fraser Wilson

Joe Grajczonek

ALAN DICK admits Glasgow Tigers are out of luck - but not out of contention - after emerging from their triple header weekend with just a single point.

The stripes hit the road last Thursday for the first of three huge Premier League fixtures starting at Ipswich Witches.

But a burning lorry on the motorway threw their preparations into dissarray straight away with three of the squad having to get changed in their van en-route and making it to the starting line with just minutes to spare.

The eventual 63-29 defeat was no surprise considering the farcical preparations and there was little luck 24 hours later when the Tigers headed to Somerset.

Key middle order rider Josh Grajczonek crahed out after just three races and, suffering from the effects of a head knock, was ruled out of Sunday's home meeting with Workington.

The 58-34 defeat at Somerset meant a victory against the Cumbrians at Ashfield was vital if Dick's side were to keep tabs on the leading pack.

But with two heats left and trailing by eight points it looked bleak. Thankfully there was to be a silver lining to the gloomy weekend's action though as the Tigers stormed to two 5-1 wins in the final heats courtesy of Mason Campton and Chris Mills then James Grieves and Joe Screen to snatch a point.

Drawing breath after the hectic schedule, Dick said: "That was a hard few days.

"It got off to a bad start on the way to Ipswich when three of the boys were stuck on the motorway for hours because of a lorry fire.

"It meant they had to get changed in their vans, they had no time to test the track ahead of the meeting and didn't even get a chance to speak with their team mates.

"We lost heavily there and again were well beaten at Somerset on Friday where we lost Josh Grajczonek after he bruised his arm and knocked his head.

"It meant we lost his services for Sunday which was the meeting we really wanted to win. James Wright came in as a guest from Somerset but he didn't really cover himself in glory.

"We did at least have a fantastic fightback to celebrate though and in the end it was a good result because Workington are many people's tip for the title.

"For us we just need to knuckle down. We enjoyed the good times last year and are encountering harder times at the moment.

"But the aim remains to finish in the top six and claim a play-off place."

Glasgow's tough run continues this weekend when they travel to Cumbria for the return meeting with Workington before they welcome Scunthorpe to Ashfield on Sunday, 4pm start.