Newcastle beat Sheffield home and away in the league and were always going to be a handful over the two legs, especially with Dakota North at reserve and able to take 7 rides. Jason King for the Diamonds and Josef Franc were both missing with both teams operating rider replacement and Sheffield called up Adam Roynon for long-term injury victim Paul Cooper. Kenni Larsen was left at the start in heat one and while everyone watched Hugh Skidmore close in on and then pass Derek Sneddon on the last lap they overlooked the four perfect laps which Ricky used to beat his own TRACK RECORD! Adam Roynon and Simon Lambert trapped ahead of Dakota and just held on for the maximum heat win. Hugh was rider replacement in heat 3 and passed Rene Bach out of turn 2. Richard Hall closed in on and also passed Rene with a sweet inside dive on the third bend, third lap. Mark Lemon trapped to win heat 4 but Josh Auty and Simon shared the heat. The Diamonds gave Kenni a tactical ride in heat 5 and he made no mistake leading from the start while Dakota had his hands full but held onto second ahead of Richard to reduce our lead from 12 to just 5 points.

George sacrifices Dakota for young Adam in heat 6 but the fastest man around Owlerton wins from Mark and Hugh as the Tigers attempt to rebuild their lead. The Diamonds lead the way in heat 7 but Josh does his stuff to pass Derek on lap 2 and then Rene one lap later. In an action packed last lap Rene regains the lead passing Josh, but Adam evens things up by catching Derek on the run to the chequered flag. Hope the Diamonds fans are enjoying some proper racing for a change. Mark traps ahead in heat 8 but everyone is watching as Simon and Dakota trade second place for all four laps. Dakota goes for broke on the last bend only for Hugh to steal third place on the finish line. The Diamonds lead the way in heat 9 but Richard rounds Dakota around the second bend of lap 3 and Adam follows suit on the fourth turn. Not content with second Richard scrapes the boards and catches Mark on the run to the flag. (Bet he wouldn't be able to do the same at bRough Park!). Rene leads heat 10 but Ricky dives past on the inside at the start of lap 2 and leaves him for dead. Hugh's third place extends the Tigers lead to 11 points.

Josh passed Kenni out of turn two and went on to win heat 11 while Adam and Dakota pass and re-pass for third place until it finishes as a 3-3. Richard and Simon lead heat 12 with Simon performing heroics to keep Dakota back in third place. Mark gets unexpected drive out of turn two and falls in heat 13. He walks away but is excluded from the restart. Kenni gates and not even Ricky could get on terms. Rene is given another tactical ride in heat 14. Simon traps but Rene passes him on the second lap closely followed by Richard, and Dakota does the same on lap 3. Ricky and Richard take on Kenni and Rene in heat 15 with Ricky trapping ahead and just holding Rene off after race long attention. Kenni rides high and wide and never looks like being caught by Richard leaving the Tigers 10 points ahead. A great effort from the Tigers, but I guess it won't be enough to defend around bRough Park in the return leg.

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