The Sheffield Window Centre Tigers were drawn against local rivals Scunthorpe in the preliminary round of the KO Cup to generate another local derby match but heavy rainfall half an hour before the start put the dampers on proceedings.

Carl Wilkinson burst from the gate to lead heat 1 and the riders behind him had little chance to see where they were going let alone race. It was a similar story in heat 2 with Lee Smethills looking good on his return to the saddle. There was drama at the start of heat 3 as Paul Coopers engine died at the tapes and steadfastly refused to fire up again. As the two minutes ticked away Paul sprinted back for his spare bike only to find it had no dirt deflector fitted and with his team mates all failing to offer him an alternative he was excluded. Andy Moore led from the gate and André went wide to pass him on turn two but just got bogged down allowing Viktor Bergstrom through into second, and that's how it finished with the Scorpions taking the lead. Ben Wilson led heat 4 by half a straight from Benji Compton who had his work cut out staying ahead of Lee, with Richard Hall well off the pace at the back of the field. André trapped ahead in heat 5, Carl passed his team mate Magnus Karlsson on turn two and then gave chase while Paul mounted on his spare machine never recovered from a poor start. Carl tried an outside swoop on the final turn and very nearly caught André on the finish line. One third into the match and the scores are tied.

Ricky and Richard were neck and neck into turn one of heat 6 with Joel Parsons on Richard's shoulder. Joel lost ground as he was moved out on turn two but Ricky took the win to put the Tigers into a narrow lead. Ben trapped ahead in heat 7 and Andy was ruthless in the way he scythed under his partner on the first turn. Andy then tried the outside line on the pits turn on lap 2 but just got filled in for his trouble which probably had something to do with his bike spluttering to a halt on the third turn and Andy toppling off in the sludge. Lee made a great start to lead heat 8 with Joel blasting around him to take the lead down the back straight. Benji never looked like challenging for second place and heat 1 winner Carl was struggling at the back and retired straight to the pits. Paul got the drop in heat 9 but Richard wasted little time in powering past him to lead down the back straight while André seemed to lack power back in third place. Joel took the lead in heat 10 with Andy passing Ricky on the outside of turn two. Ricky re-passed him on the first turn of the second lap and had caught Joel by turn three but looked back and decided to team ride with his partner. The 5-1 gave the Tigers a handy twelve point lead.

It was time for Kenny Smith to intervene, but he curiously decided to give Carl the black & white instead of the Scorpions No.1. Ironic then that Magnus made his first decent start and pulled away from Ben for a comfortable win with Carl just getting the single extra point for outpacing Sam Martin. Desperate measures then as Richard was pressed into heat 12 as a tactical substitute. André took the win ahead of Andy with Lee able to do enough to deny Richard any points despite his high and wide blast around the final turns. More drama in heat 13. Magnus makes another good start to lead and team mate Richard draws alongside out of turn two on the second lap with Ricky and Ben in close company. Disaster as the Scorpions 5-1 disappears with Magnus coasting into the third turn and baulking Ricky in doing so. Richard was streets ahead when it sounded like he lost a chain on the last bend dumping him into the fence. He jumped up and pushed home for the point but the Scorpions could have closed the gap to seven and instead it has opened to fifteen. Lee comes out for heat 14 instead of Sam as the Tigers look for a winning lead, but it's Viktor who gets the drop and leads from Paul and Lee. Kenny must have run over a couple of black cats on his way to Owlerton as Viktor's rear tyre disintegrates at the end of the second lap gifting the Tigers another maximum heat win. Ricky and Ben are Eric's choice for heat 15, while Kenny goes for Richard and Carl. The Scorpions are the early leaders but Ricky dives past Carl into second place out of the second turn lap two and Ben follows suit on the next turn. There's hardly any space between the whole field as Ricky challenges Richard and Carl looks for a way back past Ben, eventually going for the outside blast on the last lap but losing control and clattering into the safety fence.

The Tigers take a nineteen point lead to the Eddie Wright Raceway thanks mainly to some appalling luck suffered by the Scorpions with half their team facing a race against time to put together machinery for the return leg. An excellent return to the saddle for Lee who is looking like demoting Paul to reserve once he's done his three home and away matches.

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