On a bitterly cold afternoon with a biting wind blowing off the North sea and rain and sleet forecast it was a welcome announcement from Shaun that there would be no parade. Then as 5pm arrived they started to wheel bikes across the centre  green with very threatening clouds appearing overhead. It was good news for the visiting supporters though as it was announced that the Tigers had already won the toss for gate positions and were taking gates 1 & 3.

When we eventually got under way it was more good news for the Tigers as Joel Parsons kept it nice and tight on the first two bends to lead down the back straight. André cut back out of turn two to join him but went too wide on the 2nd bend of lap three allowing Andy Moore though into second place. Byron Bekker trapped ahead in heat 2 with Benji Compton on his tail but Lee Smethills move into second with the inside line out of turn two. Benji kept it wound on and passed Lee out of the 4th turn on the third lap but made the mistake of going too wide again on turn two allowing Lee to pass him on the inside. Not to be outdone he again went around Lee on the last bend to claim the Scorpions first Premier 5-1. Ricky Ashworth powered his way to a clinical heat win in heat 3 but Paul Cooper was off the pace and trailed in last. Richard Hall dominated heat 4 with Ben Wilson passing the rest of the field up the inside of turn 2. Benji was trying too hard and allowed Lee to sneak into third place on the second bend of lap three to share the heat. Joel passed Magnus Karlsson on the second bend to lead heat 5 and André joined him for a Tigers 5-1 by diving inside Magnus on the first turn of lap 2. One third into the match and the Tigers lead by 2 points despite the wind and rain and snow (briefly). Hope the Scunny fans can cope with some serious competition for a change.

Heat 6 was an eye opener as so far most passes had occurred as result of riders getting out of shape on the outside of turn two, but Carl Wilkinson bucked the trend by passing Ben in that exact place and riding the same line all the way to the finish. Richard Hall made another fine start to win heat 7 but Paul was on his case and came so very close to surprising him with an outside blast off the last bend. Lee Smethills made a corker of a gate to lead heat 8 and Joel (off gate 4) passed the Scorpions pair on the inside on the second bend to join him up front. Joel breezed past his team mate on the second lap to take the lead (and was chastised for doing so when he returned to the pits!). Scunny's Swedes gated ahead in heat 9 but obviously hadn't been watching any of the action and allowed Ben Wilson to pass them on the inside for another shared heat. Ricky trapped ahead to lead heat 10 and Paul (correctly geared now) passed the Scorpions to join him up front, until he encountered a well known feature of the second bend and tumbled arse over tit! He quickly jumped back on but heat was shared. Tigers four points ahead.

Joel cut back under everyone to take the lead in heat 11 with André on his tail, then Richard Hall spotted a section of the fence that was in need of replacement and pointed it out to the track staff by demolishing it. Joel joined André at the front in the rerun only for his engine to blow on the third turn. Ricky couldn't believe his luck as he passed Magnus up the inside out of the second bend and went on to win heat 12 by a considerable margin. Andy took André very wide on the second turn of heat 13 but the Tigers skipper blasted around both him and race leader Richard out of the fourth turn to maintain the Tigers advantage. Ben chased hard but never looked like passing Andy. Paul made his first good start and held off Byron Bekker's challenges to win heat 14 and assure that the Tigers couldn't lose the match. Kenny Smith nominated Richard and Magnus for heat 15 while Booey opted for André and Ricky. The Tigers skipper again passed the Scorpions pair on the inside of turn 2 to lead the way and Ricky rode a sensible line and passed Magnus on the third lap (guess where, yes on the inside of the second bend) to make it another Tigers heat win.

Some great racing despite the Arctic conditions and I'm sure the new Scorpions riders will quickly dial themselves into their track. It will be interesting to see how the two teams compare when they meet in the KO Cup next month. Sam Martin was out practicing after the meeting but it was only really his gating which was letting him down. It'll be interesting to see how he goes for the Saints on Monday. Joel missed out on another maximum with his engine blowing in heat 11 and is looking at an £800 repair bill. All donations will be gratefully received. Rob Godfrey congratulated Neil Machin in the pits after the meeting and prophesied that the Tigers would be league champions this year. No pressure then lads!

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