SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead says there are positives his side can take from their opening night defeat at Belle Vue.
The Tigers were beaten 48-42 in a last heat decider in the first contest of their Premiership Knockout Cup, Northern Section.
But with such a narrow gap between the two, Stead reckons his side are well placed to take the aggregate point when they meet again at Owlerton this Thursday (April 2, 7.30pm).
Said Stead: “For an opening night display, overall I think there are reasons to be encouraged and there are definitely positives we can take moving forward.
“I think the performances of the lower end of the team was the most pleasing aspect for sure.
“And when you consider a few of the teething problems a few of our other lads had, on most other nights we’d have been walking away with a win in the bag.
“But that’s the first meeting out of the way, we’ve put ourselves in with a real shout of getting the aggregate point on Thursday and the lads are really looking forward to getting back out on home shale competitively.”
Leon Flint topped the Tigers charts as he was unbeaten by an opponent in three of his four rides including when he got the better of World No.2 Brady Kurtz around his own home circuit in Heat 10.
Jye Etheridge demonstrated some sharp reactions away from the tapes and finished with three second places from five outings.
Anders Rowe’s scorechart was up and down, but overall had a solid night with the highlight coming in Heat Eight when he led a 5-1 with debutant Luke Killeen who also showed some early promise.
Josh Pickering lacked speed early on but looked much more like his usual pacey self in his final couple of outings whilst after opening with a win, Chris Holder found conditions much different to when he finished runner-up in the Peter Craven Memorial at the venue a fortnight previous.
Younger brother Jack experienced an eventful night which started with an exclusion when he collected home man Norick Blodorn out of bend four on lap two of the very first race. He then responded with back-to-back wins before suffering a blown motor as Heat 13 was about to commence.
The Tigers now turn their attentions to their first home meeting on Thursday.
Racenight+ tickets are available via sheffield-speedway.com/ticketoffice whilst standard admission can be purchased by cash or card at the turnstiles on racenight only.
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (NORTH) BELLE VUE 48: Brady Kurtz 12, Dan Bewley 11+1, Tate Zischke 10+2, Peter Kildemand 7+1, Zach Cook 7+1, Norick Blodorn 1, Will Cairns 0. SHEFFIELD 42: Leon Flint 8+1, Josh Pickering 7+1, Chris Holder 6+1, Jack Holder 6, Anders Rowe 6, Jye Etheridge 6, Luke Killeen 3+2.
