SHEFFIELD were beaten 49-41 in the Premiership Knockout Cup on Thursday by current holders Leicester.
After a rout against Belle Vue a fortnight ago, the Tigers were hopeful they could build on that and take a big step towards progressing through to the Final.
But now they’ll need to beat the Lions away from home next Thursday (April 23, 7.30pm) after an early slip up at Owlerton.
The visitors broke the deadlock in Heat Two when Drew Kemp and Joe Thompson got a 5-1 over Jye Etheridge and Luke Killeen.
But successive 4-2s led by victories from Chris Holder and Josh Pickering saw the scores level again with four races gone.
After beating Jack Holder in the opener as the lone Lion following an exclusion for Ryan Douglas who shed a chain on the start line, Dan Thompson then defeated Chris Holder in Heat Five to lead a 4-2 again move in front.
But the Tigers hit back immediately with a 4-2 of their own with Jack Holder producing a scintillating ride to storm under Sam Masters before coasting into the distance to take the win.
Whilst Anders Rowe won Heat Eight with ease, further 4-2s in Heats Seven and Nine saw the visitors restore their earlier four point lead.
Jack Holder then produced another wonderful passing move to get by former Tiger Nick Morris in what was the first of four straight 3-3s.
But the visitors sealed the win on the night with a race to spare with a 5-1 from former Tigers Kyle Howarth and Drew Kemp, before Jack Holder claimed his third triumph of the contest to keep the gap at eight.
Tigers team boss Simon Stead said: “Sometimes you’ve got to roll with the punches and acknowledge that you were beaten by the better team.
“That was certainly the case tonight - but you’ve got to remember it’s early days, it’s only our second home meeting.
“I think you could see that there’s still a little bit of rustiness there and it’s quite obvious from the scorechart that we had too many last places and that needs addressing.
“But as I said, it’s our second meeting here, we need more laps and with that will come improved performances.
“For whatever reason, Leicester were more at it than we were and we have to hold our hands up, acknowledge that we weren’t good enough and make sure we come out swinging in a weeks time.”
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (NORTH) SHEFFIELD 41: Jack Holder 12+1, Chris Holder 10, Josh Pickering 9, Anders Rowe 5+1, Jye Etheridge 2+1, Leon Flint 2, Luke Killeen 1. LEICESTER 49: Ryan Douglas 9, Kyle Howarth 8+2, Drew Kemp 8+1, Dan Thompson 8, Nick Morris 6+1, Joe Thompson 5+2, Sam Masters 5.
