ANDRE Compton made an astonishing comeback from last week’s frightening crash at King Lynn, by scoring a 15-point full maximum in Sheffield’s thumping 62-31 Premier Trophy victory over Birmingham on Thursday evening at Owlerton.

Compton first feared he may be sidelined for several weeks after last week’s fall, but after x-rays revealed no broken bones, the Tigers skipper showed his courage by returning just eight days later to lead his team to an excellent victory over the league’s newcomers.

Ricky Ashworth was also in great form once again for Sheffield, scoring 13 (paid 14) and in the process clocked up the fastest time so far this the season at Owlerton, when taking the chequered flag in heat 1 in a time of 60.6. It was a good all-round performance by the home side, with James Birkinshaw 9 (paid 10) and Joel Parsons & Paul Cooper 7 (paid 8) apiece giving best support to the top two.

The Tigers got off to a flier with a flurry of 4-2’s in the opening three races and, then a 5-1 in heat 4 from Cooper and Ben Wilson increased their advantage to 17-7. They kept the gas on with another 4-2 in heat 5 and a further 5-1 from Ashworth and Parsons in heat 6 made it 26-10.

The Brummies did make a brief fight back with a 6-3 when Jason Lyons won heat 7 as a tactical ride, but successive 5-1’s and 4-2 over the next three heats put the Tigers into an unassailable 43-20 lead after heat 10.

Two more 4-2’s over the next four races made it 57-30 going into heat 15 and, then a last heat 5-1 from Sheffield’s dynamic duo of Compton and Ashworth over Ostergaard and Lyons, saw the Tigers run out comfortable 62-31 winners on the night.

The return match between the two teams takes place at Birmingham's Perry Barr stadium tomorrow evening (Good Friday, 7.45pm).

TIGERS: Andre Compton 15, Ricky Ashworth 13+1, James Birkinshaw 9+1, Joel Parsons 7+1, Paul Cooper 7+1, Ben Wilson 6+3, James Cockle 5+1

BIRMINGHAM: Ulrich Ostergaard 11, Jason Lyons 10, Emiliano Sanchez 4, Ben Powell 4, Aidan Collins 1, Lee Smart 1, Brent Werner 0