SHEFFIELD came through a bruising outcome with another Premier League victory on Thursday - although they had to be content with two points against a surprise Newport outfit.

But the Window Centre Tigers were grateful in many ways to finish the night with a full septet as Ricky Ashworth and Hugh Skidmore both walked away from frightening crashes.

Ashworth came a cropper twice, the first when he rammed into team-mate Skidmore in Heat 10 with both riders ending up in a second turn heap, although a battered and bruised Skidmore was surprisingly disqualified

For all their bad luck, Tigers had some good fortune when visiting skipper Leigh Lanham's engine blew while leading the next race, gifting the hosts a 5-1 through Josh Auty - who had been harshly disqualified from his second ride for clattering Newport's Kyle Legault - and Paul Cooper.

That put Tigers on the winning track, although Ashworth's second crash in Heat 13 gave the Wasps the impetus to salvage a point for keeping the score within six.

Double figure scores from Josef Franc and Auty did make sure the Tigers avoided a second home league defeat, but Newport snatched their reward when ex-Tiger Legault and the impressive Kim Nilsson - on his Owlerton debut - won the last two heats.

TIGERS 47: Josef Franc 10+1, Josh Auty 10, Richard Hall 8+2, Paul Cooper 6+2, Ricky Ashworth 5, Simon Lambert 4+3, Hugh Skidmore 4.

NEWPORT 42: Kim Nilsson 13+1, Kyle Legault 8+2, Leigh Lanham 6, Robin Aspegren 5, Alex Davies 6, Craig Watson 3+1, Todd Kurtz 1.