Tigers will provide some bite with rising young stars

TIPPED as SGB Championship table-toppers by the sport’s pundits, Sheffield Tigers are sure to provide strong opposition for Newcastle Diamonds at Byker on Sunday evening (6.30pm).

The Tigers’ side is packed with young racers who have won armfuls of individual trophies over the past few seasons, with the best known of them being Josh Bates.

Bates arrives as the reigning British Under-21 champion, having beaten Diamonds’ ace Robert Lambert into second place last year.

Sheffield star Josh Grajczonek is one half of last year’s Pairs Championship winners, while Tigers’ team manager Simon Stead rode off into retirement after winning the Premier League (now SGB Championship) Riders’ Championship crown last September.

Newcastle team manager George English admitted: “We will have our hands full, there’s no doubt about that, and we haven’t forgotten how Sheffield knocked us out of the play-offs last year. That one hurt for a long time as we finished three places higher, and with 13 points more, than them in the table.

“We’re hoping Danny Phillips is in the same sort of form he showed last Tuesday when he qualified for this year’s British Under-21 final by scoring 11 points in the semi-final.

“This year, we’ve built a team capable of winning every home match and that is the minimum requirement tomorrow. We’ll also be looking to send the Tigers home without a consolation point for a defeat by six or less points.”