Sheffield Tigers v Leicester Lions

SHEFFIELD registered another statement victory with a 57-33 home win over Premiership Knockout Cup winners Leicester on Thursday.

Seven nights on from racing to their biggest win of the season (58-32) against Northampton, the Tigers were completely dominant once again as they moved to within one point of their opponents inside the play-off places.

It was another blistering start for the Steel City side who opened with seven straight heat advantages, including four 5-1s in the first five races, to lead 32-10 and put the match beyond their opponents.

Leon Flint registered a four-ride 12-point maximum whilst Ryan Douglas led the Lions’ response with 11 points including two race wins as they limited damage in the second half of the meeting.

Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “It’s another really solid win for us – but we know this will fire Leicester up even more for when we go to their place next week!

“Again it was nice to see plenty of really strong individual performances – and it was nice to see the contribution from our reserves after their disappointment at King’s Lynn on Monday. I was really pleased with that.”

Douglas said: “They started so well and put us under the pump. They took the meeting away from us before it started really, so it’s a shame.

“We had a similar thing at Belle Vue so we know it’s not good enough. We’re going out there and giving it 100 per cent but sometimes it doesn’t work out that way.”

SHEFFIELD 57: Leon Flint 12, Josh Pickering 10, Jason Doyle 9+1, Chris Holder 7+2, Jye Etheridge 7+1, Anders Rowe 7, Luke Killeen 5+2.
LEICESTER 33: Ryan Douglas 11, Nick Morris 8+2, Drew Kemp 4, Joe Thompson 3+1, Dan Thompson 3. Sam Masters 3, Will Cairns 1.

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Photo credit: CHARLOTTE FLANIGAN