Sheffield Tigers v Wolverhampton Wolves

Report

SHEFFIELD produced a strong finish at Owlerton to seize control of their Premiership Knockout Cup semi-final tie with Wolverhampton.

The Tigers built up an 18-point advantage from their home leg with an impressive 54-36 victory, doing most of their work after the interval by recording three 5-1s in the final four races.

Grand Prix star Jack Holder (13+1) and Polish ace Tobiasz Musielak (12+1) were both in fine form for the hosts, with skipper Kyle Howarth notching 10+1 at reserve.

Ryan Douglas led the way for Wolves with 10, and they host the second leg at Monmore Green on June 19.

Tigers boss Simon Stead said: “They were keeping us honest a lot of the way through the meeting, so we had to regroup a little bit and we finished really strong, we turned the screw a little bit and that was good.

“Wolverhampton is a really tough place to go though, they’ve got some great riders who ride their place very, very well.

“So while 18 points is something I’m happy with, it’s still only half the job done and we still know we need to finish it off at Wolves.”

Wolves star Rory Schlein said: “They’re pretty special around their place, so we knew it was going to be tough. We hung in there for quite a bit but it was just a hard meeting.

“We know what we can do in the second leg though, so while the result could’ve been better, we’ve given ourselves an outside chance for sure.”

PREMIERSHIP KO CUP SEMI-FINAL, 1st leg
SHEFFIELD 54: Jack Holder 13+1, Tobiasz Musielak 12+1, Kyle Howarth 10+1, Adam Ellis 7+2, David Bellego 6+1, Lewis Kerr 4+3, Dan Gilkes 2.
WOLVERHAMPTON 36: Ryan Douglas 10, Rory Schlein 7+1, Steve Worrall 6+1, Sam Masters 6, Leon Flint 4, Zach Cook 2+1, Luke Becker 1.

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Photo credit: PHIL McGLYNN