Somerset Rebels were on top form against the Glasgow Tigers, running out 62-31 winners.

Somerset Rebels 62

Glasgow Tigers 31

NOT for the first time the motorway system around the Oak Tree Arena caused major problems, with endless queues and closures for most of the day due to a number of accidents.

As the local infrastructure melted, chaos also reigned inside the stadium. However it had nothing to do with the traffic, but was due entirely to the Somerset ‘Dickies’ Rebels wreaking havoc on the Glasgow Tigers in a superb reply for the beating they took last Sunday.

It was the Tigers who made the best start, with Joe Screen taking the tapes, followed by Anders Mellgren, Theo Pijper and Travis McGowan. In heat two, James Holder took the honours, with Alex Davies bringing up the rear.

The Rebels levelled the scores in heat three when Sam Masters led from the tapes, with Joe Haines splitting the Tigers duo of James Grieves and Christian Henry. Heat four was again shared as Michal Rajkowski managed to hold off Cory Gathercole and Holder.

From the next heat, the home side took total control of the match, and despite one blip, never gave the initiative back to the Tigers as they completely dominated affairs.

Joe Haines and Sam Masters hammered home the first of a trio of maximum advantages without reply.

Heat six saw McGowan and Mellgren blast from the start to lead, with Mellgren taking the honours at the tapes. The next heat saw Gathercole and Davies wrap up another maximum.

Now 12-points down at 27-15, the Tigers looked to the power of Rajkowski for an answer, as he emerged wearing the ‘Black and White’. Pijper took the lead followed by Rajkowski to record their first maximum, to reduce the lead to five points.

That was as good as it got for the Tigers, as the Rebels now took an iron grip on the match, not only denying the Tigers another heat winner, but taking maximum points from all but one of the remaining seven heats.

Rajkowski was back out in heat nine, but he had no joy as Masters and Haines powered home. Heat 10 saw McGowan and Mellgren take the honours.

The Tigers looked to Joe Screen, wearing the ‘Black and White’ to pull back some points, but he had no answer to a Rebels duo with their tails firmly up. Gathercole and Davies bolted from the gate, with Davies taking up the running, Gathercole concentrated on keeping Screen at bay and blew the Tigers tactical move out of the water.

Heat 12 saw the Rebels post another maximum as Haines and Holder held off Rajkowksi and Nick Morris. Heat 13 saw Gathercole take the honours after a battle with Screen, with McGowan taking third place.

The Rebels recorded another maximum in heat 14, when Davies and Masters rode the Tigers duo out of the race.

The nominated heat brought the Masters to the tapes, alongside the equally potent Gathercole. The Tigers tracked Pijper and Morris in their place. The result was almost inevitable as the Rebels pair led from the gate and took the final full house to run out impressive 62-31 winners.

For the Rebels, Haines scored 8+2, Davies 8+1, Mellgren 8+1, Holder and McGowan both contributed points to the cause, but the powerhouse performances came from Gathercole (13+1) and Masters with a paid maximum of 13+2.

The Rebels take a break from Premier League action this weekend when they face Newcastle Diamonds in the quarter-final of the KO Cup, with Somerset staging the first leg tomorrow (Fri), then travelling to the North East on Sunday for the second leg.