Sheffield Tigers boss Simon Stead frustrated after semi-final first leg win over Leicester Lions

The Tigers lead the tie 46-43 ahead of Monday’s second leg in the East Midlands but a combination of taking only three points from the last three heats and some controversial refereeing left Stead in a bad mood.

“I’m disappointed because we’d done so much right over a long period of the meeting,” said Stead.

“To get to Heat 12 and be in that position was a really good effort - but the tide turned and now we’ve got three points to play with.”

The Lions were trailing by 14 points with three heats remaining but charged back into contention when Fricke and Sam Masters completed a 5-1 over home stars Jack Holder and Josh Pickering.

Then the Tigers saw both Nick Morris and Anders Rowe disqualified from a controversial Heat 14 leaving Drew Kemp and Kyle Howarth to complete an unchallenged 5-0.

Rowe still top-scored for the Tigers with 8+3, with Chris Holder on 8+2.

“That really cost us because the eight point swing from a potential 3-3 to a 0-5 is huge,” added Stead.

“What frustrates me the most is that we get to the play-offs every year and yet again we’re talking about refereeing decisions.

“You sound like a broken record when you get to these sort of fixtures, we talk about the same things over and over and we never seem to get any improvement or consistency. It’s just the same story and something has to change.”

The second leg takes place at the Lions’ Hydroscand Arena on Monday ( 7.30pm).

SCORING – Sheffield Tigers 46: Anders Rowe 8+3, Chris Holder 8+2, Josh Pickering 8, Jack Holder 7, Nick Morris 6+1, Leon Flint 5+1, Jye Etheridge 4+1.

Leicester Lions - 43: Sam Masters 12+1, Drew Kemp 10, Max Fricke 9+1, Kyle Howarth 6+2, Ryan Douglas 5+1, Luke Becker 1, Joe Thompson 0.