AARON Summers went to war with Richie Worrall in a heated Premier League speedway clash in Glasgow - but Somerset won the battle.

The Tigers skipper claimed his Rebels rival tried to swing a punch at him then deliberately stuck him in the fence as the two locked horns three times at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium.

But the Australian's side went down 42-47 to put a dent in their bid to finish in the top two.

Rebels No.4 Worrall came down on the back straight in the last lap of heat three as Summers passed him on the inside.

The referee went in the home rider's favour and excluded the visitor, but he appeared to have a go at Summers on the warm-down lap.

A melee then took place on the track among other pits staff and Worrall as the Tigers man took the plaudits of a big crowd.

The pair came together again in heat 14 when Worrall, off the inside gate, was deemed to have taken both Summers and his own team-mate Paul Starke wide, leaving both in the air fence. They then had another battle in heat 15 when Summers sought out revenge but both finished in one piece.

Summers, 27, said: "It wasn't the greatest of days but it was dirty riding, that's for sure.

"There's no other way to describe it. There's hard and there's dirty, and that was dirty - there was no need for it.

"You have good days and bad days. I still finished on a decent score.

"In heat three I was making the pass, and I was pretty much past him and he decided he was going to turn left on me more to try and stop my move. My footrest got caught in something of his and it bent my footrest.

"It's probably lucky we didn't both end up in a heap - I was quite glad I never ended up on the floor. He wasn't even on the race line - he was almost mid-track.

"He tried to swing at me and that started it all off. But it was his own fault - he's the one that tried to make a dirty move.

"In heat 14 he ended up wiping his own team-mate to get me. But he was barely at the corner when he came across everyone.

"In heat 15 I had way more speed and I wasn't giving in - not after what he'd served up. He was getting it back just as hard."

Summers' win in heat three took the Tigers 12-5 ahead and they extended that lead in heat five when the captain and James Sarjeant bagged a 4-2.

Nick Morris looked like he was back to his best but was catapulted from his machine when he clipped the air fence while leading heat six, the unfortunate Oliver Greenwood following on and clattering Morris' bike. The home No 1 was disqualified, handing the Rebels a 5-1.

There was more controversy in heat seven when Richard Lawson was thrown out the race after Somerset's Charles Wright came off while duelling for the lead on the first lap. That ended up being another 5-1 - and the Rebels got two more of those in heats nine and 10.

Glasgow started a fightback in heat 11 when Victor Palovaara joined Lawson for an impressive maximum over wonderkid Brady Kurtz, then Summers produced more thrills with a brilliant swoop round Wright on the last lap to get a 4-2.

But the home challenge effectively ended there as two shared heats, plus a visitors' 4-2, secured them the three points.

Summers was once more at the centre of things in the re-run of heat 14 when, while clear in the lead, he slowed up entering the last lap - leaving the door open for a 3-3. He admitted afterwards that he had miscounted - thinking the four laps had already been run.

It means that Glasgow - in second place - are now just two points clear of the Rebels, who have raced the same number of meetings as the Tigers, with two meetings left to go before the top six enter the play-offs.

Tigers scorers: Aaron Summers 12+2, Victor Palovaara 10+2, Richard Lawson 8+1, James Sarjeant 5, Nick Morris 4, Hynek Stichauer 3, Kauko Nieminen R/R.