FRESH from the euphoria of the Premier League Knockout Cup victory over Edinburgh, the Somerset Rebels now turn their attentions back to the League Championship itself with a semi-final play-off tie against the Glasgow Tigers, the first leg of which is at Somerset’s Oaktree Arena tomorrow night (Friday) and the second leg in Glasgow on Sunday.

Somerset received a bye into the semi-final stages of the Championship-deciding play-offs by virtue of their second place finish in the league table at the conclusion of the regular season, while Glasgow overcame Plymouth 100-80 in their quarter-final tie.

Somerset did the double over Glasgow in the Premier League matches between the two sides, winning 58-32 at the Oaktree Arena in mid-July before going on to defeat the Tigers on their home shale 47-42 in August - but team manager Garry May knows that those results will count for nothing when the two sides meeting for the right to contest the Championship Grand Final against either Edinburgh or Peterborough.

He said: “Of course you tend to look at those matches as a bit of a form guide, but, in truth, those matches are long since done and dusted.

“We start the matches all-square and so we’ll be looking for a good first-leg lead with which to go to Glasgow on Sunday, though as we proved in our KO Cup Final against Edinburgh, the Somerset boys are just a capable of defending a relatively narrow lead if that should be the case come the end of Friday’s match.

“We have been in each of the three Play-Off Finals held since the current system was first brought in, and we are very determined to make it four in a row, though I am sure that Glasgow will have something to say about that.

“But hopefully we’ll have a packed out the Oaktree Arena for Friday’s first leg to not only cheer the boys on but to give them the reception they more than deserve for winning the KO Cup.”