Rotherham left frustrated after dramatic Commonwealth silver
Pilot Matthew Rotherham was left smarting after he and James Ball were forced to settle for silver in the men’s tandem B sprint at the Commonwealth Games.
The pair went head-to-head with home favourite Neil Fachie and his pilot Aaron Pope and after a win each faced a third and final race to decide the destination of the gold medal.
Fachie and Pope dramatically crashed but the race was rerun, with the Scottish pair taking victory and the gold medal.
The Welsh duo also lost out to the Scots in the 1000m time trial on Thursday and were left disappointed about the way Saturday’s racing unfolded.
“When it comes to track cycling, it really is all about the fine margins,” said Rotherham, who hails from Bolton.
“We definitely took it to the Scottish lads today. We didn't qualify at our best and I think the margin was closer in the final, which showed. We got it back to 1-1.
“We weren't really at the races in the first ride, we were solid in the second, and then tactically in the third we took control of the race.
“After the restart following the Scottish boys' crash, we weren't allowed the position that I think we should have been given. It was a bit of a funny one today.
“To my understanding of the rules, if there's a recognised mishap in the first lap of the race and you cause that mishap, you don't get first choice of start position for the restart.
“My feeling is that we rode pretty much in a straight line and they rode into us. Therefore, they caused the incident. If we'd caused it, we'd have been relegated. The race was stopped, but we weren't relegated, so that suggests it wasn't our fault.
“If it's not our fault, then they caused the crash and we should have been given first choice of position at the restart, which would have made a very big difference.
“I'm annoyed but that's sport.”
Ball and Rotherham now turn their attentions to the Para Cycling Track World Championships in October, where they will hope to be amongst the medals once more having taken on board plenty of pointers from their Glasgow experience.
“After seeing the Aussies today, it's going to be quite a battle again,” said Ball.
“We've obviously learned a lot today, and all the other nations will have been watching what happened as well. They'll probably be training even harder after that.
“We'll just keep training and keep working hard. I'm happy with what we did today.
“Do I feel like I've let people down at home? Yes, probably. Months of preparation go into something like this and you want to deliver.
“You have everyone back home watching and supporting you, and there's a lot of pressure that comes with that.
“It's disappointing to come away without the result we wanted, and I'm a bit upset. But at the same time, I'm still proud to come away with a medal.
“I've won quite a few silver medals now, but of course I always want another gold.”
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