A DRAW AT NEWCASTLE IN A 14-HEATER

The Scotwaste Monarchs gained a hard-fought 42-42 draw at Newcastle tonight in a match which was abandoned after heat 14.

It was absolutely correct that the top riders were not asked to go out and race a last heat decider in the conditions, it would not have been a fair way to decide the match.

In fact it was Craig Cook's view that the match should have been halted before heat 13, even though he won that race.

Alex Harkess added "I was happy to take the two points and not ask our top two to go out and take risks."

Craig and Sam Masters were the top men in the meeting with Craig back to his devastating best - and believe it or not he broke his frame and had to swap everything over to his other bike after his second race!

We were most unlucky in heat 14 to lose a 5-1 after Steve Worrall had led, then Derek Sneddon was adjudged the guilty party after passing Simon Nielsen who fell. The next attempt was pulled back with Stevie having made the gate, and finally Stevie fell when in second on the treacherous third bend.

However Danny King had also fallen there after making the start in heat 13, so there were not too many complaints in either camp.

The track had been overwatered before the start, and this had a bearing on the whole match as well as the quick deterioration of the conditions when the rain came on in the latter stages. Some riders coped better than others.

We started with a 4-2 and right away it looked as if Craig Cook had rediscovered his touch. Derek won heat 2 impressively, but our middle pair did not find conditions easy. They lost a 5-1 in heat 3 in spite of gating well.

Ludvig Lindgren was another who struggled and he fell in heat 4, in which we went back in front with a maximum.

Cook really flew in heat 5 winning in a time far faster than anything else on the night, in spite of cruising home. Unknown to those on the terracing he then had his machinery drama!

Sam led all the way in heat six in which Danny King fell, but sadly Ben Hopwood had also fallen and could not get the point.

Max and Steve managed to share heat 7 behind Lindgren, and we added two points to our lead as Justin Sedgmen raced home with Derek third. Centre green character Roy Clarke seemed surprised Justin was going so well, but none of the travelling fans were.

We then hit a bad patch and slumped from 26-22 ahead to 28-32 down. Sam was on the unhelpful gate one and could not stop the impressive Kerr-Robson pair, and Stevie just failed in a bold effort to split the Rose-King duo.

However Craig and Justin rescued the situation with a 5-1 over Lindgren, and we saw the best of Max as he led Robson home in heat 12. (Incidentally we had three riders recording times under 64 to Diamonds' none, these being of course Cook, Masters and Fricke).

With Cook now on the dodgy gate one, King led heat 13 but fell, with Craig laying it down speedily. We took an easy 5-1 in the rerun to go 41-37 up, but then came the frustration of heat 14.

Another good away result though and much to be happy about in the performances.

DIAMOND DAY

The Scotwaste Monarchs complete a busy few days of fixtures with a visit to Newcastle on Sunday evening for a Premier League match.

The Diamonds are enjoying a fine run of home form and have not lost on their own track since the Scotwaste Monarchs defeated them on the first of June. The Diamonds are still battling for a place in the top six but they will have to pick up the majority of league points available to them if they are to have any chance of doing so.

The Scotwaste Monarchs remain on top of the Premier League following Somerset's defeat at Berwick on Saturday night and a win at Newcastle will ensure that they remain there this evening.

Aaron Fox is still not fit to resume and coming in at reserve is Stoke's Ben Hopwood a regular in the Monarchs' pits this season as Stevie's mechanic.

The match gets underway at 7.00pm.