Hard Fought Win in the First League Match

We might not have quite as strong a side at the moment as we’ve had in recent seasons, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the fighting spirit which we displayed in abundance, coming back from a six-point deficit at heat 5 to win 49-41 and deny Workington a point.

Alex Harkess said “We were making too many mistakes early on and just giving away points, but thankfully we sorted it out over the last few heats. In the end I was happy enough.”

The result will certainly disappoint the Comets who were gating so well in the early stages and seemed to be in command of the match. They opened with two 4-2s and that was only because Sam Masters and Max Clegg managed to snatch late second places on the final lap after poor starts.

Ryan Fisher’s win in heat 4 plus a gift for Dan Bewley gained us our first advantage, but we promptly lost a 5-1 when the star Comets’ pair of Wells and Jensen took a 5-1 over Kevin Wolbert.

With the score at 12-18 it wasn’t looking great, but we have a star pair of our own in Masters and Riss who sped away from Claus Vissing to cut the gap. We might have taken the lead in heat 7 with Fisher and Clegg on a 5-1 but Kenneth Hansen overhauled Max. However the scores were levelled.

Max also came into heat 8 with a view to taking a point off their no. 7 Williamson (the Comets’ stronger reserve) but he missed out on that after another slow start. Riss was flying by now though and easily took the race win over Jensen.

Vissing won heat 9 but Wolbert and Etheridge shared it (Jye beating an opponent for the first time with a steady ride). Then we went ahead through (inevitably) Masters and Riss with a 5-1 over Hansen. We need these guys to take the advantages!

We also need Fisher and Wolbert to win heats, and they obliged in the next two races, Ryan doing especially well to head Wells and Jensen. Max Clegg beat Williamson in heat 12 to extend our advantage to 6.

Sam got away in heat 13 but he needed backup, and got it when Fisher rode a really forceful first corner to push into second. Wells managed to catch him but the 4-2 gave us a 43-35 lead, and Max Clegg came up with his best ride of the night to win and secure victory.

The excellent Wells then won the final heat, but it wasn’t enough for a match point.

We Welcome the Comets

The defence of the Premier League title starts this week as we welcome the Workington ‘Thomas Armstrong Ltd’ Comets to the Dale.

As we all know the Monarchs record is second to none in the Premier League with two wins and a Grand Final defeat to our names in the last three years. However we will have to be at our best if we are to start the 2016 campaign on the right foot.

Finally the weather seems to be playing ball this week and we should be set fair for a cracking encounter. The Comets have put together a handy looking outfit that many are tipping to be Playoff contenders and as always we wish a warm welcome to Laura Morgan and all involved with the Cumbria based outfit.

One man who has been affected by the adverse weather at the Dale so far this season as much as anyone is Comets number 1 Ricky Wells. The New Zealand born USA international (can’t have been many riders in the history of Speedway you could say that about) has been due to guest both for and against the Monarchs so far this season but both matches fell foul to the weather. We all know what Ricky can go round the Dale though and for my money he was the most impressive visitor at the Dale last year piling up double figures on numerous occasions. Our top men will have their hands full on Friday no doubt.

Number 2 for the Comets is young Dane Rasmus Jensen. Jensen was a late replacement after Ty Proctor decided to postpone the start of his British season due to visa restrictions and although he has had a stop start beginning to his Workington career missing a couple of matches and falling foul to the weather in a few also he has shown a liking for the Derwent Park track racking up paid 18 in two fixtures. He also has Armadale pedigree having won 2 heats as Somerset pipped us to the KO cup last year.

Continuing what is a strong Danish contingent for Worky at number 3 is Kenneth Hansen. Hansen was signed on what many thought was a steal of an average at the beginning of the 2015 season. While he did not set the world alight he showed enough for the Comets to make him one of the first names on the team sheet this year. So far he has more than repaid that faith racing to double figures in all the Comets fixtures so far,

Joining Hansen in the engine room of the Comets line-up is Aussie Mason Campton. Many will remember Mason first being sighted on these shores with Glasgow what seems like a few years ago now. The reason for this is Mason rather unluckily has been probably the most affected by the visa issues that faced UK Speedway’s Aussie contingent over the last couple of years. Thankfully this appears to have been resolved now and Mason will look to build on the promise he has shown so far.

Number 5 for the Comets another Dane and this time an ex-Monarch it’s Claus Vissing. Claus was a late call up to the team in 2014 when Sam fell foul to the visa issues. Being called up after a sterling effort in the Ben fund meeting at Berwick and while I’m sure he would be the first to admit he never quite got to grips with Armadale this was not due to a lack of effort. Claus is an all out trier and is in his element on the wide open expanses of bigger tracks which makes Workington a perfect home as recovers from a nasty knee injury suffered last year. I’m sure no one will be calling for a taxi for Claus on Friday.

Senior reserve for the Comets is Cumbrian boy Adam Roynon. Adam’s travails with injury have been well documented over the years and everyone in British speedway whether Workington fan or not will be hoping for a successful injury free run for a rider who was once one of the hot prospects in British Speedway. With a pressure free run at reserve Adam could regain some of his previous form although it has to be said this has very rarely been shown round Armadale.

Number 7 for the Comets and slotting in as the ‘fast track’ reserve is Matt Williamson. Williamson is another of the ex motocross riders who appear to be flooding the speedway scene just now and long may it continue. Matt is always immaculately turned out and will be looking to make a name for himself this season after an unsuccessful spell with Scunthorpe last year and the early signs have been promising.

Now onto the home men our Blue and Gold Heroes the Edinburgh ‘Border Roofing’ Monarchs. We will need to go some to match the unparalleled success of the last 2 years when we have dominated proceedings on the way to consecutive league titles.

There is a quiet confidence round the camp though as we open our league campaign with a team expected to improve as the season goes on this only being boosted by our away win at Berwick in the League Cup last weekend. Maintaining a solid home record at the start of the season will be key though and with this only being the second home match of the season and looking like the first to be run in decent conditions it will be interesting to see how the new boys cope.

One man who we have no fear of how he will cope is number 1 and captain Sam Masters. Sam has started the season on fire and has only dropped 2 points in his three matches at Premier League level so far. He also raced to a paid maximum in his home debut for Wolves in the Elite League last Monday. The rest of our top 4 have all shown glimpses and were all on top form in the aforementioned victory last week. Ryan seems to have sorted out his early machine gremlins. Kevin has been as dependable as ever and Erik is impressing wherever he goes with his progression marked form this time last season.

While the top 4 will need to be on top form it is the bottom 3 that give us most interest and we will look for them to start aiding the cause slightly more than they have done so far. No pressure is being placed on Dan and Jye and Dan can be happy with his excellent second place in his opening heat at Berwick last week. Machine gremlins then forced him onto his second bike which was not set up to deal with the difficult conditions. While we have seen glimpses of promise from Jye hopefully this is the match that these glimpses turn into points. The enigma in the team so far has been Max. We all know what Max is capable off on his day and his heat 2 ride in difficult conditions in the home fixture against Berwick the other week will take some beating for heat of the season. However these moments of brilliance have been interspersed with moments of extreme frustration. The season is still young though and we can all hope to see Max at his flying best on Friday.

Finally the weather forecast appears to be in our favour and we can look forward to an interesting tussle as we look to get the defence of our Premier League crown of to the best possible start.