Monarchs Win But Tigers Qualify

The Border Roofing Monarchs won a hotly-contested Scottish derby 48-41 tonight, but went out of the Knockout Cup on a fairly comprehensive 78-95 aggregate.

Alex Harkess said “I was disappointed with our performance, too many riders throwing in bad rides and not performing as they should be capable of. We were well beaten overall.”

The damage was certainly done in the first leg but we went into tonight’s tie feeling we had just an inkling of a chance, if we could get off to a good start. Equally Glasgow must have been confident with a 24 point advantage.

The match drew our biggest crowd of the season to see who would gain the upper hand. The home riders gated in heat 1 but Mark Riss spun through 360° and the chance was lost. In heat 2, after the Tigers had gated better, Max Clegg and Nike Lunna fell on the third corner, and were both ruled out of the rerun. Dan Bewley won the heat by passing Danny Ayres but that felt like another chance lost.

As the match went on, shared heats were the order of the day, and that wasn’t enough for us. In the end 11 heats finished 3-3, to add to the heat 2 3-2 plus three 4-2s we managed to eke out.

While Glasgow rode well, they didn’t actually manage a heat advantage, but we were at no stage able to put them under pressure by building an advantage.

Our star man of course was Sam Masters, working hard to take four wins. He wasn’t necessarily gating ahead but some powerful first corners brought him victory in every ride other than a torrid heat 13.

In this one Tigers were on a 5-1 which would have given them the lead in the match, but Kevin Wolbert pulled off an excellent pass on Aaron Summers, with Sam Masters following suit later. The three had a good battle for the minor places behind leader Lawson, until Summers fell going into the final lap.

A 4-2 in heat 14 then ensured we won on the night, but Glasgow had long since qualified (as early as heat 11 when they were just 3 behind).

Other than Sam, Kevin Wolbert rode well and we had decent enough points from reserve, though neither Dan Bewley nor Max Clegg gated consistently. Ryan Fisher rode with his broken foot but was more inclined to blame his engine than the injury for a modest score.

For Glasgow Richie Worrall gave a powerful performance throughout with main support from Richard Lawson and Rene Bach, plus important points from Nike Lunna.

Glasgow will meet Somerset in the semi-final. It will be the first time we haven’t been KO Cup Finalists since 2013.

Knockout Blow

So we go again as we look to welcome the Glasgow Allied Vehicle Tigers to Armadale for the 5th time this season in the 2nd leg of the KO Cup Quarter Final.

Of course 3 of the previous 4 attempts have been washed out in what has been the worst run of weather in the Monarchs history however the forecast looks a lot more promising for tomorrow as the Monarchs look to overcome a substantial 24 point deficit to try and progress to the Semi’s yet again.

Glasgow will travel east full of confidence of locking up their own place in the last four. The Tigers put together a powerhouse performance in the 1st leg at Ashfield at the end of last month and ran out 54-30 victors.

We have seen before though that the Monarchs are at their best when the chips are down and no one in the camp has given up yet but we all know the scope of the task ahead. The Tigers come into the meeting of the back of a shock result slipping up at home to Somerset last Sunday prior to this though they were on perhaps their finest form of the season and are still sitting pretty, guaranteed a playoff spot, in the last 4 of the league cup and with one foot in the last 4 of the KO cup. The Tigers are making the experts look good after being predicted to sweep the board at the start of the season.

Both teams know that the first few heats will be crucial and with that in mind Glasgow have shuffled their pack somewhat moving Rene Bach to number 2 to form a powerful spearhead with Aaron Summers.

Key to the outcome will no doubt be the lower orders. Glasgow fans and management have been delighted with the performances of the bottom end of Garcia, Lunna and Ayres and any points they score against the inform lower order of the Monarchs will go a long way to securing their qualification.

The most talked about rider in British Speedway at the moment is undoubtedly our number 7 Dan Bewley. Dan has been in scintillating form recently and is gaining plaudits everywhere he goes. His star turn being the turning point in that aforementioned Glasgow defeat last Sunday as he raced to 13 points guesting for Somerset. If Dan can carry this form into tomorrow night and be backed up by Max coming off the back off a paid 10 score for Wolves then things could get interesting.

Both teams are at full strength after Ryan declared himself fit despite being diagnosed with two broken bones in his foot he will ride on and our mercurial American will be a key man as we look for our top 4 to deliver the goods also.

With the Glasgow fans expected to travel in numbers an electric atmosphere on the terraces is assured and the action on the track promises to be just as exciting.

Edinburgh Border Roofing Monarchs

1- Sam Masters

2- Mark Riss

3- Erik Riss

4- Ryan Fisher

5- Kevin Wolbert

6- Max Clegg

7- Dan Bewley

Glasgow Allied Vehicles Tigers

1- Aaron Summers

2- Rene Bach

3- Richie Worrall

4- Fernando Garcia

5- Richard Lawson

6- Nike Lunna

7- Danny Ayres