Edinburgh Monarchs v Mildenhall Fen Tigers

REPORT Friday 11th August 2006, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After losing a 2-4 in the opening heats, Monarchs tried hard but found it impossible to close the gap.

Against a solid Fen Tigers' side, too many of the home men were below par. That did not apply, though, to captain Theo Pijper who was in brilliant form in spite of a leg injury, or to double figure reserve Derek Sneddon.

Daniele Tessari made his home debut for the team and although he only scored two points, he showed determination and some promise. He was out for several rides in the second half to improve his knowledge of Armadale.

Daniel King was a standout for Mildenhall, but their biggest virtue was solidity with even inexperienced reserve Jordan Frampton looking very useful. All their other team members scored at least paid 8.

The track was pretty slick which made gating all-important. Theo dropped his only point in heat 1 to Jason Lyons, and with Danliele gating slowly we were behind right away.

Derek rounded the field to win heat 2, but after being in contention early on Sean Stoddart finished well back. It was Frampton who provided the challenge to Sneddon in a very impressive first PL ride at Armadale.

Daniel King and Werner won the next two easily, and when Brundle and Lyons his the front in heat 5 things could have got worse. However Brundle lifted and moved into his partner's path, allowing Matthew a chance to nip past for a welcome win, though Henrik could make no headway.

Theo squeezed past the opposition down the back straight in heat 6, only for the heat to be stopped as Daniele came down. Undaunted, he did it more convincingly in the rerun, but we were still two points behind.

Heat 7 was a dismal heat from our viewpoint though as William trailed behind the Kings, and it was hard at this point to see how we would close a 6-point gap.

Derek's always up for a fight and he went ahead in heat 8, pressurised by King. It was close all the way with King trying an outside sweep on the final bend, only to find Derek moving into his path. King hit the fence but kept going for second, with the referee's attention probably diverted by Frampton's fall at the back which necessitated the red lights going on.

With Daniele in third we had closed the gap, and two heats later he assisted in another 4-2, duelling with the Kings while Theo led the way.

We were 2 down again but we needed something from William. He switched machines, made a start - and led home Jason Lyons!

The gap remained, and we trailed heat 12 behind Daniel King and Brundle until Matthew went too wide on the pits bend and fell. Derek grabbed second in the rerun.

Heat 13 was a storming race, with Pijper and Lyons passing and repassing over the first two laps. Theo got the better of it, and although William's machine was belching smoke and oil he held of Werner to close that gap again.

Realistically we needed an advantage out of heat 14, and on paper that should have been possible. However Jason King gated from the inside to beat Henrik, and we were still two down going into the final heat.

Theo won it, but William was stranded off gate four, and the Fen Tigers comfortably shared the heat for a deserved victory.

HALMOND ENGINEERING MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Theo Pijper

Full Result Details