Title Partner
REPORT Wednesday 16th April 2008, 10:00pm
Edinburgh Monarchs
Our good start to the season just got better with another all-round solid display earning us a 45-45 draw at King's Lynn.
It could have been even better as we lost points through early falls and a serious engine blow-up for Aaron Summers, but we can still be very happy with our best result for many years at the Norfolk Arena.
It was a bitterly cold night and the crowd seemed a little disappointing. The track looked heavy and grippy although later comments suggested that was a bit misleading, and such problems as the riders had tended to come from bumps.
We hit problems right away in heat 1. Topinka flew from gate 4, but our riders seemed to have settled in to keep Tacey at the back. Unfortunately Ryan lifted leaving the fourth turn, clipped the fence down the straight and fell. The others did well to miss him ? in fact the heat could have been stopped but we were happy to see Derek retaining second spot.
Heat 2 was even worse. Aaron Summers moved smoothly clear with the King?s Lynn riders behind him, and we were just thinking how stylish Aaron was looking when a puff of smoke on the third lap indicated the end of his engine?s life. Andrew couldn?t make headway and we were 9-3 down when we should have been level!
Was it going to be one of those nights? Actually no.
There was plenty happening in heat 3. Firstly Thomas had to switch to Derek?s bike when he hit a problem leaving the pits, but he made the gate anyway while Kevin Doolan was initially at the back! He was soon past both William Lawson and his partner Smith, who then fell to let William into third.
Thomas wasn?t quite as quick as he would have been on his own bike and as he drifted out leaving the second bend on lap four, Doolan was through for an excellent win.
Andrew Tully made such a poor start in heat 2 that it was good to see him zip to the front round the opening corners of heat 4. Rusty Harrison was in second and held off Matthew?s challenge, but at 10-14 things were getting better.
We shared heat 5 behind Doolan with Kozza coming off again, but the strong Topinka/Tacey pair took 5 points from heat 6, Matthew?s challenge ending as he slid off on the last bend. Aaron had been well back on Derek?s bike but took a point.
Immediately we hit back. Thomas was back on his own bike and blasted clear in heat 7, looking very impressive, and William did extremely well to cut under Rusty Harrison to take the second spot. Back to four down.
We should have shared heat 8 with Tacey winning, but having moved into second Derek drifted too far out on the first bend of lap three and tumbled against the fence.
Kozza fell for the third time in heat 9 which assisted us to share that one, and we went into the interval trailing 24-30. On such a cold night an interval was far from welcome.
Heat 10 was going to be a tough one but with Topinka ahead, Thomas and William did extremely well to carve up Tacey and leave him pointless.
Even better, Ryan and Derek gated ahead of Harrison in heat 11 and rode perfectly. Rusty passed Derek at one stage but our skipper did tremendously well to go round him again and clinch the 5-1. That made up for heat 8 and now we were just two down.
Another great start by Thomas in heat 12 took him ahead of Doolan and the home man never looked like catching the flying Swede. Andrew dealt with Simon Lambert and we were level, with a nail-biting three heats to go.
Heat 13 went as well as we could have hoped, another win for Topinka but Ryan riding well in second, and a great effort by Matthew who looked out of it but got up to pip Rusty Harrison on the line.
That was vital because we seemed to have the edge in heat 14. Stars left Smith in with Oliver, and the home riders made the gate!
However with an excellent first corner, William cut under them to lead and we now settled in to watch an enthralling tussle for second between Tully and Oliver.
What a battle it was, Andrew going ahead but Oliver passing, then on the final lap Andrew using that second bend tight turn to get through once more and this time hold it!
So a finisher in the last heat would now give us a draw, but we were hoping for a little better!
It was Topinka and Doolan who made the gate though, and in spite of a thrilling effort by William who almost drew level with Doolan a ouple of times, they got the 5-1 which sent both teams round on the parade truck, honours even.
In all honesty we deserved to win, but the result is still a great one and an indicator of what our exciting young team is capable of.
© Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway 2024
Bathgate Road
Armadale
EH48 2PD
