Diamond Jubilee v Diamond Jubilee

REPORT Friday 16th May 2008, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The lineup for our Diamond Jubilee didn't look strong but the action was enjoyable as Stoney and his Powderhall team took the honours.

From the long list of Monarchs and ex-Monarchs, circumstances (ie other fixtures and injuries) ruled out so many that we had to pull in quite a few riders with no Monarchs' connection including Carl Stonehewer and Jason Lyons. Not that anyone would ever object to watching these two.

The final two call-offs on Friday morning were James Grieves and Ross Brady, and so we finished up with just 15 riders.

The sun shone and our former stars watched from Hospitality as the action unfolded. Carl Stonehewer won heat 1 from Matthew Wethers and that was eventually to be the result of the last heat of the night also!

The team competition wasn't really the main focus of the night, but the 3-man Powderhall team did establish an early advantage with their 3-man side. Rider replacement was working well!

It was obvious that Robert Eriksson was still very much a threat even on a makeshift bike, and though he dropped to the back in his first ride he actually improved as the night went on.

Buzz Burrows was also causing much interest with his enthusiastic efforts, and all the home men were well in the thick of things.

Jonasson and Fisher both suffered machine failures and their respective teams were well out of it.

The likely sides were the all-Australian Armadale squad, even though Lyons took a while to get going, and Powderhall with Stoney, Tully and Eriksson.

Theo Pijper is still Armadale track record holder but he is a bit down on confidence at the moment, and probably not fully fit. He had a pointless first ride but got in amongst the others in his later rides. He was brought down on the final turn of heat 10 by Burrows but was awarded the third place.

Gradually Armadale wore down Powderhall and went into the final heat 2 behind. Lyons won it from Fisher with Stonehewer third which levelled the scores, and it was decided to use the 'King of the Monarchs' top scorers race also as a decider for the team competition.

When Matthew Wethers nipped off the inside to take the lead it seemed that he and Armadale would triumph, but Ryan Fisher ran into Stoney and the pair came down.

In the rerun it was Stoney and Powderhall who emerged victorious.