Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

REPORT Friday 26th April 2013, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Last year’s pattern of bad weather on Friday after a fine week reared its ugly head here, but nevertheless the two sides served up a decent evening’s entertainment.

In fact after losing to Edinburgh at home last weekend, the Bandits really got stuck in in the early stages with David Bellego outstanding. He took advantage of a heat 1 mix-up between Derek Sneddon and Craig Cook to pass the home number one, and later picked off Sneddon as well.

The Frenchman then headed Theo Pijper which gave him two notable Armadale scalps.

Robin Aspegren looked sound as well and when Kozza Smith and Monarchs’ old boy Matthew Wethers zoomed away from Claus Vissing in heat 7 the Bandits were just two points behind.

Heat 8 was a bit of a turning point though. The riders swept outwards round the first turn with Sneddon forced to come off against the fence, and rather harshly Bellego was ruled out when all four might have been expected to contest the rerun.

That handed Monarchs a 5-1, and they pushed on with two more in the next two heats. Heat 9 brought the best out of Max Fricke who battled with Aspegren for second, and dived back up the inside of the Swede to regain second place on the final bend.

Berwick used TRs in the next two heats, but Smith came last and Vissing defeated Aspegren, so that was about it for the visitors. Monarchs cruised home with top men Cook and Pijper dominant.

There was only one productive reserve on either side (Jozsef Tabaka) and Helfer’s very poor performance must raise question marks about his future. Rider replacement didn’t bring much for Berwick but if Ashworth returns and rides to his average then their team can still do well.

Full Result Details