TWO POINTS TO MAKE UP

NEWS Sunday 4th October 2015, 7:30pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After another tremendous, hard-working away performance the Border Roofing Monarchs kept the score to a 44-46 loss at Peterborough today in the Playoff semi first leg.

Being greedy about it, it could have been even better as we were two points up going into heat 14, but for sure we would have settled for a 2-point deficit prior to the start.

Our stars on the day were the remarkable opening pair of Craig Cook and Justin Sedgmen (three 5-1s together) plus Erik Riss who was really spectacular scoring 9 with some wide-riding leg trailing!

Of course we were still Wolbert-less and on top of that, Sam Masters was unwell and had to grit his teeth and do what he could. He needs to get home to bed and get a hot toddy to be ready for Friday.

It was an excellent meeting and a good atmosphere in the crowd. We gated very well and forced the home boys to come from the back, which made for plenty of thrills.

Our super opening pair set us off on the right foot which they so often do, with a flying 5-1, and that must have boosted us as much as it depressed the Panthers.

Our heat two pair also made the gate, but while Rob Branford pressed on for a fine win, Max Clegg was passed by Grondal at the third bend and gave way so much that Konopka came through as well.

Sedgmen took the first r/r and again gated superbly to beat danger man Thomsen. Erik Riss was at the rear in this one.

Sam struggled in heat 4 and we conceded a 5–1 which levelled the scores. However heat 5 saw the miracle men out again and this time it was Cook who took the race win by a large margin with Sedgmen comfortably second.

Masters made a better gate in heat 6 but Panthers' guest Tungate squeezed under him coming out of the second bend to win easily.

Now we saw the best of Erik as he led all the way in heat 7, only to be pipped on the line by Ben Barker. Erik shut off a bit early but thought he had held on. Branford got a good third in this, his r-r outing, and was proving his worth.

Heat 8 was another win from the back as Sedgmen gated again but was caught by Palm Toft. That made the score 24-24, not bad at this stage.

Sam Masters managed to hang on to second spot behind Thomsen in heat 9 but finished pointless in his next one, his r-r ride, after a race-long battle with Tungate. Never mind, Erik was up ahead leading the way!

So we were 29-31 down at the interval during which we heard an interview with Lewis Kerr which was great, especially for those of us who saw his crash on this track a couple of months ago.

Even though there was a break, it made no odds to Cook and Sedgmen who stormed off to their third 5-1 in heat 11, well clear of Barker.

Heat 12 was another terrific race and this time a narrow win for Erik Riss who held on by a tyre from the charging Thomsen.

It was Cook again in heat 13 but Masters pulled out at the back, probably happy that his day was over.

So we led 40-38 with two heats left. In heat 14 Erik missed the start this time, managed to get past Grondal briefly, but had to shut off when the Dane lifted on the back straight.

That was us two down and in heat 15 Cook and Sedgmen were poorly away. Barker lost a chain leaving the second bend so we shared the heat behind Thomsen, giving the Panthers the satisfaction of the win on the day. It was Craig's first dropped point for us for a while after maximums at Somerset, Redcar and Armadale.

Peterborough were sporting hosts and we will take nothing for granted, two points behind and praying for seven healthy riders by Friday.

Full Result Details