Title Partner
Monarchs gained a 16-point lead after a hard-fought and eventful first leg of the Cup tie with Newport.
Monarchs performed pretty solidly but Newport stuck to their task, took two 6-point TRs and in spite of only scoring 4 in the Collins' r/r rides, they will not be too unhappy with a 40-point score.
We couldn't stop Andre Compton streaking off with heat 1, and Joel Parsons made the gate in heat 2. This time, though, with a great burst up the back straight, Derek got under him on the pits turn to take the win.
William came down on the second bend of heat 3 after Carl Wilkinson had moved out very wide, and referee Vardy ruled all 4 back. The young maestro made no mistake in the rerun, our second 4-2.
Rusty and Derek raced off in heat 4 but this time it was Parsons' turn to burst under Derek and move him wide. This allowed Compton through as well for a shared heat.
The next two heats were very encouraging for Monarchs though, big 5-1's over Wilkinson and Compton, with the former falling at the end of lap 3 in heat 5. The gap was now 12.
Newport were certainly not ready to throw in the towel though. Sean just failed to get up on Tony Atkin in a shared heat 7, then we had an eventful heat 8. This was one which looked promising for Monarchs, but it was the visitors who led early on. Theo worked his way through with two inside passes, but Derek never got back into contention and fell on the final bend.
It was TR time for Andre in heat 9, and they chose well. He hit the first corner ahead and although William gave chase, there was never much chance he would peg back the leader. So we were down to a 9-point gap.
Theo and Henrik, now looking good as a pair, raced away from Wilkinson for an important 5-1 to get us back on the rails. Rusty won heat 11 from the back against the tenacious Schramm, but again Sean couldn't score.
Then it was TR time again, Wilkinson, and Matthew's clutch almost dragged him into the tapes as Wilko dashed away. Again it was six points and we had been pulled back to 10.
We needed a strong finish and to some extent we got it. Henrik backed up Rusty to defeat Compton, then we had a fascinating heat 14.
Atkin and Parsons were in front but Derek was determined not to let them get away, using the outside to squeeze ahead but never getting clear. After a couple of laps William came from nowhere to go under everyone out of the fourth bend, and going into lap three with the Monarchs on a 5-1, Atkin and Parsons tangled with the latter falling.
The heat was stopped and awarded, putting us 18 ahead.
We lost two of these in the last heat as Andre won off gate 1 and Rusty fell on the fourth bend. Will that one come back to haunt us?
HALMOND ENGINEERING MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Rusty Harrison.
This is a match which the team must win and win well. While history will surely not repeat itself by consigning the team to another 32 point defeat in the second leg, it is important to take a big, defendable lead. The home leg should not prove too much of a problem if all the riders are on-song but Newport are fast turning into bit of a bogey side.
Apart from this year's heavy Premier League defeat a few weeks ago we only have to look back to last year to our match at Newport when the Wasps, with the use of the TR rule pulled back a 12 point lead we enjoyed mid-match to win by a single point. Even in our Championship winning season we not only lost at Newport but couldn't even manage the bonus point. So there should be no complacency about this match.
Since we rode down in Wales, Newport have suffered two bad injuries - to their top average men. Craig Watson looks likely to be out of the side for some time with a bad arm break sustained at Stoke while Neil Collins has a broken collarbone and three broken ribs in a crash at Rye House. As a result they will have Andre Compton as a guest for Craig Watson at number 5 and will use Rider Replacement for Neil Collins at number 1.
Andre Compton's form round Armadale has often been patchy, mixing some brilliant rides with others less impressive. Until the match starts we will not know which Andre Compton has turned up! In any case he is likely to have six rides but it would be extremely disappointing if he were allowed to win too many of them.
The other big danger man is Carl Wilkinson whose form this season is even better than last when, after signing for Berwick, he went from strength to strength. Already this season he has outscored Craig Watson in a number of matches and has turned into a very effective and consistent heat leader for the Wasps.
Chris Schramm and Tony Atkin have had their moments at Armadale but will be targets to beat for all the team including both our reserves. If they can be completely subdued Newport will struggle because they are particularly vulnerable at reserve. Joel Parsons has only shown glimpses of his early season form with Hull last year prior to his bad injury and both Billy Legg and Sam Hurst, one of whom will fill the other reserve slot, have struggled to come to terms with Premier League racing.
What should we be looking for? The target should be at least to match the 22 point win we had over Stoke last week but hopefully we can do better than that. No matter how big a lead we do manage there will be no complacency in the side as the memories of that thrashing a few weeks ago will still be relatively fresh in the minds of the riders. Perhaps it will be Newport who are lulled into a false sense of security instead!
© Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway 2024
Bathgate Road
Armadale
EH48 2PD
