Title Partner
This match highlighted the gap between our home and away form at the moment as we were well beaten at Workington.
Of course we had William Lawson missing, but the match was all too easy for the home side. Rusty Harrison was very competitive on his old track, but other than Henrik Moller's heat 1 win, none of our other riders beat any of Workington's top four.
Effort was not the problem but gating was a problem, and we didn't have a great deal of luck either.
We only managed two race winners all night. Having said that we should really have had three of the first four winners!
The track was tricky in the early stages with too much loose wet dirt, as Comets admitted they were trying to combat their dust problem.
Henrik made light of it in the opening heat, leading from tapes to flag with a very encouraging ride.
Derek flew from gate 4 to lead heat two and for three laps wasn't challenged. He drifted a bit on the next bend, and Aidan Collins closed up. It needed a smooth turn to finish but Derek again drifted out, lost control and lost the lead.
We weren't in the hunt in heat 3, but Rusty led from James Wright in heat 4 using the outside dirt. Once again all was well for three and a half laps - but that fourth turn caught our man out and again we had gifted a win to a Comet.
Heat 5 was a depressing 1-5 by which time Theo had had three rides without beating an opponent.
Rusty was out in heat 6 in the black and white, not an easy heat but he pushed through on the second bend to beat Stead and Piszcz and score 6.
Derek had to pass John Branney in heat 7 to share the heat with Matthew, and Theo rode much more convincingly to take a second place in heat 8.
Heat 9 was the best of the night, partly thanks to Rusty bursting through the tapes! He went off 15 metres, and caught Piszcz after a couple of laps. The two had a great battle with Rusty trying everything and eventually passing.
Matthew took a TR in heat 10 and passed Collins to score 4. We shared heat 11 and tried Theo on a TS in heat 12. He rode well to catch and pass Collins on the last bend, just failing to get by Matthew who was slowing to give his captain the additional point.
The tactical options were now used up and we were 34-44 behind. Could we keep it to that?
The answer was no. Rusty beat Steda in heat 13, a 2-4, then we were very unlucky in heat 14. Derek led the way but was passed by Piszcz; we should still have shared it but Derek's slowing bike gave out on the last corner. Aidan Collins laid down, and though he was quite a bit back the ref ruled that it was Derek's fault, and excluded him.
We lost a 1-5 in the final race and an 18-point defeat was a pretty disappointing result.
It looks as though Workington will be back at full strength for our Premier League visit on Saturday night.
Paul Thorp is expected to resume his place in the team after suffering damage to his foot in an accident at Rye House and James Wright returns following his exploits abroad last weekend. Garry Stead seems to have fully recovered from his crash with Daniel Nermark at King's Lynn although there's been no announcement yet who will join Aidan Collins at reserve to fill in for Lee Derbyshire.
Having lost home and away to Workington in the Premier Trophy there isn't really much reason to feel optimistic about this match. Our form has not been impressive recently particularly from the gate. With hotter weather and drier tracks now more the order of the day it's something that has to be rectified as many tracks will become a gater's paradise. Last week at Workington Rusty Harrison rode as a guest for the Comets at number 1. In his first two rides he scored 5 points but as the track dried out and with a long wait until his next two rides in heats 10 and 13 he failed to add to his score.
Until their recent bout of injuries, Workington looked like being one of the challengers for the league title. They will be keen to get back on track again. They comfortably topped the northern section of the Premier Trophy but since then have not looked quite so formidable. Even at home some vulnerability looked to be creeping in as last week's narrow three point win over Somerset suggested. With the team back at full strength it shouldn't be long before Derwent Park becomes a fortress again.
Workington's strength is all down the line. With last year's top two from defunct Hull, Paul Thorp and Garry Stead, in the team they have two elder statesmen capable of big scores. James Wright's prolific scoring has taken him to the number one spot in the team and Ritchie Hawkins has gone from strength to strength since joining the Comets. Perhaps the most important addition to the side this year, however, has been Tomas Piszcz who came in on a ridiculously low average. Piszcz has scored heavily home and away and completes a very strong top five. At reserve the Comets managed to procure Aidan Collins as a grade A reserve. Aidan is no stranger to us and we well know how good he can be. The only weakness in the Workington side has been in the other reserve spot where they have struggled, to find a scorer as have many teams running a grade C reserve.
So what chance do Edinburgh have? It has to be said that the clever money will be on the home side and it would be a major shock if we came away with anything other than a respectable score. However we do have a track expert in Rusty Harrison and a much improved rider in Henrik Moller since our last visit. William Lawson's absence makes things even more difficult for us since we are limited with options under the Rider Replacement rules. The rest of the team are capable of producing heat wins and, if we can gate, who knows!
Overall a defeat is very likely on the cards but it will be important to limit the damage as much as possible by hunting down every point we can gain through hard riding and team permutations so that we can at least aim for the bonus point when Workington return to Armadale for the return encounter.
Sunday 18th June 2006, 11:47am
We took six tactical points against Workington but still went down to a fairly heavy loss.
© Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway 2024
Bathgate Road
Armadale
EH48 2PD
