Newport Wasps
Edinburgh Monarchs
Premier League Knock Out Cup
55
31
Tuesday 27th June 2006
Queensway Meadows

The cup tie at Newport was probably the most important match of our season so far, and we were looking for a big effort.

We pulled in Plymouth's Shane Waldron at no. 6 after hearing that Sean had broken down well short of Newport.

We won the toss and Henrik made a start off the inside. Theo arrived at the first bend adrift but with everyone moving out, he sliced through to take the lead and we were on a 5-1 down the back straight.

The track was slippery and Henrik went in wide? and just slipped off. It didn't initially look serious but Henrik stayed down for treatment and was eventually stretchered into the ambulance and then taken to Hospital.

That was a major downer for everyone, and with no cutback opportunity arising in the rerun, Theo lost a 1-5.

Parsons won heat 2 but we didn't give Billy Legg any gifts, and heat 3 was a good one. Matthew made the start and had a great battle with Atkin, who got round him. Matthew didn't give way though and the pair battled for the rest of the race, before Wasps took a 4-2. William had blown a motor at Wolverhampton and didn't look quick.

Heat 4 should have been shared but Rusty fell foul of the slippery surface on the second lap, conceding another 4-2.

Heats 5 and 6 were both lost 5-1, Theo not managing to get near Atkin and Collins, and Rusty falling again after putting Schramm under a bit of early pressure. There was little sign that we were capable of compensating for the loss of Henrik and Newport had drawn level on aggregate after just 6 heats.

We had the TR weapon still, and Matthew managed a solid second in heat 7 - a 5-3 advantage to put us ahead again!

Theo in heat 8 is usually good for some tactical points, but in this one he was never in the hunt, finishing at the back. So the TR weapon was used and we were now 2 down.

The next two heats were home 5-1's and at this point (18-44) it seemed likely to be one of our worst performances ever.

It was already too late but we did fight back a little in the remaining heats. Gating was so important, and off gate 1 in heat 11 Theo made the start.

Derek took a tumble on the first bend though, and the heat was stopped. Undaunted Theo did it again, indicating how much more effective he is off gate 1, and he recorded the fastest time of the meeting.

Heat 12 was a Monarchs' 5-1! Matthew led all the way, with Derek fighting to hold off Neil Collins. On the last lap Collins flew into second down the back straight squeezing through a tiny gap, but Derek came sharply off the final bend to snatch it back, almost chopping Neil's nose off.

Still 22 down though, and Rusty lost his third 5-1 in heat 13, in which Wilkinson just caught him on the line to finish behind Neath.

We took our third advantage in heat 14 through a William win, though he still didn't look as quick as usual. Atkin was in contention till the last lap when he lost it, allowing Derek to grab another point.

Just one to go, the tie long decided. William made another start off gate 1, and Matthew was well placed too. Going into the third turn bunched up, Wilkinson was just ahead and Schramm was on the inside trying to put pressure on our pair.

Unfortunately he lifted and skewed across the track. It seemed he might go between our riders, but he clipped both and all three came down.

After some anxious moments all three rose and seem to be OK.

All in all though, a desperate result and a very disappointing performance on a track which every other team seems to ride better than us.

While some teams have raced their quarter-final matches in the Knock-Out Cup competition we will just be completing our first round tie with this fixture. We won the first leg 56-40 so need to do better than lose by more than 15 points. That would seem to be a tall order when you consider the 62-31 hammering we suffered in our Premier League match there last April.

Since then Newport have lost Craig Watson and Neil Collins through injury but Neil Collins seems set to return to the Wasps' side for this match having recovered from his broken collarbone and broken ribs injuries he picked up in a crash at Rye House. Just how sharp he will be after the lengthy spell on the sidelines remains to be seen. The Wasps will be using their favourite guest, Chris Neath, as Craig Watson's stand-in for this match and will no longer be using Rider Replacement. With William Lawson returning to the Monarchs' team, neither will we.

One thing looks fairly certain. We will not do as badly this time as we did last time. It would be difficult to do so. This time the riders will know what to expect of the track although since this is an evening meeting the conditions may well be different from those experienced on a hot Sunday afternoon. Perhaps this will work in our favour because Newport rarely run evening meetings.

So what do we have to do? Well for a start we must not throw away gift points. Last time Billy Legg was allowed to have three unbeaten rides for a 6+3 score. Then we will have to make better starts which almost goes without saying these days. But the main improvement needs to come from Matthew Wethers, Henrik Moller, Derek Sneddon and Sean Stoddart who only managed 4 points between them on that dreadful Sunday afternoon. It's inconceivable that they should not make a massive improvement on that total.

Newport are a reasonably good home side. Led by Chris Neath and Carl Wilkinson the main support will come from Neil Collins, Tony Atkin and Chris Schramm although those three are not models of consistency in their scoring. At reserve we know how hard a rider Joel Parsons can be but Billy Legg or his alternate Sam Hurst struggle to score points (except against us!). It's up to us to get amongst them and stop them dominating the match.

One thing in our favour is that this year it will be easier to defend a 16 point lead than it was last year because Tactical Rides and Tactical Substitutes are allowed in this competition this year. So a 16 point lead can be better protected if the team finds itself nine points or more in arrears. This is surely well within the capabilities of the team, particularly since we are back at full strength. Oh, and please this time can we do without the machine problems which so beset us last time so that we can look forward to showing Sheffield just how much they should have lost by at Armadale in the next round.