Newcastle Diamonds v Edinburgh Monarchs

Losing an away match by 2 points to a last heat 1-5 is never fun ? but at least we fought hard enough to gain the position in the first place.

Newcastle often look as though they are there to be beaten at home ? but just look at how many times they have actually lost in the past two seasons. They scraped it once more against us, and left us with the kind of mixed feelings that you always have in these situations.

Pleased ? that the team fought hard after going six down, that Derek, Matthew and Andrew achieved so much, and that George turned in such a brilliant display.

A little disappointed ? that Kaj didn?t gate a bit better, and that Kalle had his poorest meeting when it seemed there might be points to be had.

And very disappointed ? that we made such poor starts in the final race. Here was where Kaj, who rides in the Grand Prix next weekend, should be in a position to assert himself. It never looked likely.

George was a very disappointed man after heat 15. ?I always try my hardest,? he said, though we knew that as he kept right on the tail of Henry and Franc, without finding a way through. It was tough on him indeed because he was the man of the match.

He started the evening by winning heat 1. Derek was away well also but struggled to turn and was passed by Henry and Raun.

In heat 2 we saw Andrew Tully miss the start as usual, and not pass Sean Stoddart even though he looked quicker. Their new reserve Sam Dore beat our stand-in John McPhail.

Franc outgated Laukkanen in heat 3, the first of Kaj?s five slow starts. At the rear we watched Ross Brady struggle desperately, two-wheeling across the turns, and Kalle Katajisto eventually passed him for a point.

Heat 4 was another when gating cost us, Wilkinson heading Wethers and Stoddart heading Tully. Oh these starts!

Our two best gaters were in heat 5, and Derek made the start. George worked his way past Franc and the toiling Brady, and settled in to shepherd his partner home. However Franc made it awkward and eventually we had to settle for a 4-2.

We lost the next two heats to routine 4-2?s, with Kalle well beaten by Sam Dore in heat 7. So now we trailed 18-24 and were needing a bit of a spark.

That came in heat 8. Derek and Andrew forced their way ahead round the first turn and kept battling to the finish in spite of the close attentions of Raun.

Andrew came into heat 9 and with Franc leading and Matthew second, all eyes were at the back as Brady tried to hold out Tully. On the last turn Andrew finally squeezed past for one of the few overtakes of the night.

Kaj picked up his third second place as we lost heat 10, in which we might profitably have used up John McPhail?s third ride as Kalle was well out of the hunt against Raun.

Four down again, but we wiped that out in heat 11 ? another fine piece of combination work between Sneddon and Stancl with Wilkinson trying everything. Stancl had all his moves covered and we were level.

Franc won again in heat 12, Kaj was second again ? but this time Tully beat Stoddart to share the race. Sean and Andrew were now at 2-2.

It was Stancl again in heat 13, and this time Henry didn?t make a start. Matthew was in third holding him off and trying to challenge Wilkinson ? and we had a bit of good fortune on the final straight as Wilko stopped and we gained a 5-1.

Four up with two to go ? was it enough? Andrew might have clinched a draw if he had beaten Sean in heat 14, but he didn?t. Again he looked quicker but couldn?t find a way past. Dore beat McPhail again as the pair completed their compulsory third rides.

Two up with one heat left, George Stancl unbeaten. We won the toss and took gates 1 and 3. George had won heat 13 from gate 1. There was some extra track preparation, but that?s not something we can object to ? perhaps it could have been done earlier.

Gate 1 ? George, Gate 2 ? Pepe, Gate 3 ? Kaj, Gate 4 ? Christian. Kaj made another poor one and the other three were almost level. Pepe just made the bend, and George tried to secure second as Christian hit the outside. Christian made a superb job of his outside sweep and came haring up the straight, going past George into the third turn. And thereafter, even though George stayed in touch, the match winning 5-1 for the Diamonds was always on.

Newcastle Diamonds v Edinburgh Monarchs

We head off down to Brough Park on Sunday in the first of our back-to-back matches against the Newcastle Diamonds.

Brough park has been the scene of some success in the past so the bonus point is the least of our targets.

Both teams have been reshaped for this match as a combination of team reshuffles and the new averages take effect. The Monarchs have Matthew Wethers in the main body of the team at number 5, after his amazing performances at reserve, with Kalle Katajisto moving to number 4 to partner Kai Laukkanen. Andrew Tully moves to reserve at number 7 but Daniele Tessari is unlikely to be able to take his place at number 6 and a Conference League guest is likely to be the only option now that Aaron Summers is on his way back to Australia.

Newcastle, too, have a number of changes. Carl Wilkinson moves from number 2 in the Diamonds' team to number 5 with Jonas Raun moving the other way to the number 2 spot. Sam Dore is their Conference League guest at number 6 standing in for the injured Adam McKinna.

The match will surely revolve round the performances of the heat leaders to a large extent. Christian Henry at number 1 for Newcastle is in terrific form these days as we saw at the Scottish Open while Josef Franc is a top line heat leader at number 3. Carl Wilkinson's move to number 5 gives the Diamonds' side a better balance and he, too, is in great form these days.

The Monarchs look to be better placed in this department for some time however. George Stancl is a class act round the Brough park circuit and, without machine problems, has the ability to go through the card. Kai Laukkanen seems to have got to grips well with Premier League racing and should score heavily too if he can make decent starts. Matthew Wethers has proved how good he is at reserve and now has the chance to show how good he can be leading one of the pairings.

Our Captain, Derek Sneddon, could well prove a match winner. He knows the Newcastle track well and has had some tremendous meetings there in the past. With Jonas Raun in up and down form at the moment Derek could give us the extra punch at number 2. Of course with Matthew moving up to the team we lose his scoring power at reserve but Andrew Tully who replaces him there is another with good scores at Newcastle. His battles with Sean Stoddart could also be decisive for us although the other reserve position, for which no announcement has yet been made, may not yield much if anything. Newcastle have young Sam Dore at number 6 and a comparable talent to challenge for that spot for us might not be easy to find. That leaves the number 4 positions in both teams. Ross Brady has been the subject of some press speculation at Newcastle and will be under pressure to score well. His gating gives him a big edge and it's hard to see Kalle Katajisto, on his first visit to the track, being able to match what Brady is likely to score. However Kalle will make the breakthrough sometime when his talent will prevail. No matter what he scores there will be plenty of interest in how he adapts to the circuit.

If we fall short of the target and lose this match, the least we should be content with is a single figure defeat so that the bonus point is still a target when the two teams meet again next Friday.

Hopefully a large contingent of supporters will be there (including yours truly) to cheer the Monarchs on. It's time we took something from this fixture and this match would be a good time to start.