Workington Comets v Edinburgh Monarchs

An away win against title chasing Workington on Saturday would have been a bonus, but it never looked likely on a night of disappointing gating by our riders.

And gating was certainly important on another slick surface. Racing was probably more entertaining than in the recent Fours but still virtually every race was settled by the time the riders hit the back straight on lap one.

Derek Sneddon fell on the first lap of heat 1, and we were behind right away as Jason Doyle and Tomi Reima combined to hold off our guest Kyle Legault.

Heat 2 was one of the few examples of real passing we saw ? and it was Andrew Tully who came under Branney off the second corner, then caught and passed Charles Wright later in the heat.

We used Legault in heat 3 and shared it behind Nieminen, with Matthew Wethers just holding off Haines.

Ryan flew to the front in heat 4 and looked in sparkling form. This might have been a vulnerable heat for the Comets but Aaron stopped at the third corner just as he seemed to be getting amongst them.

Nieminen was an easy winner of heat 5, but we probably should have shared it as Kyle and Derek gated ahead of Haines. Derek moved too far off the line coming out of the second bend and left a big gap for Haines, suffering the consequences.

Six down, it was obviously going to be tough now. Ryan got an excellent win over Doyle and Reima, and he also won the next one as rider replacement. This heat 7 was a key one against Comets? third pairing but Mathhew couldn?t overcome a bad start and finished fourth.

We brought Andrew into heat 8 in place of Derek (must have been a close call with Aaron) and Tully rode a fine race, getting to the front on the wide line. Aaron again though was never in the hunt and we had missed two chances to cut the gap.

Heat 9 was exciting, though again with no passing, as Nieminen and Haines got ahead of Fisher. Ryan threw everything at Haines, inside and out, but could not squeeze through.

Andrew split Doyle and Reim in heat 10 but again Matthew was at the rear, having one of his worst nights. We were now 12 down and the only realistic option for the TR was Legault in heat 11. He initially came out in green but this was altered.

Kyle seemed to gate but again he left that second bend gap, which Stonhewer nipped through to win. We took a 5-3 but needed better than that.

We gave Derek rather than Matthew the last r/r ride but trailed behind Nieminen and John Branney, another disappointing heat.

Ryan Fisher took his fourth win from heat 13, while the other three scrapped. Stonehewer, Legault and Doyle were having a good tussle when Doyle locked up briefly and Legault fell ? the result was a Doyle exclusion.

We were 12 down so even with a TS could not retrieve the situation. Matthew finally made a start to win heat 14, with Aaron trailing disappointingly again.

Finally Kyle Legault took second in the final race, with Ryan not able to make progress on a wide line and finishing at the back.

We were well beaten, didn?t gate well enough and that was that.

Workington Comets v Edinburgh Monarchs

Following something of a demolition job on the Birmingham Brummies, the Scotwaste Monarchs turn their focus back to Premier League business with a difficult looking trip to Workington.

The Comets are still reeling from the misery of their painful defeat in front of the Sky TV cameras on Monday night and will be desperate to regain some form of respectability. I would imagine they should achieve that goal, especially when you consider their unbeaten status at Derwent Park in 2008. They have drawn twice, against fellow ?big track? sides Kings Lynn and Sheffield, but remain a pretty potent force in their own back yard.

Both sides approach this fixture without their respective number ones. Monarchs will use Canadian Kyle Legault in place of William Lawson, while the home side have drafted in Somerset?s Jason Doyle for former Scottish Open Champion Daniel Nermark. Doyle has been in amazing form for most of the year, although he did have a reportedly spectacular fall down yonder last night. Let?s hope he?s ok to take his place. Meanwhile, Legault was one of only possibly two Birmingham riders who could hold his head high after a somewhat dismal team performance at sunny Armadale.

As with last night, Thomas H Jonasson is on Grand Prix duty, so the rider replacement facility will operate. I would imagine he will be sorely missed, although we did only lose by 3 points in the Premier Trophy group stages earlier in the season when the young Swede was also absent!

For the Comets, Finnish chap Tomi Reima returns to Britain after a rather unfortunate enforced absence. He appeared to have taken pretty well to the Cumbrian circuit but, as with the previous occupiers of the number two race jacket, luck seemed to only arrive in the bad form. Hopefully all is now well and he can settle down to doing a decent job for his side.

They may not have the highest averages in the world but the likes of Joe Haines and Charles Wright have produced matchwinning performances and vital points on numerous occasions this season. The return from those two, in addition to that of Reima and young reserve John Branney, is seen by many as backup to the top dogs and, to be fair, it?s been more than adequate on a Saturday night! I guess when you have the likes of Daniel Nermark (or assorted guests!), Kake Nieminen and Carl Stonehewer (except at Armadale!) in your side, you?re hoping to have around 30 or more points ?banked? before you even take to the track. This should, in theory, take the pressure off the young lads. However, on the rare occasions that any of the top 3 are found wanting, the team as a whole can often find its? chances of success slipping away.

The Monarchs seem to be in the midst of a rich vein of form at the moment (life is good!). However, oddly enough, despite all the movements in averages and team riding order, our 1 to 7 will look remarkably similar to what it was on the night of the aforementioned Premier Trophy defeat. We certainly had a pretty solid showing that evening and we?ll definitely need yet another if we?re to have any chance this time round.

Besides that slender defeat in early April, the Scotwaste Monarchs were also in town for the recent Premier League Four Team Tournament. Sadly, they failed to qualify for the Final, although that may have been partly due to the fact the track resembled an M74 extension! Hopefully it will be in an improved state for this one, although one look at various weather forecasts appears to suggest picking a suitable umbrella may be more necessary than worrying about dust clouds (providing those wonderfully intelligent forecasters have got it right for a change!).

As always, may the best team win...

Likely line-ups:

Comets: Jason Doyle, Tomi Reima, Kake Nieminen, Joe Haines, Carl Stonehewer, Charles Wright, John Branney.

Monarchs: Kyle Legault, Derek Sneddon, rider replacement for Thomas H Jonasson, Matthew Wethers, Ryan Fisher, Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers.