Redcar Bears v Edinburgh Monarchs

Redcar have been going very well recently with all of their top five on song, so it was always going to be a tough match without Thomas Jonasson. We didn?t really rise to the occasion.

We did keep it quite close for much of the match, but we needed the big hitters winning heats. That wasn?t happening and it never felt like a match we were on the way to winning.

Rider replacement for Thomas contributed a horrible 2 points, and with 4 each coming from nos. 1 and 5, the heat leader berths just were not firing.

As ever, Derek Sneddon did everything to inspire the side, starting by leading Gary Havelock all the way. William Lawson in his first serious ride for over two months was at the rear, though not so far back to be a serious concern.

We hoped to dominate the reserve encounters, so a heat 2 4-2 was about the least we were looking for, Aaron winning but Bugeja holding on ahead of Matthew.

Derek took the first r/r ride but was tailed off in heat 3 as Andrew chased hard but without success on Grieves and Kerr. It was no surprise that this was a tough pair to beat, and not surprising either that Ty Proctor took an impressive win in heat 4. Ryan and Aaron shared it, a fair bit back.

William then came to life, outgating Grieves and Kerr and taking an impressive win. Derek fell at the back but cleared the track, and we hoped this was William back on song.

We then saw Fisher put in a storming ride chasing Havelock hard all the way, and a good tussle for third won by Wethers from Auty to ensure an entertaining shared heat 6. There hadn?t been much passing but this one was worth watching.

After his good ride in heat 5, William took the r/r in heat 7 but made a dire start off gate 1 as Proctor and Benji Compton team rode home ahead of the chasing Tully. A very disappointing heat result, but soon reversed by a good 5-1 from Sneddon and Summers.

Fisher had gone well in heat 6 but couldn't repeat that in heat 9 as he trailed in at the back. Wethers split Grieves and Kerr.

Havelock won heat 10 but Auty completed a disappointing night as he pulled out at the back. That was the interval and we were 32-28 down.

Heat 11, another win for Proctor from Sneddon with Lawson again failing to beat Benji Compton. William?s gating was seriously uncompetitive.

There was a 6-point gap now, maintained by Grieves as he just got the better of Wethers on the first lap of heat 12.

Heat 13 was pretty much the end as first Fisher fell, then Lawson put up little resistance to Havelock and Proctor who gave Redcar a 10-point lead.

Summers was give a heat 14 TR, probably on the strength of better gating, but it was Tully who came through for a fine win over Kerr. Summers seemed sure to pass Compton but never quite made it.

Finally we had the best heat of the night, though the inclusion of Sneddon and Tully as our nominated pair said a great deal about the heat leader performances.

Both in fact rode brilliantly, with Andrew taking Havelock from the back in style and the very speedy Sneddon also pressurising the home captain strongly.

After the match came the bad news about Thomas to complete a pretty awful evening.

Redcar Bears v Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs hit the road again this Thursday with a difficult looking trip to the South Tees Motor Park, where they?ll face the Redcar Bears.

It?s been a hugely eventful season for the Bears. There?s been injuries, new signings that have never quite materialised, failed Finns, sackings, fans paying the wages (don?t they always?!) and very entertaining racing. Life is never dull in Cleveland!

The hosts are sitting in 7th place in the Premier League table at the moment, which means they?ll comfortably qualify for the end of season Young Shield play-offs. They?re the current holders of that competition and will no doubt be keen to retain their trophy.

For the Monarchs, however, their focus has to remain on the title itself. The battle between themselves and the Somerset Rebels has been hotting up for numerous weeks and the Rebels did their own chances no harm whatsoever with a convincing victory at Reading on Monday. Monarchs will be looking at putting some more daylight between the two sides but it?s probably wishful thinking to suggest we?ll escape with three points from this one.

We have, of course, only ever won once at Redcar, namely our last visit in the KO Cup. That night, Finnish flop Joni Keskinen was in the Bears? line up, while Kings Lynn?s experienced Czech Tomas Topinka replaced William Lawson, who was away on British Final duty.

Also missing that night was Thomas H Jonasson (World Under 21 qualifier) and it appears that the Monarchs will also be without the young Swede for this one as he is required by his team back home, Valsarna, in their quest for play-off success. However, nothing official has been confirmed at the time of writing. If he is to be absent, the rider replacement facility will operate, which means all Monarchs will be eligible for an extra outing.

Due to the horrendous weather which has followed speedway venues all over the country for the last week or so, this will be the first time Monarchs have tracked their ?new look? line up for September. Matthew Wethers and Andrew Tully swap places, with the added bonus of a competitive return to the saddle for William Lawson at number one. The Auchterarder kid blew away some cobwebs during David McAllan?s Farewell Meeting at Ashfield on Sunday, scoring 3 points from 4 rides. The afternoon wasn?t trouble free, with a ?loop? at the gate and a retiral thrown in for good measure!

As always, the threat from the home camp will come from Gary Havelock and James Grieves. If any these guys are kept quiet, it will greatly enhance our chances of a win. However, when you take into account a middle order consisting of talented Aussie Tyron Proctor, American Chris Kerr and Coventry asset Joshua Auty, all 3 of whom are certainly no slouches around their home circuit, it?s fair to say this looks a very tough encounter!

This fixture is the restaging of the meeting which was abandoned after 9 heats, way back in April (feels like 3 years ago now!). That night, it was pretty even (the Bears 2 points up) and things were shaping up very nicely when, suddenly, the heavens opened. Thankfully for yours truly, a very kind lady offered her umbrella, otherwise I may still have been drying out today!

As always, may the best team win...

Likely line ups:

Redcar: Gary Havelock, Joshua Auty, James Grieves, Chris Kerr, Tyron Proctor, guest for Daniel Giffard, Arlo Bugeja.

Edinburgh: William Lawson, Derek Sneddon, rider replacement for Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Ryan Fisher, Matthew Wethers, Aaron Summers.