Sheffield Tigers v Edinburgh Monarchs

We were six up at Sheffield after three heats but more gremlins hampered our efforts, and we gained no match points in the end.

This was frustrating because on the night we rode well enough to deserve something. However there were problems along the way for Ryan Fisher, Aaron Summers, Andrew Tully and Matthew Wethers and these proved too much of a handicap.

Both Fisher and Wethers had engines returned at Owlerton ? after the start of the match! Neverthess Matthew had his installed for his first ride in heat 4, and Fisher?s was operational, if not apparently very quick, for his third ride.

Aaron?s problem was that after an excellent heat 1 he just couldn?t get any power, until heat 11 when things were going a bit better. However he fell, and even though Richard Hall had already pulled out with an engine failure, he was off the track before he realised.

Andrew?s problem was more spectacular ? coming to the tapes in heat 7 his bike burst into flames! He said afterwards that a bare wire had sparked with his oil and ignited. He jumped off in time to avoid injury but missed the heat.

In amongst all this Thomas H Jonasson sailed on pretty impressively, especially in winning heat 10 by passing Ricky Ashworth round the outside. This was excellent stuff from Thomas who was assaulted by Auty after heat 12 for reasons that were not obvious.

5-1s in heats 1 and 3 gave us a six point lead by heat 3. Matthew then spun off in heat 4 to lose second place, and it was depressing to see Ryan emerge for heat 5 on Wethers? bike. More problems! Apparently the engine he won heat 1 easily on, had been ?rattling?.

With Aaron spluttering round at the rear, clearly both our opening pair had problems.

Next disappointment ? heat 6, Matthew leading, ground to a halt going into the third turn. This time, apparently, he felt his front wheel was coming loose and stopped for obvious safety concerns, though it transpired that his wheel was OK.

With Hall beating Jonasson in heat 7 and Tully out of the heat, we had fallen to 4 points down by that stage.

Summers struggled again in heat 8 but Rajkowski rode an excellent heat to stay ahead of Auty for a good win.

Parsons narrowly headed Wethers in heat 9 with Rajkoski this time at the back, then we had that terrific ride from Thomas in heat 10 with Andrew (on his other bike) just failing to overhaul Cooper after a slow start.

Hall packed up early in heat 11, in which Ryan Fisher struggled to head Mills, and Aaron Summers fell trying to turn it into a 5-1. He left the track and it was thus a 3-2 to Edinburgh.

Thomas won heat 12 and withstood that ridiculous attack from Auty. Five down, we really needed something from heat 13. For much of the heat Fisher and Wethers were sharing it with Hall at the rear, but in spite of Matthew?s efforts to cover, Ryan was not quick enough and Hall passed them both.

Now we were out of the point-scoring situation (you need to stay within 6 race points to get a match point). Andrew did an excellent job to squeeze ahead and win heat 14, but Michal had faded after his first three rides and finished at the back.

We needed a 5-1 in heat 15 to gain a point, but that never looked likely. Thomas took second behind Hall and our chance had slipped away.

Sheffield Tigers v Edinburgh Monarchs

The team begin their Premier Trophy campaign with three matches in three days from Thursday to Saturday this week, beginning with home and away fixtures ? at Sheffield on Thursday and against Sheffield at Armadale on Friday.

Traditionally these matches end up with big wins for the home side and this year looks likely to be no different. Perhaps that's not surprising since the two tracks are in marked contrast to each other in shape and size.

Sheffield normally show only a few changes from one year to the next but this year some of their regular contributors are missing. Gone is Andre Compton after years at number one for the Tigers. The former op scorer has moved on to pastures new after one of the shortest 'retirals' in the history of the sport which saw him change his mind just as Workington were looking for a replacement for the injured Adam Roynon. Also missing this year are Ben Wilson, Lee Smethills, Kyle Hughes and Sam Martin.

Ricky Ashworth takes over the role of Sheffield's top man from Compton and he is joined by last season's regulars Paul Cooper and Joel Parsons. New to the Tigers this year are Ritchie Hawkins, who missed all of last season as a result of pre-season injuries, Richard Hall who rode mostly for Scunthorpe last season, Josh Auty who spent last season at Middlesborough and Chris Mills from Reading.

Sheffield look to have a stronger all round team this year. Last year they had a problem in the reserve berths but this year, without Compton, they have been able to turn out the strong reserve pairing of Josh Auty and Chris Mills. Josh Auty scored paid 16 from his two visits to Owlerton last year while Chris Mills scored paid 11 also from two matches . At Armadale Auty scored 14 points in his two visits and paid 8 at Armadale. Edinburgh found out the value of two strong high-scoring reserves last year and Sheffield look similarly well placed in this department this season.

The Tigers, having lost Andre Compton and Ben Wilson from the heat-leader department, have replaced them with Richard Hall and Ritchie Hawkins. How Hawkins copes after a year out of the sport will have a huge impact on Sheffield's chances of success but he hasn't exactly set the fire alight on either track in past visits. Richard Hall who rode for Sheffield in 2005 is a different matter. Sheffield has always been one of his best tracks and he should have little difficulty filling the second heat leader slot for the Tigers at home. However, if Sheffield is one of his best tracks, Edinburgh is one of his worst. Paul Cooper is in much the same boat as Hall ? good at home, poor at Armadale so the prediction that Sheffield will win by more than six for all three points at home and Edinburgh will do likewise at Armadale isn't hard to reach.

The Monarchs' poor displays at King's Lynn and Ashfield need to be improved upon if the team are to make any impact in their Premier Trophy group. Sheffield may not be the best place to start so a convincing win at home is a must. Last week's home win over Glasgow was extremely encouraging and suggests that it may be a case of 'Fortress Armadale' again this year. With the match at Berwick following on on Saturday night, the next few days will give a clearer indication of how the team is looking for the long season ahead.

It will also give Thomas H Jonasson the chance to make amends for last Friday and show his true form. Ryan Fisher has already ridden more matches than most other riders in the UK by doubling up with Swindon in the Elite League and looks set for another fine season. Matthew Wethers has also given glimpses of his scoring power while Aaron Summers has recovered well from his misery at the Norfolk Arena. However Andrew Tully's terrible gating is a cause for concern as is the away form so far of our two reserves. A big improvement from them would give us a lot more reason for optmism for the 2009 campaign.