Somerset Rebels v Edinburgh Monarchs

It was a night we won't forget in a hurry and not all for the right reasons.

Going into the match at Somerset without Thomas Jonasson was not a hopeful prospect even though Emil Kramer was a late arrival for the home team. The buildup to the match which started at 8.15 is covered in the News Centre.

As it turned out we had our two most effective riders in our opening pair, and they started with a 5-1 in a heat in which Sedgmen replaced late arrival Kramer. Walker was chasing without much hope when he crashed on lap 3, and he was ruled out of the rest of the meeting.

Aaron Summers kept up the good work by winning heat 2, and we also managed to share heat 3 by keeping Jay Herne at the back. Rajkowski kept Gathercole occupied with a battling ride.

In heat 4 our Bates/Stoddart pair was swamped as expected, and young Bates blew his motor which effectively put him out of the meeting.

Scores were level but we went ahead again in a torrid heat 5 in which Fisher flew to the front with a bold outside move, and stayed there until Gathercole crashed heavily into the fence on the last lap. It looked bad but Gathercole walked away. We were awarded a 5-1.

This was levelled up in the next one and Rebels went ahead in heat 7 when Andrew Tully split Johnston and Brown with Rajkowski a disappointing fourth.

However we still were not finished and took a 5-1 from heat 8, Aaron holding out Sedgmen behind race winner Wethers.

This was a good effort but we had to go with just Aaron in heat 9, and this time he trailed behind Gathercole and Herne. A lot of Aussies in this meeting!

Sedgment was starting to impress and he resisted Andrew?s efforts in heat 10 to back Kramer to a 5-1. Tully pulled out feeling his engine was dodgy.

Our opening pair lost out at last to Johnston in a shared heat 11, Fisher leading at one point but the home star powering past. Although heat 12 looked like a chance for us, we lost it 4-2. Aaron was proving a bit inconsistent.

We were 8 down now and looking at a possible TR shortly. Fisher was on his own in heat 13 and came down at the first corner. He was allowed back in and took a good second in the rerun.

That meant 10 down and we tried the Raj on a TR in heat 14, in which Gathercole started 15 metres back after exceeding the 2-minute allowance. Unfortunately we got nothing out of the TR and lost both a 4-2 and the match from a race which had looked a decent chance for us. Brown gated and we could not peg him back.

The final heat was the best of the night with all four dicing, Matthew winning from the back from Kramer and Fisher third.

Somerset Rebels v Edinburgh Monarchs

On Wednesday the team make the long journey down to Cider Country to take on the Somerset Rebels, the team which pushed us all the way to the League Championship last year. The last time we won at the Oak Tree Arena was in 2003, our 'other' Championship winning year. What are our prospects this time?

Well let's be honest not good! In fact it will be a surprise if we even manage a point from this match. Somerset are a formidable team round their own track as King's Lynn have found out twice this season already. They have built a very good side indeed from the ashes of last year when it didn't look at one stage that they would be in the league this year.

Magnus Zetterstrom may have gone but Somerset replaced him with another Elite League big name ? Steve Johnston. He's not been as dominant as Zetterstrom but drops very few points at home. Emil Kramer is now the Rebels' number 1 and is still a very hard man to beat home or away. The real success of the Somerset side this year however has been the form of Cory Gathercole who moved from the Isle of Wight to the Rebels during the winter. He now seems to have the Somerset track well sussed out and has been a great replacement for Jordan Frampton, the Rebels' third heat leader of last year.

The Somerset top three are likely to have too much top end power for the Monarchs. The back up comes from Simon Walker at number 2 and Justin Sedgmen at three. Simon Walker may not be sensational away from home but he is certainly a force to be reckoned with on his own track. Last year he finished with a home average of 10.04 and, although that has dropped to 7.71 this year so far, it's more heat leader standard than second string! Justin Sedgmen is new to British Speedway this season and is perhaps the weak link in the Rebels' armoury averaging only about 4 points per meeting.

When the Rebels team line up was declared before the start of the season there were many who thought (me included!) that they would struggle badly at reserve. But that has not proven to be the case. In fact Tom Brown has a home average of around 4.5 and Jay Herne around 3.5. Eight points from the reserve berths is a good return for any side and this is where Edinburgh may well suffer.

Sean Stoddart has had a terrible time seeking points away from home and Aaron Summers failed to score a point in his two visits to Somerset last year. It's time to improve that record and he will be looking to master the tracks he has so far found difficult. But if we can' t take points off the Somerset reserves then it will be a long night.

On the plus side Thomas H Jonasson returns to the team for this match and this is a track he has ridden well and should take to. If he can make some decent starts he could hit double figures. But the pluses don't end there. Last time there Ryan Fisher scored 13+1 and Matthew Wethers 12 albeit that both these scores came from 6 rides. Andrew Tully was lively too with 6+2 from five rides. Michal Rajkowski didn't ride at Somerset last year so his current form round there we'll find out on Wednesday night!

The form book says Somerset to win with Edinburgh probably struggling to hit 40 points. But you just never know with our team. They have surprised us on many occasions away from home and I hope I'm wrong in writing off their chances. Will humble pie be on the menu for me on Thursday. I look forward to it!

As ever may the better team win (unless it's the Rebels). The likely line ups are:

Somerset: Emil Kramer, Simon Walker, Justin Sedgmen, Cory Gathercole, Steve Johnston, Tom Brown, Jay Herne.

Edinburgh: Ryan Fisher, Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully, Michal Rajkowski, Thomas H Jonasson, Aaron Summers, Sean Stoddart.