Edinburgh Monarchs v Kings Lynn Stars

This was billed as a battle of the giants, but it turned out to be a strange night with a one-point win to Monarchs with most of the credit going to King?s Lynn - on track anyway.

The night started with the Stars? protest about the Edinburgh team. Edinburgh did not argue that they had made a mistake with their team lineup, but with the late timing of the protest which held the meeting up for 15 minutes.

John Campbell had his say and off we went. It was quite a start with Ryan Fisher easily winning the first race while Aaron Summers held on in second in spite of Darcy Ward throwing everything at him, inside and out. Aaron had about half a wheel to spare at the end.

The visiting reserves made a mess of heat 2. First Graversen fell, then Summers passed race leader Kozza Smith who then fell in a very untidy heap.

Byron Bekker managed to get past to enjoy a paid win in his first ride for Monarchs. 10-2, what a start!

The Stars looked like hitting back in the next one as they held a 5-1 advantage. However Chris Schramm didn?t settle down and was drifting across the bends, allowing first Tully then Wethers through to share the heat behind Sanchez, who looked quick.

Tomas Topina was quickly ahead in heat 4 with Rajkowski second and Graversen third, but on the last bend of lap 3 the Dane lifted awkwardly and slammed into the fence.

So again Bekker took a point and the lead stayed at 8 points.

Ward made the start in heat 5 and led from the Monarchs? pair. Surprisingly he hit the pits corner too tight, two-wheeled across it and into the fence. So far, not Stars? night and although nothing was said at the time, that was to be the end of Ward?s meeting.

In the rerun we saw the best of Eklof who had been at the rear, or we could say the first of many occasions when Monarchs were sluggish at the gate. He held on to win in spite of Matthew Wethers? very strong challenge.

Ryan Fisher got the better of the early tussle with Topinka in heat 6 but Andrew Tully trailed in behind Smith, missing a chance to add to the advantage.

We could have done with it too, because heat 7 went against us. Sanchez led from Rajkowski, who made rather heavy weather of things and allowed Schramm into second spot.

Aaron had been at the back in heat 7 but he made amends in heat 8 by backing up Wethers, taking a 5-1 over Eklof. So we were past half way with an 8-point lead.

The unpredictable Smith led heat 9 from Wethers with Topinka third and Tully at the back. Matthew worked his way round Kozza, and then a mistake by Topinka (tactical?) allowed Tully to take a point.

So Sanchez duly came out as a TR but proceeded to have his worst heat. Schramm led but Fisher cut past Poty off the second bend and chased Schramm hard. He didn?t catch him but a 5-2 was not a disaster - now a 7-point lead.

Darcy Ward was due out in the next one but he didn?t show, replaced by Smith, so clearly the young Aussie had picked up an injury. You could have been excused for thinking that Monarchs should now have found it relatively easy to take all three points. Eklof did win heat 11 but Rajkowski and Summers kept Smith at the back.

Smith?s unpredictability showed again as he led heat 12, with Schramm and Wethers dicing behind him. Wethers got into second going into lap 2, with Schramm barging inside him, but forcing Matthew across the turn and down.

Schramm was excluded and a 4-2 in the rerun put the home side 9 up - with only one opposition rider in heat 13 (Smith?s last ride was needed for heat 14).

The last part of the evening was all King?s Lynn. Topinka led all the way in heat 13 though Fisher put in a very strong chase. Still 9 up.

Heat 14 was a Stars? 5-1 from Sanchez and Smith, and a really disappointing ride by Tully and Summers. So now the gap was 5 and Monarchs needed a 4-2 to take all three points. Could they do it?

No! Resoundingly outgated again, the only challenge came from Fisher who tried to go round the visitors. He was taken wide and hung out to dry - fairly - by Sanchez, and that was that. So we had won the battle of the giants by a point. But we could not be happy with how we had performed against a weakened team.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Kings Lynn Stars

This weekend provides a busy three matches in three days for the team starting with a visit to Armadale by the favourites to win the league championship this season - King's Lynn. The Stars certainly have the credentials to win everything they enter this season although they have already lost out on the Premier League Pairs won by Birmingham two weeks ago.

It's hard to think of a visiting team which is likely to provide a sterner challenge to the Monarchs' proud unbeaten home record than the Stars. At the start of the season they signed on a five point average a young Australian, Darcy Ward, who has literally been a sensation by adding over four points to his assessed average already with a number of stunning displays round the Premier League tracks. For example, on his first ride at Ashfield last Sunday he equalled the track record set by Shane Paarker the week before. Tai Woffinden's staggering displays of last season have been eclipsed by those of Ward and there is already a great deal of anticipation about how well he handles the Armadale track.

There is a lot more to King's Lynn than Darcy Ward, however. Their other top heat leader is Tomas Topinka who is no stranger to Armadale and who has scored heavily on many occasions. In his last two visits to the track he scored 15 points in the Premier League match and 18 in the Premier Trophy play offs. But the strength of the Norfolk side doesn't stop there. The middle pairing of Emiliano Sanchez and Chris Schramm have been a revelation. Sanchez joined the Stars when John Oliver decided not to return from Australia while Schramm returned to the Premier League after a season with Ipswich on his old PL average. Both moves have turned the Stars into a virtually unbeatable side at home and a formidable one away.

When Christian Henry suffered injury the Stars turned to Sweden to sign Linus Eklof and he too turned out to strengthen the side further. He may be a second string with the Stars but he would walk into other PL sides as a heat leader. The King's Lynn reserves have their ups and downs. Kozza Smith missed a large chunk of the early season action through injury. At that time he was in the main body of the team while Darcy Ward was at reserve so could take seven rides to help cover for his absence. Kozza's rather aggressive reserve performances do not always go down well at other tracks. He too appeared at Armadale with the Stars last season on two occasions but managed a single point on both occasions. Jan Graversen, the other reserve, recently guested for Workington at the Dale with no impact so Edinburgh must capitalise on what could be the Achilles Heel of the visitors.

Friday night will probably mark the last appearance for the Monarchs, for the near future at least, of Sean Stoddart and Rider Replacement. We wish Sean well and hope that he regains his confidence to recapture the good form he showed at Newcastle last season. We also hope that Rider Replacement plays no further part in the team formation and allows the riders to concentrate on their own rides. The pressure was beginning to look as though it was starting to take its toll in recent weeks so hopefully the riders can look forward to less demands on them and their equipment.

It would be ludicrous to suggest that Friday night will result in an easy victory for the Monarchs against the champions elect because it will almost certainly take a Herculean effort by all of the team to pull off a positive result. If they can do it, then they will be able to approach the rest of the season with a good deal of confidence and enthusiasm particularly with possible strengthening moves in the days to come.

The teams are likely to be: Edinburgh: Ryan Fisher, R/R for Thomas H Jonasson, Michal Rajkowski, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Sean Stoddart and Aaron Summers.

King's Lynn: Darcy Ward, Linus Eklof, Emiliano Sanchez, Chris Schramm, Tomas Topinka, Kozza Smith and Jan Graversen.