Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

A very tight match on opening night ended in a two-point defeat for the Scotwaste Monarchs, but with one glaring exception most of the home side can be comfortable with their efforts.

A remarkably smooth circuit allowed the riders to race comfortably throughout, and while quite a few of the early heats were processional, two cracking races in heats 11 and 12 livened up the crowd and reminded us why we were all there.

The Monarch with a problem is Kevin Wolbert. Hopefully he will ride himself through it in quick time, but this was just about his worst meeting as a Monarch. He was easily moved aside by Bach in heat 1 and dropped from second to last, and he did the same thing in heat 10 when a 5-1 with Matthew Wethers turned speedily to a 3-3.

He looked completely lacking in confidence, and yet he has returned two 7-point scores for Birmingham. We need to see that kind of form, fast.

The biggest plus was the classy and positive riding of Craig Cook, shining luminously in the night. He won his first race as a Monarch, chased hard on Bach in his next, then won heat 9 in style. It is going to be exciting watching this young Cumbrian.

Jay Herne also won his first race in our colours, a heartening 5-1 in heat 2. He didn?t look quick but can be pretty happy with his debut.

Super-Kalle was as exciting as ever and got right in the groove from his first race. His pass of Derek Sneddon in heat 11 was the race of the night.

Ashley Morris earned pass marks and didn?t drop a point to the visiting reserves. He is currently taking the harder rides at no. 6 so will measure his progress in the number of top five scalps he takes. None so far, but they will come.

Matthew Wethers took a ride to get over the jet-lag but after that was as good as ever, and no-one would be too unhappy with Andrew Tully either.

He was moved to no. 3 to allow him to settle as he comes back from a broken arm, and it was unfortunate that he fell on the first turn in heat 3 after gating well. In subsequent heats he did not gate well but gradually built up speed, culminating in a tremendous heat 12 win after pulling back maybe a 50 yard deficit over the last couple of laps.

Diamonds have the immense advantage of Stuart Robson on a 6.55 average, one of the silly outcomes of the winter rule shenanigans. This alone ensures that they will be in the title chase. He was superb, and their side will be even more formidable when their reserves settle down.

They got off to a perfect start when Derek Sneddon raced away in heat 1. Wolbert briefly held second but Bach came inside him on the pits turn and Kevin backed off, back to last.

Monarchs? reserves evened the scores with a steadily ridden maximum in heat 2. Then Andrew had his fall in heat 3, but Craig Cook slipped under the two Diamonds and rode the track as if he?d been on it all his life.

Kalle took heat 4 with Jay Herne taking another point, and Monarchs were in front.

Bach won heat 5 but Cook had him under pressure all the way in a decent race. Andrew Tully tried hard but could not get by Derek Sneddon.

Heat 6 was another chase with Wethers on Lemon?s tail and Wolbert managing to head Newman, but we dropped behind in heat 7.

There was no catching Robson who looked really speedy in front, and Ashley trailed behind Tomicek.

Matthew Wethers took heat 8 from Derek Sneddon, but focus of attention was on the battle for the point. Jay Herne had it all the way until the last lap when Newman?s efforts on the inside paid off and he came through.

We did level up in heat 9 though, another win for Cook from Lemon, with Tully overhauling Newman for the point.

Heat 10 looked good for us with Wolbert and Wethers gating ahead. Robson was soon past Wolbert, and depressingly enough Tomicek followed suit with the home no. 1 looking so laboured you had to wonder if it was a machine problem.

Up till now the only passing had been for the minor places but heat 11 was a cracker. Derek Sneddon shot from the outside gate and led from Kalle who was having to work hard to hold off Bach. Having done that he then hit the outside on the pits bend, and in spite of Derek doing his best to close the door, Kalle sped past brilliantly.

His work wasn?t over though because he had problems on the next bend, almost drifting into the fence. He bravely held that and fought off another challenge from Sneddon for a memorable win.

Newman fell early in heat 12 but Tomicek held a big lead from Herne with Tully again making a bad start. Andrew eventually squeezed past his partner and then ht the gas to rein in the Czech. He made up a remarkable amount of ground and burst inside going into the final turn, taking the win to the roar of the crowd.

Kalle split the visitors in heat 13 with Kevin again trundling in at the back, and this levelled the scores again.

Robson raced away with heat 14, shared by Cook and Morris so it was all square going in to the last heat.

For sure Kalle would have been in that, but a machine problem had arisen and he could not take the place. Again it was Robson who gated, and he was clearly not going to be caught.

So Matthew and Craig settled in to the minor places, and when Lemon fell we momentarily thought we had a draw.

Unfortunately a moment later, Craig also spun and fell, and the quicker to remount was Lemon who scored the match winning point.

A slightly anti-climactic end, but considering how poorly Kevin rode at no. 1, we did well to get as close as we did. The ball is in his court then!

Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

Edinburgh Monarchs kick off their new speedway season at Armadale this Friday (25th March) at 7.30 with a very serious challenge match in the first leg of the Premier Shield against the Newcastle Diamonds.

With the Scotwaste Monarchs being the 2010 Premier League Champions and the Sapphire Engineering Diamonds being the 2010 KO Cup winners, both sides were penalised for their success by having to lose riders to come back within the 2011 team building points limit.

Out go last year's top two Premier riders, Flyin' Ryan Fisher from the blue and gold and Kenni Larsen from the black and whites. That apart, Monarchs have made only one other enforced change due to William Lawson's decision to sit out the season, whereas Diamonds have four new faces in total.

Rene Bach becomes the main Dane on Tyneside by moving up to the No.1 slot where he is paired with Monarchs' new top man, Kevin Wolbert, the young German rider who burst onto the UK scene in 2009 and who will be looking to push ahead after a year of consolidation in 2010.

Monarchs' newest captain, Matthew Wethers, faces their popular former captain, Derek Sneddon, at No.2. Matty should have shaken off the jet lag after a later than planned flight from Australia but will not have managed much in the way of preparation or practice.

The mercurial talent that is Andrew Tully rides at No.3 this year where he will face the 25-year-old Czech Republic rider, Lubos Tomicek. This third generation speedway rider begins his ninth UK season, having last appeared for the Diamonds in 2005 and 2006.

Edinburgh's prize winter capture, Craig Cook, could scarcely face a tougher test in his first home match for his new club than lining up against the highly experienced 34-year-old Stuart Robson who has dropped down from the Elite League due to a recent change in the rules on averages.

The spectacular Finn, Kalle Katajisto, makes a welcome return to action where he will have to be at his best to contain the revitalised Aussie, Mark Lemon at No.5. At the age of 38, the popular Armadale visitor and frequent guest is riding as well as he has ever done.

At No.6, Wolverhampton-born Ashley Morris will line up for his first full Premier League season against another up-and-coming British rider, Kyle Newman from Poole who will be full of confidence following a very successful winter as part of the Young Lions tour to Australia.

Monarchs' last-gasp signing, Jay Herne from Sydney, begins his Edinburgh career at No.7 where he faces the least experienced of the fourteen riders on show, former moto-cross racer Ritchie Worrall from St Helens who is in his Premier League debut season.

So the two sides look as evenly matched as ever. But the difference this time could be that while this will be Monarchs' first match of the season, Newcastle will be match sharp having beaten the exciting new Berwick Bandits both home and away last weekend.

Both sides will also be having their first look at the re-profiled Scotwaste Arena track, which may even out any potential home advantage until Monarchs have a few matches under their belts. But the fans won't complain if it makes the racing is even better, as promised.

But most worrying for Edinburgh are the reports that Newcastle's riders were much quicker out of the tapes than the Berwick septet since Armadale sides have never been famous for their lightning starts in recent seasons. Hopefully Craig Cook will change all that!

So perhaps not too much should be read into this match in terms of how the season will pan out, as it will take the usual time for both sides to settle in for much more important fixtures that lie ahead. But it should still be a cracker to launch an exciting speedway season.

Likely line-ups:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Kevin Wolbert, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Andrew Tully, Craig Cook, Kalle Katajisto, Ashley Morris, Jay Herne.

DIAMONDS: Rene Bach, Derek Sneddon (capt.), Lubos Tomicek, Stuart Robson, Mark Lemon, Kyle Newman, Richie Worrall.