Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

Monarchs led by twelve with five heats left, but too many of the vital points over the closing stages were lost, allowing Bandits to grab a point they probably didn?t expect.

The highlights of the night from a home point of view was the riding of Kevin Wolbert, astride a new motor supplied by Peter Carr. He was confident and he was brilliant, pulling off another last gasp pass in the final race to complete a 15 point maximum.

Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully and Craig Cook all did mostly very well, but Kalle Katajisto?s struggles continued as he fights for form and confidence. There was no faulting the effort, but heats 5 (in which he list second place) and 9 (on a paid win when he fell) spoilt his scoresheet and the team total.

At reserve, Jay Herne struggled though he had a decent heat 8 ride to pass Mudgway, and Adam McKinna disastrously fell while well ahead in heat 2.

For the Bandits Charlie Gjedde took a ride to settle, then took two wins before finding Wolbert unstoppable in heats 13 and 15.

Other than that they plugged away, and Scottish Open champ Franc came to life in heats 14 and 15 to score vital points.

The first heat took three attempts to get away. Wolbert and Wethers were clear the first time as both Stichauer and Gjedde came off ? the Bandits were fortunate to both make the rerun.

The second time something very similar happened, except that Gjedde was back on when the red lights came on. Stichauer was excluded, and finally the Monarchs pair took a comfortable 5-1.

Adam McKinna shot away to lead heat 2 with Herne passing Sike early. Positions looked set until bend 4 of lap 3 when Adam suddenly swung out to the fence, turning a 4-2 into a 2-4 and spoiling all his good work.

Cook and Katajisto didn?t combine well in heat 3 but nevertheless they soon got themselves out in front for another maximum.

Andrew Tully won heat 4 but Herne was an early faller as he got too close to Mudgway.

We led 15-9 and it should have been more ? but soon it was less as Cook and Katajisto again tangled, then Kalle drifted too wide trying to chase Gjedde and lost second place to Stichauer who held a good inside line.

Wolbert and Wethers soon restored the six point gap by easily heading the slow-looking Complin.

Kozza Smith went ahead on the first lap of heat 7 but a neat inside turn by Tully saw him come through inside off the fourth corner of the first lap, and after that he was away.

Matthew comfortably won heat 8 but at the back a key point was gained by Jay Herne, whose outside runs eventually paid off with a pass of Mudgway.

Cook had Katajisto at the fence down the back straight of heat 9 but eventually they sorted themselves out with Craig Cook leading. Complin sensed a chance against Katajisto and chased hard, but it was Kalle?s error which let the Bandits in ? he went into a turn too hard and lost it, crashing against the fence.

So we still held an 8-point lead but chances to go further ahead had been missed. When Kevin Wolbert and Matthew Wethers raced to their third 5-1 of the night in heat 10, that put us 12 up but handed Gjedde a TR chance in heat 11.

Tully got a flier at the first attempt but was pulled back. He was close the second time too but Gjedde just had the edge, and in spite of a typical Tully chase he held on with Stichauer making it a 7-2.

Kalle was away well in heat 12 but he swung too wide and Smith spotted it early enough to turn under Katajisto. The Finn tried his trademark outside swoops but none came off, and with Mudgway easily beating Herne this time we were down to 40-35.

Wolbert off gate 2 burst into the first turn to head Gjedde in heat 13, and Tully caught Complin off the second bend of heat 13 for the point.

That put Monarchs 7 up and they looked to Craig Cook in heat 14, but he made a dreadful start and had to pass Mudgway for second. He could not catch Franc which meant Monarchs needed a last heat advantage to take all three points.

Bandits had the momentum though and they held a 4-2 for much of the race. Wolbert was trying all sorts of lines to put pressure on Gjedde while Wethers was trying hard to gain ground on Franc.

Off the last turn, Wolbert did it again with a great burst to win the heat by inches. Wethers though was a yard short and Bandits had their point.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

Monarchs lost their way for a crucial period on the big Shielfield Park track last Saturday and they will hope that Berwick Bandits do the same on the tighter Scotwaste Arena oval at Armadale this Friday (7.30) in the return Premier League encounter.

Berwick?s top class 31-year-old Danish international, Charlie Gjedde, will pose one of the biggest threats to Monarchs? hopes of taking full league points when he lines up at No.1 against Edinburgh?s rising German international star, Kevin Wolbert.

Edinburgh skipper Matthew Wethers faces a bit of an unknown quantity at No.2 in Czech Republic rider Hynek Stichauer but should be expected to make home advantage count in his favour as he must be able to ride the track blindfolded by now.

Kalle Katajisto has been moved to No.3 in a re-shuffle of the riding order which has not necessarily done him any favours, because he faces the very lively Kozza Smith who has settled down to become a solid Premier League heat leader.

Craig Cook continues to have anything but an easy life at No.4 where he is paired against Josef ?Pepe? Franc who suddenly went from being a poor Armadale performer into an unbeatable one in the course of one Scottish Open meeting.

Andrew Tully has looked very impressive at Armadale lately, especially last week when he made three excellent starts in a row which makes his job so much easier. He takes over at No.5 and faces the all-action Yorkshire racer Lee Complin.

A second Scot appears for Edinburgh this week at No.6 following a bit of second half practice last Friday. He is one-time Dale Devil, Adam McKinna who stands in for Ashley Morris and will fancy his chances of picking up a few points from Hungarian, Tamas Sike.

Lee Herne has recovered well enough to make the all-day-Friday trek north again from his base on the south coast to resume his place at No.7 in the blue and gold. Everyone wishes him well in his reserve duels with young New Zealander Jade Mudgway.

So despite Berwick perhaps having a few less riders who never mastered Armadale, it would be a major upset if a strong team performance from the home side wasn?t rewarded with a win. But anything can happen in speedway and Berwick will not want to leave pointless.