Well Earned Point At Newcastle

The Parsons Peebles Monarchs overcame the loss of captain Sam Masters to record a well earned point away to Newcastle on Sunday evening going down 46-44.

Monarchs captain Masters withdrew after his second race feeling the effects of a big crash in the very first heat when he clipped Diamonds Ashley Morris's wheel while trying to go round the young Englishman. It is hoped though that Masters who was complaining of Shoulder pain will not be missing for any upcoming Monarchs matches.

The subsequent exclusion for Masters meant the Monarchs made the worst possible start as Morris and partner Robert Lambert were awarded a 5-1.

The visitors were not behind for long though as reserve duo Mitchell Davey and Josh Pickering rocketed from the gate in heat 2 to bring the West Lothian men level. Pickering and Davey were to be key in helping the Monarchs to gain the point outscoring there opposing numbers 10 points to 5.

Monarchs co-promoter and team manager John Campbell was happy with his team's efforts coming on the back of their victory at Ipswich last Thursday also saying "I think after Sam crashed out of the meeting missing his influence affected us, maybe not on the track as we didn't drop to many points in his outings but his influence affects the spirit in the pits greatly so I would class that as a point gained. I would expect Sam will ride on for Wolverhampton tomorrow and I think he will be fine for Friday."

Campbell was also full of praise for Ricky Wells who returned to his best form with a magnificent paid 17 score saying "Ricky has thought for many months it was problem with himself or the setup but it turns out he has found an issue with his engine and hopefully that is him back on form and he was excellent this evening"

The hosts built up an early lead with consecutive 4-2 advantages in heats 4 and 5 with the impressive Steve Worrall and Stuart Robson taking the chequered flag. This did not discourage the Monarchs though who had drawn level by heat 8 with a pair of 4-2 advantages of their own Erik Riss and Theo Pijper being the men to record victories for the Monarchs.

The see saw battle was to continue as after drawing level the Monarchs promptly lost a 5-1 with Robson and partner Ludvig Lindgren heading Riss. The Diamonds would build on this in heat 11 with Worrall leading the way and reserve Ben Hopwood getting the better of Pijper after a ding dong battle.

It was starting to look as if the match may be getting away from the Monarchs but yet again they showed the resilience that they have shown so many times this season. Main man was Wells who returned to his early season form going unbeaten in heats 12, 13 & 15.

This meant the Monarchs were 4 down going into a tricky looking heat 14 but Josh Pickering rode his race of the night to split the Diamonds pair. The resultant 4-2 meant Newcastle had clinched victory but with 6 points in it the Monarchs needed at least a shared heat in heat 15 to guarantee the point.

As it was the Monarchs pairing of Riss and Wells made the jump in front and neither of the Diamonds pair could land a blow as they raced to a 5-1 meaning a defeat by 2 points but ultimately an all important league point that sees the Monarchs move 9 points clear of 5th place Redcar in the hunt for a playoff place.

Monarchs Aiming For The Summit

The Parsons Peebles Monarchs will be looking to build on their excellent win at Ipswich on Thursday night as they make the relatively short trip to Newcastle this Sunday.

This will be our second visit to Brough Park this season and we will be hoping to go one better than last time when a Max Clegg inspired performance led to a 45-45 draw although it could be said this felt more like a defeat after being 4 up going into the last race only to concede a 5-1.

Of course this time we will not have Max at reserve but the Monarchs will be hoping for a repeat of Thursday’s performance from Josh Pickering who was excellent in recording a paid ten score. If he can replicate this we may well be in with a chance once again.

Brough Park is a track very few riders would class as a favourite but our top 3 have all had excellent matches there in the past. The same can be said for Theo who as is the case at most tracks we visit has the most experience around Brough in the team and as always the hope will be that Mitchell can take points of his opposite number.

The Diamonds are a different looking side than the one we gained the 2 league points against back in May with Lewis Rose unfortunately facing a spell on the sidelines following his crash at Armadale the other week. This led to Rose re-breaking his collarbone and we wish him all the best in his recovery. Stepping into replace Lewis is one of the most experienced men in British speedway in the form of Stuart Robson. Robson has been around for many a year now starting his career way back in 1993 with the Diamonds. Now 40 Robson was seen as somewhat of a coup signing as the variances of the averages meant he was able to come in on an adjusted figure based on his Premiership performances this season rather than his average from the then Premier League last year. If Robson can find the form that made him one of the top men in the second tier not so long ago the Diamonds could be a dark horse for a later playoff push.

A second change to the Diamonds line-up from our last visit comes at reserve where Alfie Bowtell steps in. Bowtell being given his chance after impressing guesting against eh Diamonds for Berwick. Bowtell has impressed many with his steady style although some times this has not translated into points so far and it will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the match if we can keep Bowtell and his reserve partner Ben Hopwood quiet.

The Diamonds strength of course lies in their top end and once again we will need to go about nullifying the threat of Robert Lambert, Steve Worrall and Ludvig Lindgren in the way we did with Danny King, Rory Schlein and Justin Sedgmen on Thursday.

So another key Championship fixture awaits as head towards being 2 thirds of the way through our league campaign. Any leeway we felt we had after gaining 3 points at Ipswich on Thursday has been somewhat nullified by Sheffield’s big win at Berwick last night so we will be on the lookout for the win with the added bonus of if we can pull it off then we will regain top spot in the table