Good showing to finish

The Staggs Bar Monarchs raced their final match of the season tonight and defeated their old rivals Newcastle pretty comfortably by 54-36, adapting much better to what were tricky conditions caused by rain earlier in the day and steady drizzle throughout the evening.

Team manager Alex Harkess said "It must have been very difficult to ride because I found it hard enough just walking across the track. It was a good team performance and everyone tried hard to give the fans some entertainment."

It wasn't pleasant conditions to watch in, and it must have been worse to ride in, but the home side gave another solid show as has been the case virtually throughout the season on their home shale.

Sam Masters was dominant throughout and scored a comfortable maximum, taking his points tally since he returned to the team in early July to over 150 in just 11 matches.

Ricky Wells also had a fine match, putting on an entertaining dice with top visitor Ostergaard in heat 3 and in his next, passing Steve Worrall. Ricky admitted that his season has been a disappointing one at times, but tonight he looked like the classy rider we all expect.

Even in the wet Josh Pickering pulls off some remarkable rides, none more so that heat 12. He had to go off 15 metres after missing the two minute time allowance, and what's more he emerged on Cameron Heeps' machine. None of that bothered him, and after he had swerved to miss his fallen partner he set out after Max Clegg and Broc Nicol, passing both and winning the heat by a large margin.

Earlier Josh had won heat 5 but come off in heat 9 when chasing Steve Worrall. There were a number of falls on the fourth corner which seemed to catch a few out.

James Sarjeant scored well again in spite of feeling unwell, and William Lawson had an up and down night with two wins and two lasts, one of his wins being from the back against Worrall and Wethers no less.

Paid 6 was a decent return for Connor Coles and perhaps only Cameron Heeps would not be happy with his score tonight. After winning heat 4 well he only added a couple more points.

For the Diamonds Ulrich Ostergaard was easily the most impressive rider, winning his first three heats and finishing on a fine 15 point score. The veteran Dane has had a mixed year but he has finished in style.

Steve Worrall and Matthew Wethers had their moments but Max Clegg and Broc Nicol were both disappointing on a track they have done well on recently.