Title Partner
Edinburgh Monarchs
Team Manager: Alex Harkess |
47 | ||||||||
| 1. Sam Masters | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1* | 0 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 2. Lasse Fredriksen | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 3. Kye Thomson | 1* | 1 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |||
| 4. Paco Castagna | 2 | 3 | 2* | 3 | 10 | 1 | |||
| 5. Josh Pickering | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | ||
| 6. James Sarjeant | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 7. Jacob Hook | 2* | 0 | FD | 0 | 2 | 1 | |||
Redcar Bears
Team Manager: Gavin Parr |
43 | ||||||||
| 1. Charles Wright | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||
| 2. Jason Edwards | 1* | 0 | 2* | 0 | 3 | 2 | |||
| 3. Richard Lawson | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 4. Kasper Andersen | FD | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| 5. Lewis Kerr | 1* | 1* | 0 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 2 | ||
| 6. Kyle Newman | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | ||
| 7. Jordan Jenkins | 1 | 2 | R | 3 | 1 | 1* | 8 | 1 | |
An exciting and hard-fought KO Cup final first leg ended tonight with Redcar the happier of the two teams after a win for the WTF Monarchs by just 47-43, making the second leg in a fortnight's time a tough assignment for the Monarchs – who nevertheless can never be ruled out.
Team manager Alex Harkess said "We would obviously have liked more of a lead. We let too many points slip away, and the heavy rain pre-meeting was probably a leveller. Redcar were very tenacious though, well done to them and we will be heading south in a fortnight to finish the job."
On the plus side for Edinburgh, they got Sam Masters back, intact, and he reported no serious ill-effects at the end of the meeting – though he admitted track conditions had not been ideal given his injuries.
Josh Pickering was brilliant as always, with the majority of his points taken from the back, and Paco Castagna had probably his best home display of the season with dad Armando watching on.
Monarchs had built an 8-point advantage by heat 7 and were certainly looking to build on that. Redcar lost Kasper Andersen in a heat 3 tumble, probably caused by conditions, but as it turned out reserves Kyle Newman and Jordan Jenkins provided excellent cover. Even though they lost a 5-1 in heat 2 they outscored the home reserves 14-7.
Richard Lawson proved an excellent guest for Bears (though probably not any better than Riss would have been), and he took advantage of a twice rerun heat 3 to eventually get the better of Paco Castagna who had gated in the first two runnings (but not the third).
But the real turning point was heat 8 in which Jason Edwards and Jordan Jenkins took a 5-1 over Lasse Fredriksen after Jacob Hook had spun off. Jenkins took a knock, not his only one on the night, but he didn't let anything worry him.
Monarchs hit back right away through Thomson and Castagna with a 5-1 but they never managed to shake off the Bears. Lawson beat Masters in a thrilling heat 10, then it took Pickering to the last gasp to pip Wright in heat 11. Another last gasp finish in heat 12 saw Thomson catch Newman on the line behind Lawson to stop a maximum loss.
Up until this point Lewis Kerr had done very little but he had a key part to play yet, winning a great heat 13 in spite of huge efforts by Josh Pickering, with Masters just getting the better of Wright. Monarchs 6 up at this stage.
Heat 14 was another great ride by the thrilling Castagna to pass Newman, but a shared heat.
Heat 15 was crucial with Monarchs top two against Lawson and Kerr, but again it was the Bears better away, and all the home side could manage was a hard-won second place by Josh Pickering over Lawson with Kerr taking his second race win.
Full marks to Redcar for their sterling efforts, with Monarchs slightly below par and probably not helped by that pre-meeting downpour.
It was a much more long-drawn-out night than usual, with Ed the Monarch's birthday bash and the kids' race, the Ben Fund collection and quite a few stoppages (plus a junior match). But everyone knew they had seen a match in which everyone gave their all.
With the regular season league campaign now complete and a place in the end of season playoffs secured the What the Fork Monarchs turn their attention back to the KO cup tonight as the Redcar Bears head to Armadale in the first leg of the semi-final.
The Bears are still chasing a play off place of their own also so the chance for both sides of a glorious double remains on the table.
The visitors have already had a taste of silverware this year having been victorious just last Friday in the Championship pairs but the highs of that were met by the lows of a resounding defeat at Poole midweek that means they still have work to do in the league also.
It is a strong looking side that head for Armadale though with a heat leader trio of Charles Wright, Lewi Kerr and guest Richard Lawson who steps in for former Monarch Erik Riss that is amongst the strongest in the league.
Second string Kasper Andersen has had excellent matches at Armadale in the past while Jason Edwards is another well-known to the Armadale faithful and rounds out the top 5.
Recent addition Kyle Newman will look to bolster the reserve berths and with partner Jordan Jenkins having already recorded a maximum at Armadale in the National league this year it is hard to spot a weak link in the Bears line-up.
Their previous visit to Armadale this year saw them just fail to gain a point going down by 7 albeit with a line-up that night that sees only 3 of the riders that return on Friday in Andersen, Kerr and Edwards so that match probably can't be used as a forebearer for this encounter although despite claims of confidence of a victory from the Bears camp a 7 point defeat may be classed as acceptable in the terms of the tie overall.
For the home men there is a welcome and massive boost with the return to the side of Sam Masters, it has not just been the captains scoring but presence in the pits that has been missed in the last couple of weeks also albeit an excellent victory at Oxford was gained during the week despite his absence.
Elsewhere it is as you were for the Monarchs with things maybe just starting to click into gear, the victory on Wednesday being achieved with a brilliant performance from Josh Pickering being backed up by points and key contributions throughout.
That could well be the deciding factor over the two legs as with any cup tie no tactical substitutions are allowed so all 7 riders input is required should a team be successful.
So, another big Friday night as the Monarchs look to build a lead and put the pressure onto the Bears for the return leg in 2 weeks' time while for the visitors, they come looking for a victory that would make them red hot favourites to progress.
Tapes up is at 7.30pm with tickets still available on the Monarchs website, pay at the gate facilities or for those that can't attend EM:TV has you covered with the live stream.
Friday night is speedway night…. see you there!
Thursday 18th August 2022, 12:35pm
This week's action at Armadale is the semi-final of the Knockout Cup, first leg, between the What the Fork Monarchs and Redcar, a team on a high having just won (last weekend) the Championship Pairs.
Tuesday 16th August 2022, 6:00pm
Join the fun as Ed The Monarch celebrates his Birthday Bash this Friday at Armadale Stadium during the Knock Out Cup Semi Final against Redcar Bears!
Thursday 21st July 2022, 7:00am
After progressing in dramatic fashion to the Knock Out Cup Semi Final last month, Monarchs have confirmed dates for the clash with Redcar.
© Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway 2024
Bathgate Road
Armadale
EH48 2PD
