Last Gasp Monarchs Take The Win

The Stellar Monarchs saved the best till last as they took maximum heat advantages in each of the last two heats to take a massive victory 46-44 at Plymouth on Tuesday night.

In slick conditions that saw passing at an absolute premium it all came down to a heat 15 decider with the Monarchs off the unfavoured gates one and three it looked like the home men were favourites but no one told Monarchs captain Josh Pickering and excellent guest Erik Riss that as they made the jump and rode four faultless laps to take the victory remarkably the only time on the night the Monarchs were in front.

Stand in team manager Gordon Campbell saying after.

"It is a tight race for the Play Offs with Plymouth being a rival for the final spot so we were fully determined to get a result tonight.

"This showed with every member of the team having a moment to be proud of in the match and chipping in with vital points at vital moments.

"Special thank you to Erik Riss who was a terrific guest at number 1.

"We must bounce forward from this great result and with the backing of our wonderful supporters we can finish the home season strongly and clinch that Play Off spot."

On a day that had saw plenty of rain in the area and track covers only lifted during the afternoon the name of the game was to get to the first bend in front and keep it low for four laps.

The only action of note early doors seeing Josh Pickering cutting back off bend two to slingshot under Worrall to the front.

The hosts were being well served by James Pearson who took heat wins in heats two and nine but with main men Kyle Howarth and Richie Worrall both looking a little frustrated with conditions albeit scoring well the Monarchs kept themselves in touch throughout.

There were key contributions throughout with six of the seven taking at least one paid win. These often coming at key times when it looked like the home men were going to take control.

Heat eight a great example of this as Max Clegg saw a perfectly good start pulled back when he had hit the front only to repeat the feat in the re-run in a race that on paper looked a strong one for the Gladiators.

Kye Thomson and Paco Castagna did their jobs magnificently throughout also, packing in behind Howarth twice and Worrall before each won their final outing to record paid nine and nine respectively.

Bastian Borke saved his best for last also as most expected a tactical substitute replacement in heat 14 after the Monarchs had slipped six down, Borke had other ideas though in what was the heat of the night.

First up Castagna cutting back off the second bend to fire himself to the front then a lap later Borke battling his way under Pearson to bring it back to a two-point gap with the big last heat to go.

So, it was down to the Monarchs main two, Josh Pickering who had an up and down night to this point with his heat four win being followed by a strange first lap in heat nine where he slowed perhaps thinking the race had been stopped then a frustrating heat 13 where he found himself sandwiched between Worrall and Howarth obviously expecting an unsatisfactory start as he made his feelings clear toward the referee after.

Erik Riss was in gate three an inspired choice of guest who had only tasted defeat when off the graveyard gate one in heat 13.

Pickering had the misfortune of being off the inside but rather than concern himself with unsettling Howarth on his outside he found a fresh bit of dirt on the white line to fire himself to the front. With Riss emerging from a tight first corner to tuck in behind Pickering it was just a case of waiting out the four laps as the glory went to the Monarchs.

Plymouth 44 : Howarth 13+1, Newman 7, Perry 0, Worrall 12+1, Pearson 10+3, Trigger 2+1

Edinburgh 46 : Riss 12+1, Clegg 4, Thomson 6+3, Castagna 9, Pickering 10, Killeen 2+1, Borke 3+1

Monarchs Look For Thumbs Up Performance At The Coliseum

The Stellar Monarchs wrap up their away league campaign on Tuesday night with the longest trip in British speedway making the trek to Devon to take on the Plymouth Gladiators.

The home men are another who have had a season to forget so far, currently sitting rock bottom of the table with only one home win to their name.

However, with the nature of the league this year all is not lost for the Gladiators and a win tonight could kick start a playoff charge especially with all off their remaining fixtures up against the teams towards the bottom end of the table.

Both teams have a bit of a patched-up nature to them with the hosts suffering a run of injuries of late and finding guests hard to come by at times, an original line-up provided now showing a further three changes due to unavailability of originally booked guests.

As it is the two parts of the team that remain as expected is at the top and bottom end where the firepower will be expected to come from Kyle Howarth and Richie Worrall at the top and James Pearson and Ben Trigger at the bottom.

The middle order is all change as each of Dan Gilkes, Ben Barker and Dan Thompson miss out, Kyle Newman deputises for Gilkes, Max Perry for Thompson and rider replacement is in operation for Barker with all the Gladiators able to take an extra ride.

For the Monarchs it is the opposite with changes at the top and bottom, Craig Cook and Dayle Wood the two missing, former Monarch Erik Riss steps in at number one with Luke Killeen in for Wood.

Elsewhere the team is as expected, Bastian Borke still finds himself at reserve due to achieving his true average so Max Clegg moves into the number 2 slot.

With four matches still to go for the Monarchs including this one both teams know a victory in this fixture could go along way to scraping into that sixth-place playoff position.

Tapes-up is at 7pm with a live stream available at https://www.gladiatorslive.com/ live updates also available on the Monarchs website.

Plymouth: Kyle Howarth, Kyle Newman, Ben Barker R/R, Max Perry, Richie Worrall, James Pearson, Ben Trigger

Stellar Monarchs: Erik Riss, Max Clegg, Kye Thomson, Paco Castagna, Josh Pickering, Luke Killeen, Bastian Borke