Well Beaten At Plymouth

The Stellar Monarchs simply were not good enough overall on an attritional night at Plymouth that had a bit of everything the majority of it negative.

A final score of 54-34 only tells half the story as a 2hr 40 minute meeting saw stoppages and re-runs galore.

Add to this woeful track preparation that saw lengthy track work throughout starting as early as after heat two plus an electrical failure that meant the majority of the meeting was run under green light starts and it would be easy to use these as excuses.

However that would be unfair to the hosts who dealt with the challenges better and too kind to the Monarchs who simply did not perform as expected as team boss John Campbell explained, 'I came here believing we had a very good chance of the win and the bonus point and to be so heavily beaten simply isn't good enough.

'Ok, the track at the start of the meeting is unsettling, the lack of starting gates is unsettling but we actually started ok then the way we were brushed aside was embarrassing.

'Without Josh and just behind him Lasse it would have been even more embarrassing.

'It is difficult and you don't want to criticise tracks as a bad night can happen to anyone and same with the starting gates that can happen anywhere although I'm led to believe it happens here more than most but we can't control any of that, what we can control is our own performance and that's what needs looked at.'

Weirdly, although not shown on the scorecard the Monarchs actually started brightly enough only for misfortune to hit, Kye Thomson leading heat one before grinding to a halt.

Then Max James getting caught out by the conditions and coming down while leading heat two.

Lengthy track work would follow this then coupled with a further delay as gremlins hit the starting gates prior to best six.

This meant green light starts and the Monarchs looked to have adapted best as Justin Sedgmen and James took a 4-2 in heat six before Lasse Fredriksen and Paco Castagna took a heat seven maximum at this stage the Monarchs were only two down.

This is where the wheels would come off though as the next theee races saw a trio of home maximum advantages that meant it was all but game over.

As always Josh Pickering never knows this though and his last to first blast in heat 11was a rare highlight both for the Monarchs and racing wise for any neutrals watching on the British Speedway Network.

Another trio of heat advantages would follow for the home men as they consistently found themselves in front into the first corner.

Heat 15 was another Pickering classic as he stalked and passed Dan Thompson through the dust clouds but this was nothing but a consolation for the Monarchs who must now literally and figuratively dust themselves down and go again at Poole on Wednesday night.

Plymouth Gladiators 54 : Covatti 11, Bowtell 5+1, D Thompson 11+1, Newman 7+3, Barker 6+1, J Thompson 8, Hook 6+2

Stellar Monarchs 34 : Pickering 14, Thomson 0, Fredriksen 9+1, Castagna 4, Sedgmen 5, James 2, Coles 0

Monarchs Back On The Road Looking For Points

The Stellar Monarchs face the longest trip in British speedway on Tuesday as they head to Plymouth to take on the Gladiators with work to do.

It was the one big blip on the Monarchs season so far back in May when the Gladiators came away from Armadale victorious and it means that if any points are to be gained then a big result is needed.

The Monarchs will head south with some confidence after a hard-fought bonus point gained at Scunthorpe on Friday and line-up with their usual 1-7.

In fact it is a rare occasion where as it stands both teams line-up as programmed with Nico Covatti making his return after a 28 day ban for riding abroad while missing UK matches, albeit no one can really hold to much against the Italian giving the severity of injuries suffered in Argentina not long before the UK season started.

Beyond Covatti the man most are talking in the Plymouth camp is Dan Thompson, Thompson enjoying his best season in the sport so far and recently announced in the Team GB squad for the SON 2 later this month.

Ben Barker is another who on his day is absolutely unbeatable around the Coliseum so their will be exciting battles abound as the Monarchs top end all look to continue their excellent recent form.

Tapes up is at 7pm with the match available to watch on the British Speedway Network.

Plymouth Gladiators – Nico Covatti, Alfie Bowtell, Dan Thompson, Kyle Newman, Ben Barker, Joe Thompson, Jacob Hook

Stellar Monarchs – Josh Pickering, Kye Thomson, Lasse Fredriksen, Paco Castagna, Justin Sedgmen, Max James, Connor Coles