Incredible win takes Monarchs through

What a difference a day (and a different track) makes! A total transformation from the previous evening and one of the best and (to many) most surprising results we have had for many years! A whopping 49-41 win at Ashfield shoots us on to six points to top the group and we await our semi-final opponents.

A delighted John Campbell said "I wasn't confident that we could do well at Berwick yesterday, whereas here we obviously had two guys who could win lots of races, and others chipped in. I think there was a real feeling in the team before the meeting that we had a chance, and they came up with just the right rides at the right time. Obviously a very pleasing situation."

Of course Dan Thompson was back which makes a huge difference in itself, but this was a team triumph with everyone doing their bit, a huge lift for everyone in the Monarchs camp.

It was a very close match throughout. Dan Thompson won heat 1, a Monarchs' 4-2, and Mitch Cluff took a good second in heat 2 – level pegging. Kye Thomson swept away with heat 4 with Jordy Loftus in third to put us ahead again.

We gated in heat 5 but Jonatan Grahn and Pedersen came down leaving the second bend. Our man was excluded, a very hard one to call, and Flint headed Dan Thompson in the rerun. Harris beat Kye Thomson in heat 6, the only point Kye dropped all day, but Justin Sedgmen and Paco Castagna took a 4-2 off Howarth in heat 7 to level up.

Heat 8 – great win for Jonatan Grahn backed by Jordy Loftus, the best he has been this season, and we led by 4 maintained with another Kye Thomson win in heat 9.

Tigers inevitably fought back and took a 5-1 and 4-2 to lead 34-32 – heat 11 was a very hard pass by Howarth on Don Thompson who did very well to hang on.

A great ride by Sedgmen in heat 12, going past Leon Flint and then a bit of fortune as Leon stopped and we took a 5-1 to lead once more!

This time there was no slip-up. Thompson and Thomson took a 4-2 in heat 13 which might have been a 5-1 had Chris not passed Dan – which meant no tac sub in heat 14. We almost finished it at that race with Paco a brilliant winner, but Jordy lying in a match-winning third came down making a bid to pass Pedersen.

Alex Harkess said afterwards "I felt for Jordy coming off in that race. But he had a good day and you can't knock the lad for trying".

So 44-40 to the Monarchs into the last heat, and we needed to win the match to qualify. The Thompson-Thomson duo made the gate, Harris didn't move from the start and our pair fought off the attention of Leon Flint for a glorious 5-1 and a result we could only have dreamed of.

We were the superior gaters all day on a track much more suited to our riders than Berwick – possibly a little less grip than usual at Ashfield. Tigers took it sportingly and it was a great day for the blue and gold.