SUNSHINE BRINGS OUT THE BEST

NEWS Saturday 15th July 2006, 0:01am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs came out on top by 53-39 in a very enjoyable match against Redcar in the Armadale sunshine.

Yes, it was actually sunny and hot. And after the horrorshow of the previous week, we had a night of real speedway with plenty of good racing.

Both Monarchs and Bears used rider replacement, and amazingly the r/r rides for Rusty Harrison only dropped one point in four heats! Monarchs didn't gate well, and supplied only 7 heat winners to Redcar's 8, but they had much the better balanced side.

The biggest plus point was the paid 13 for Derek Sneddon at reserve after weeks of struggle. He had his favourite engine back at last and looked much more like his old self.

He assisted William Lawson to become the only person to defeat Gary Havelock by outgating the ex-World Champion, giving William time to get clear.

There were solid performances from the top four, all paid for double figures, and although the bonus point was just out of reach, it was in many ways an encouraging performance by Monarchs.

Full Result Details