Glasgow Tigers v Edinburgh Monarchs

REPORT Sunday 25th March 2007, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Spring Trophy stayed in the west and we took one of our heavier Ashfield defeats, but there were some promising signs.

It was a sunny afternoon, and warm as long as you kept out of the wind.

One of the afternoon's mysteries was the level of the times - a good 5 seconds slower than the norm. Either they were incorrect or all previous times have been incorrect.

We were missing Matthew, and rider replacement rides earned a dismal 1 - and that was a gift. Matthew can't come back quick enough.

We were treated to a spectacular first corner by Ronnie in heat 1, perfect use of the outside line to race round Parker and Leverington. He was never troubled thereafter, but Henrik trailed disappointingly.

Derek then took a good win in heat 2, looking sharp.

William came down on the first bend of heat 3, and it was a surprise when he was allowed in the rerun. It made no difference though as he trailed at the back, picking up a point when Daniele hit the boards hard on the last lap.

Andrew Tully gave us a fine display in heat 4, holding second and pressing McAllan for the lead, in front of Leverington. Henrik was again a poor last.

We pulled back 4 points with a 5-1 in heat 5. This time Henrik made the start and showed it wasn't speed he lacked, while Ronnie tucked calmly into second and kept his eye on George Stancl.

More fun in heat 6 as Derek led from Parker and looked capable of staying there. Unfortunately he made a mistake on lap three, locking up leaving the second bend, and then held too tight on the next corner to allow Parker a typical outside pass.

However it was William's turn to get going in heat 7 with a win, not as convincing as he can be, and a third from Daniele to cut the gap back to two points.

That was as close as we got. Henrik should be capable of covering heat 8 but he was well beaten, never challenging Smethills or McAllan.

Great work from Derek again though got him a win over Stancl in heat 9 with another third from Daniele.

We then lost three 5-1's in the next four heats, two of them with Ronnie suffering engine failure. In heat 13 he was heading Parker and had dealt firmly with him on the third corner, but he stopped half a lap later.

We had some good fortune in heat 14 - Smethills led but stopped, gifting Derek and Daniele a 5-1.

We probably deserved a slightly better score overall, and certainly would have got it with Matthew riding, but we do need everyone performing near his best - something Henrik especially might like to bear in mind.

Full Result Details