FOG CAN'T STOP MONARCHS

NEWS Saturday 14th April 2007, 0:01am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Heavy and worsening fog dominated the match with Berwick at Armadale, but in the 12 heats raced Monarchs gained enough points to take the bonus.

Thanks to some intelligent co-operation between match referee and Jim McGregor, it was possible to race the final two heats.

Jim agreed to stand on the back straight with a red flag for the final couple of heats, and that enabled the match to reach the 12 heat mark necessary for the result to stand.

It was a pity that bad visibility spoilt the enjoyment because there were definite signs that Monarchs were finding their form. Henrik Moller and Matthew Wethers had their best home matches of the season, and Andrew Tully gave such a sparkling display from no. 7 that he earned his second Hermiston Monarch of the match award.

The only home rider still struggling was Daniele Tessari who followed a good paid win with a couple of last places. The Italian is looking to make some mechanical improvements in the near future.

Monarchs were 10 ahead after three heats and although they lost a 4-2 in heat 5, an excellent win for Michal Makovsky, they forged ahead and even took a heat 8 5-1 in which Andreas Bergstrom took a tactical ride.

He was outgated by Henrik Moller and then passed by Andrew Tully!

There were three more 4-2's to the home team who were 47-25 when the end came. Visibility in heats 11 and 12 were about as bad as the referee could possibly allow it to be.