GOOD WIN IN A TIGHT FINISH

NEWS Friday 27th July 2007, 11:59pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs made a strong start and held off a Brummies fightback to win 48-44 in a last heat decider.

Matthew Wethers proved to be the star of the show for the home side, topping his previous highest score (last week) with a remarkable 17+1.

He lost out to Jason Lyons in a thrilling heat 7 as the brilliant Aussie pulled off a fine pass, but as the Brummies came back into things it was Matthew who took the vital victories. In heat 11 with Lyons on a TS paired with Ostergaard, Wethers passed the Dane round the first turn to limit the Brummies to a 5-3.

Then in heat 14, with just four points in it, he led home the visitors to ensure that Monarchs would at least draw if they provided a finisher.

And Matthew then went out for the last heat decider as well! With Lyons leading and Sanchez pressing Stancl for second place, Wethers slipped inside Sanchez to push him to the rear. The Argentinian (who had previously passed Stancl to win heat 13) then came off attempting a big outside overtake on the pits bend.

Stancl and Sneddon combined very well, and Kai Laukkanen won his first race and learnt a bit more about the track.

Andrew Tully had a frustrating night, due again to poor gating. He showed how quick he can be by winning heat 9 in a quick time but only added another single point.

Aaron Summers took another good heat 2 point, and Kalle Katajisto again showed raw style!

Jason Lyons was one of the best visitors of the year, and Emiliano Sanchez showed his thrilling style but had two crucial falls ? including heat 9 when on a TR.

Lee Smart showed how much progress he has made and matched Ostergaard's 7 point return, while ex-Monarch Henrik Moller scored 6+2 ? about the same as he used to score for Monarchs.

Full Result Details