Title Partner
REPORT Friday 18th July 2008, 10:00pm
Edinburgh Monarchs
For Edinburgh to go to the top of the league, we needed to beat Birmingham at home while King?s Lynn lost at Scunthorpe.
The Monarchs and the Scorpions duly did what was required which means that for Saturday at least, we top the table for the first time for five years.
The weather is always a factor at Armadale these days, and again we didn?t have a good Friday. However the vile black clouds which surrounded the stadium this week delivered only drizzle for much of the night, and not the heavy showers we have had in many recent weeks.
Certainly Kyle Legault made a great start with a smooth and easy win in heat 1, and it was good to see the young Canadian ride so well. Our opening pair passed Hargreaves for a shared heat.
We took an easy 5-1 from heat 2, an early sign of good nights for Aaron and Thomas, and also that the Brummies? tail enders were really struggling with the track.
Heat 3 was shared, Ryan putting in a strong chase on leader Jason Lyons but not doing anything daft.
Craig Watson made the gate in heat 4 but Matthew Wethers pulled off a neat inside pass. Aaron Summers got close also but couldn?t pass.
However from that point on Monarchs really got into their stride. Legault didn?t make the start off gate 4 and was stranded on the outside of the first turn as Fisher and Tully roared away.
In heat 6 Watson again gated first but before long Sneddon and Stonehewer had passed him. Finally Wato dropped behind his partner Roberts before pulling out of the heat.
Thomas Jonasson showed his determination making a good start in heat 7 and racing round the outside. Jason Lyons tried to move across to block his run but lifted and fell himself.
The race continued, the third successive home 5-1.
Heat 8 was the same against the toiling Hargreaves and Birkinshaw. Birko seemed to be retiring from races almost as soon as they started.
Heat 9 started with a nasty incident as Watson gated but clipped Roberts who smashed through the fence. Happily he emerged unscathed.
With all four back, Tully flew ahead with Watson in second. He was still narrowly ahead of Ryan Fisher as the moved in to lap two ? only for Watson to suddenly slide off entering the bend. Ryan laid down instantly and did well to avoid the fallen man.
The rerun was our fifth successive 5-1 and with the score at 40-14, the match was over ? assuming we could make it to heat 12.
Jason Lyons took a TR in heat 10 and won with a bit to spare, then Legault led heat 11 with Matthew Wethers chasing. Matthew tried to turn hard ? but overdid it and let go of his machine, right into the path of Thomas who ran into it and came off as well.
It could have been nasty but happily both rose and walked to the pits.
In the rerun we saw the best Armadale ride yet by Thomas as he headed Legault and made no mistakes.
Finally we reached heat 12, the third win for Lyons, after about 100 minutes.
Legault impressed again with a very good win in heat 13, the third in a row shared heat.
Heat 14 looked more like a 5-1 as Fisher and Jonasson sped away, with Thomas looking for a four-ride maximum. However entering the pits turn he overslid and fell on the increasingly slippery surface.
That prompted a call for a track inspection from the Brummies. Conditions did not really appear too bad but the riders were generally not unhappy when the call-off decision came.
HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Thomas H Jonasson
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Bathgate Road
Armadale
EH48 2PD
