Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers

REPORT Friday 19th September 2008, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

A weakened Glasgow team didn?t appear to offer a great deal of threat but they gave a determined performance and made life more difficult than usual for the Scotwaste Monarchs.

Unusually gating was very important because on a track rescued from the weather, the usual passing lines were missing, notably the inside lines off the turns. Such overtakes as there were had to be really worked for.

William Lawson is back to something like his best and took a smooth, fast win in heat 1. Derek made a good enough start but found himself pushed to the back, and slid off on the pits corner.

Anders Andersen was an early leader in heat 2 and rode awkwardly enough to make it difficult for Matthew Wethers to find a way through. Eventually he did, and meanwhile Aaron Summers (by far the slowest gater in the meeting) had found his way into third place, but ran out of time to improve on that.

Shane Parker flew from the gate to win heat 3 easily, but Tigers? guest Suchanek was well back.

Ryan Fisher made a strong outside move on the first turn of heat 4 to win easily, but Leverington was never under threat in second. The track was looking quite tame and riders were finding it hard to make up ground after the second bend.

Parker?s start in heat 5 was even quicker and he won comfortably from Lawson and Tully. Trent Leverington then did likewise in heat 6 ahead of Sneddon and Lawson, and Monarchs were not enjoying their usual points spree.

Parker was out again in heat 7 and this time comfortably headed Fisher and Wethers, and with the score at 23-19 it was a lot closer than most had expected. However Tigers had by now used their two strongest rider replacements.

Heat 8 can often be one we do well in, and Derek Sneddon did take a comfortable win, but Lee Dicken held second with Aaron Summers settling for his third single-point ride.

Leverington made another good start in heat 9 but this time Fisher got on to his outside and made a brave pass down the back straight, just hitting the pits turn ahead. Andrew Tully as ever tried very hard to put Leverington under pressure but he was suffering from the absence of the usual lines.

For once Shane Parker missed the start from gate 4 in heat 10. He was away quickly enough from the tapes but William Lawson beat him to the corner with Derek Sneddon also there. Even Parker could do nothing to find a passing move and we had an important 5-1 to go 36-24 ahead.

Tigers then used Adam McKinna in the rider replacement ride and Monarchs took another comfortable 5-1 from Fisher and Wethers. The match was virtually settled now but it had been no walkover.

It was time for Parker?s TR and he duly took 6, though Andrew Tully threw everything into his challenge and finished just a length down at the finish.

Lawson was away again in heat 13 with Leverington second, but Fisher pulled off the pass of the night on lap three, squeezing round the Aussie in daring style on the road bend.

Suchanek had been so poor that he was dropped from heat 14, and Monarchs gave Summers a fourth ride. That proved to be a waste of time as he failed to recover from another bad start. Meanwhile Andrew Tully had a battle on his hands trying to pass Andersen, who is awkward when in front, but eventually he made it.

Fisher slid off rather clumsily on the first lap of heat 15, and Tigers took their first real heat advantage of the night with a 4-2 from Parker and Leverington. Parker then rather laboured the chicken thing, and also dropped the victory flag and rode over it. Presumably it was a show of defiance and indeed a 39 point score from Tigers was miles better than many recent visitors.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Ryan Fisher

Full Result Details