Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers

REPORT Friday 31st October 2008, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Our magnificent 2008 team maintained their high standards to the last, tearing the Tigers to shreds to add the Scottish Cup to our achievements this season.

Glasgow had a strange side with only one of their own riders available (Dicken was a late call-off) but their management had taken the trouble to put a decent looking septet together. On the night though, they were swept aside.

The rout started right away as James Grieves made the start in heat 1, but drifted wide on the pits bend. This allowed Summers and Lawson to dash through for a maximum start.

Theo Pijper, on Derek?s bike, took the lead off the second bend in heat 2 with Summers working his way through past Charles Wright for another 5-1.

Makovsky was in contention early on in heat 3 but looked untidy, allowing Wethers and Tully another 5, and finally Tigers won a point in heat 4 when Wright finished between Fisher and Summers.

As early as heat 5, the TR was used with Grieves. He led for most of the heat with Matthew Wethers trying to pass and Tully also well in the picture, Finally Matthew squeezed by and Tully then flew past as well to complete an amazing 5-1 in the best race of the night.

Lawson and Fisher romped away in heat 6 with Leverington looking way off the pace, then Tigers took their second point in heat 7 when Makovsky split Fisher and Pijper.

Charles Wright had so far looked lively but he flipped over the back off bend two in a spectacular heat 8 crash. Fortunately his bike reared forward but didn?t collect anyone. That turned out to be the last we saw of Wright, and we took another routine 5-1 in the rerun.

Wethers and Tully has no difficulty adding another 5 in heat 9 and at 43-11 the win was clinched already, though we had long since taken that for granted.

Then came a mini-fightback by the Tigers, assisted by some mistakes from Monarchs. Makovsky led heat 10 with Tully looking much quicker and searching for a gap. Tully though fell on the pits bend of lap two and Grieves, well back in the first running, took the rerun, passing Makovsky and Lawson. Lawson went round Makovsky for second place.

Fisher fell on the first bend of heat 11 allowing Grieves a second win from Pijper, with Ryanb remounting and catching Robert McNeil.

Tigers? high point was heat 12, a genuine advantage as Wethers couldn?t pass the awkward Makovsky and steady Adam McKinna headed a spluttering Summers.

We were back to more like normal in heat 13 though, a 5-1 from Fisher and Lawson over Grieves, and then we saw Andrew Tully find his way past Makovsky this time in heat 14 for a 4-2.

Ryan and Andrew finished the season as they have spent most of it, romping away from the opposition for the ninth 5-1 of the night.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Andrew Tully.

Full Result Details