Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

REPORT Friday 24th April 2009, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

There was a feeling that Berwick were equipped to give one of their better Armadale performances, and so it proved as they were still in with a chance of a match point at the final heat.

Probably the presence of William Lawson, and the fact that he had scored an away maximum last Sunday, was part of the reason expectations of the Bandits were high. However William didn?t have much of a night and only managed to beat a couple of home riders.

The men who mattered for the visitors were their middle pair of Josef Franc and Paul Clews. They gated well (unusual for Clews) but when required Clews also pulled off some spectacular passes. He only dropped points in the final race.

The first heat was pulled back for a Lawson flier, and though Fisher won the rerun, Lawson was close enough to suggest that he would be a strong opponent.

Heat 2 was a fairly comfortable home 5-1 though Franchetti gave chase well enough till falling on the final corner.

Aaron was in as rider replacement in heat 3 alongside guest Derek Sneddon, but Franc went ahead and won easily as Clews gave chase on Sneddon. With a decisive cut-back on the last corner he swept through to take a 5-1.

This was reversed right away by Wethers and Stoddart with Makovsky surprisingly ineffective.

Fisher took the rider replacement ride and beat Lawson again, with Sneddon taking the point, and we had eased into an 8-point lead.

This should have been extended in heat 6. Fisher missed the gate this time but Summers went ahead, with Makovsky splitting the Monarchs? pair. Ryan lined up an inside move going into the third corner but it was just too tight, and Makovsky came off and slid into the fence.

Whether Makovsky lent on Fisher or not, from the referee?s perspective it is always likely that the inside man will be blamed. Perhaps we could add ? especially if it is Fisher.

Aaron again got the better of the first corner in the rerun with a cutback but we had only shared a heat when we should probably have taken a maximum.

There were more problems up ahead. Franc led heat 7 from Wethers who was trying hard to make up the lost ground when he lost control on the fourth turn of lap two and fell very awkwardly. He needed an ambulance trip and there were concerns that he might not be able to resume.

Speedway?s hopeless rules insist on a rerun even though all the non-excluded riders had completed two laps (Matthew hadn?t) but Berwick got the 5-1 they deserved with Rajkowski disappointing in this one.

Summers won heat 8 easily and for the third time Sean Stoddart got himself into second behind his partner, but Aarnio forced his way past.

It was good to see Matthew Wethers emerge for a rider replacement ride in heat 9 and with Sneddon he took 5 over Makovsky to put us 10 up.

Berwick manager Dave Peet decided to use Paul Clews as the first TR, and even against our top pair of Fisher and Summers it paid off handsomely. The Bandits gated but Fisher flew past Franc down the back straight. He also made a hair-raising effort to catch Clews and a collision was narrowly averted, but in the end it was a 7-2 to Berwick with Summers nowhere.

If William Lawson was going to come good it had to happen soon, but it wasn?t in heat 11 in which we saw the familiar sight of Rajkowski and Wethers team riding to a 5-1. Lawson put in a very weak challenge.

Monarchs gated in heat 12 but the amazing Clews passed first Sneddon and then Rajkowski to keep his unbeaten run going. Unfortunately for Berwick their tail enders weren?t giving much support or they could have been pushing us very close.

Again Lawson and Makovsky were brushed aside in heat 13 as we went 47-34 ahead, allowing Berwick a second TR. This was Franc.

Rajkowski made the start at the first attempt but Franc moved out and brought Sneddon down, causing a stoppage. Derek was down for a bit, and referee McGregor broke new ground by preventing captain Wethers going to see how he was, ordering him back to the pits.

Franc made the gate in the second running to take a 6-3, meaning that Berwick needed a 5-1 from the final race to get within 6 points and take a match point.

Franc and Clews were good enough to achieve this but it was Fisher from gate three who forced ahead to win.

Wethers pressed from the back but could make no headway and we finished with a 10-point win.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Ryan Fisher.