MONARCHS TAKE A PASTING

NEWS Friday 23rd April 2010, 0:59am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs performed poorly and were well beaten by 43-52 by Glasgow - and the score flatters the home side.

So ends any chance of Monarchs progressing in the Premier Trophy - even wins in our two remaining away fixtures would not achieve that.

It was a damp and heavy track tonight after a day of much rain all over central Scotland, though not too much at Armadale where there was never really a danger of the match being off.

However it was just about the poorest night Monarchs have ever had on their home shale. To be fair to Glasgow they rode well, with their top four all impressive, but we gifted their reserves numerous points and had only Ryan Fisher and to a lesser extent Matthew Wethers anywhere near their best form.

After Ryan Fisher had won heat 1, we lost a 5-0 in heat 2. Kalle Katajisto blew an engine at the start and Cal McDade fell before the end of the first lap.

Most of us probably thought 'We will soon pull that round' but that just did not happen. In heat 3 Kevin completely misjudged a challenge on Grajczonek and brought himself and Josh down heavily, and as the match went on it was Glasgow rather than ourselves who gained ground.

Andrew Tully conceded 5-1s in heats 7 and 11, and only successful 6-point TR rides by Fisher and Wethers did much to boost our scoring.

The match was lost when Ryan Fisher made a brave bid to pass the Tigers in heat 13 and fell.

James Grieves was a in great form and dropped his only point to Fisher in heat 6, a great pass by Ryan. McGowan was also impressive till a last place in heat 15, and both Grajczonek and Dicken were as good as they have ever been round Armadale.

Plenty of food for thought for the Monarchs' promotion, and a requirement for the riders to restore some pride by performing well at Glasgow on Sunday.

Full Result Details