WELL EARNED THREE POINTS

NEWS Saturday 7th May 2011, 0:39am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs overcame not only the absence of Kalle Katajisto but also loss of Craig Cook who missed his final three rides after a heat eight smash, to take all three points with a 53-40 victory over Ipswich.

It was unfortunate that we could not see these two good sides at full strength, but in the early part of the match we saw some of the best racing of the season.

There were also some controversial decisions ? some of the finishing orders seemed open to question, and after Craig Cook's heat 8 accident it was surprising that Taylor Poole was not ruled out. He inadvertently straightened and knocked Craig into the boards, but the referee ordered all four back.

Although Craig rose and walked to the pits, he was shaken and suffered a leg injury. He said he would be riding at Workington on Saturday though we will be checking with him in the morning. At least he doesn't seem to have done any serious damage.

The heat 5 battle was probably the race of the season so far and the result was announced as Poole, Tully, Wethers, Doolan after four laps of passing and repassing. All four finishing positions were questioned by most of the crowd!

As well as Cook, Chris Mills also crashed out of the meeting after a first bend collision in the heat 8 rerun.

After the loss of Cook Monarchs had to work hard to hang on to the lead. The remaining regulars Tully, Wethers and Wolbert pulled out all the stops and once again Kyle Howarth played a key role with a great score.

A heat 14 4-2 from Wethers and Howarth clinched the victory, but Witches still had a chance of a point in the final heat.

That was thwarted by a brilliant first corner from Tully (outside) and Wethers (inside) who swept ahead and grabbed a 5-1.

Andrew Tully's only loss was that heat 5 thriller, and he was elected DDS Monarch of the Match.

Full Result Details