Redcar Bears v Edinburgh Monarchs

REPORT Thursday 16th June 2011, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Our record in recent years at Redcar is sensational, but we are not currently in the kind of form to send our supporters down in a mood of great optimism.

Spirits may have been raised by an opening heat 5-1, guest Leigh Lanham and Matthew Wethers racing away unchallenged, but we didn't get another race winner till Matthew's determined burst from the back to take six points in heat 8.

In between we gradually dropped behind, though Lee Dicken took a decent second ahead of Peter Juul in heat 2. Three successive 1-5s followed.

A 7-2 in heat 8 made the score 28-23, but it was all too obviously flattering to deceive. Kus and Havelock took a third 5-1 in heat 9 and although we improved a bit after that, there was no way back.

Kalle rode very well in heat 10, keeping up the pressure on Juul and eventually squeezing past on the outside. Leigh Lanham did well to hold off Summers in the next one, with Matthew third, so we were within 7 points again.

We lost the next two heats and Redcar clinched all the points when Gary Havelock passed TR Katajisto in heat 14.

Lanham completed a decent night's work with an easy win in heat 15, and we had at least topped 40.