Good show from Theo again Image Credit: Mike Bishop

PIPPED AT THE POST

NEWS Saturday 5th May 2012, 10:51pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

With our below strength team the Scotwaste Monarchs made a fantastic effort in our final League Cup match at Berwick, leading with two races left only to go down 46-44 in the final race. We gained a point but deserved better.

Both teams were missing a key reserve, and you could say the point gained by Adam McKinna in heat 2 from tape-toucher James Sarjeant, had long-term consequences. But in a match as close as this there were many things which could have swung the balance one way or the other.

We recorded a remarkable 8 race winners against a team with allegedly powerful heat leaders at home, and as well as our usual four main men, it was another very steady display from Micky Dyer which had much to do with keeping us in the hunt.

There wasn't a great deal of passing on a track which was much easier to ride than the brute we met on our earlier visit, but the closeness of the scores ensured the match always held the attention. Lee Complin had one superb overtake on Theo Pijper and heat 14 was riveting as Matthew Wethers tried to overcome a bad start.

Wethers indeed won his first three heats but could not quite keep it going. Andrew Tully also won three and was as fast as anyone, but he also had a tape touch and a last place in the last heat decider.

Many people expected to see Craig Cook in the final race after taking paid 6 from his final two heats, though undoubtedly Theo Pijper was gating well.

That Complin win in heat 12 kept the scores level at 36-36, and we were thrilled to see Tully and Cook both sweep past Ashworth out of the second corner of heat 13 to take a 5-1. The personnel in heat 14 suggested we might finish the match there – Matthew Wethers had 9 and Micky Dyer 7, against David Bellego 1 and Jason King 3. However as soon as Matthew's front wheel rose off the inside gate it was clear he would struggle to get ahead.

He almost did but the home pair led down the straight. Matthew threw everything into his challenge and did get past King, only to lose second place again when he tried too hard to pass Bellego.

So that levelled the scores going into the last heat. Ashworth and Complin (predictably) against Pijper and Tully (perhaps not so predictably).

Twice the race was stopped for unsatisfactory starts, and Ashworth was warned but not punished. Third time he did make it, with Theo in second spot, chased furiously by Complin with Tully also in very close contention. But that's how it finished and Bandits had sneaked it by 2 points.

It was a much better showing than the Monarchs' travelling support had expected and the team deserve great credit. How frustrating it is that we don't have a full team, and probably won't have for a few weeks.

But at least we can say that after a number of poor away displays this year, we have come up with a really good one. We are making progress.