Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

REPORT Friday 13th July 2012, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Two meetings in a row beat the weather – things are looking up! A good match and a good performance by the Scotwaste Monarchs too.

They had to deal with a strong early challenge by the Bandits but a run of three 5-1s in mid match gave Monarchs control. Micky Dyer played a big part in that, and he and Matthew Wethers were the two who really upped their game from the previous week.

Derek Sneddon was off to an excellent start in heat 1 as Ashworth concentrated on pushing Cook wide. Ashworth gradually wore Sneddon down and went ahead, with Cook coming through for a late challenge and finishing a length short.

Heat 2 was a poor one for the home reserves, Tomicek and King had no difficulty taking a 5-1.

There was plenty going on in heat 3, with Complin driving hard into the first turn and scattering everyone, including himself. Once they sorted themselves out Bellego was leading from Wethers, with Sneddon just ahead of Complin. Matthew passed the Frenchman for a fine win, and Derek held on to the point.

Andrew Tully took heat 4 but partner Helfer was at the back, which kept the Bandits in front.

Heat 5 was shared, though probably not in the anticipated way. Micky Dyer made a blinder of a gate and stayed in front in spite of a strong challenge from Ashworth, while Wethers didn’t make any headway at the back. Alex Edberg was looking steady considering he hadn’t ridden Armadale before.

Monarchs finally hit back in heat 6, a win for Cook backed by Derek Sneddon who kept an eye on Alden.

That put Monarchs two ahead, and they took another advantage in heat 7 when Dyer gated again, and Andrew Tully sat with him keeping an eye on Complin, who never really mounted a challenge.

Micky came into heat 8 and once again leapt from the start, this time with Derek Sneddon alongside him. They team rode rather slowly but again took the 5-1, and we had turned a 2-point deficit into a ten-point lead in the shortest time possible.

Seb Alden took the Bandits’ first TR, but Tully and Wethers gated in heat 9. Alden nipped past Wethers and that was a 4-4.

David Bellego showed what he is capable of with a fast ride in heat 10, keading the chasing Craig Cook all the way. Craig wasn’t able to get his fast cutbacks working as well as usual and finished just short.

Ricky Ashworth continued his good run by leading Andrew Tully all the way in heat 11, in which Marcel Helfer got his first point in spite of falling, as Edberg had packed up early.

Heat 12 was an excellent battle between Complin and Wethers, passing and repassing before Matthew took the lead and blocked out the Berwick captain’s outside runs.

We hadn’t extended the 10-point advantage over the last four heats but did add another two with a heat 13 4-2, Ashworth splitting our usual ‘maximum’ pairing by heading Tully.

Heat 14 was another good one with Wethers, Bellego and Dyer changing positions before unfortunately Bellego got too close to Wethers and fell, causing Micky to lay down in a welter of men and machines.

We were awarded a 5-1 and took another to finish, Wethers first holding off Complin before Cook came through into second, with Ashworth also racing hard in third.

A good finish to a good match and a home performance to be happy with.

Full Result Details