A RIGHT GOOD HIDING

NEWS Saturday 20th July 2013, 1:07am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

At the end of an otherwise successful week, the Scotwaste Monarchs were comprehensively beaten at home by Newcastle Diamonds by 41-52 – and it could have been more.

Monarchs were outgated in virtually every race, to an extent which has surely never been seen at Armadale before, and they had very little success trying to peg back the Diamonds. The visitors suffered a fall by Stuart Robson in heat 1, and an engine failure for Andrew Tully in heat 7, each time when in front.

The home team had absolutely no answer and will have to go away and think how this could have happened. Even Craig Cook dropped four points in five rides, and for the first time in 23 matches he was beaten by an opposition rider in heat 15 – and that was Andrew Tully.

Tully was the star of the show, beaten only by Theo Pijper on his tactical ride in heat 12, scoring 13+1 in spite of that engine failure. When he was told he had halted Cook's remarkable run, he said "I'm very proud to have done that."

In spite of Robson's fall in heat 1, Monarchs lost a 5-1 in heat 2 and were 8 points behind by heat 4. The only point at which a fightback looked like starting was through a 5-1 in heat 9 by Theo Pijper and Max Fricke, after a mistake by Richie Worrall, but Newcastle hit back with two successive 5-1s and the match was over.

Not one of the home riders showed his best form, with Jozsef Tabaka at reserve (3 points) especially disappointing after scoring a maximum at home last Friday.

Earlier this season Monarchs knocked the Diamonds out of the cup, but this was revenge for them. In theory Monarchs now have a chance to turn the tables again as they travel to Newcastle a week on Sunday, but they would need to improve dramatically.

As well as Tully's 13, Ludvig Lindren won 4 races on the way to a similar score, Kerr and Worrall scored 8 each and Stuart Robson 5 after a bad start. Even low-average rider Chris Schramm scored 5+3. Rider replacement for injured Christian Henry scored a paid maximum (he totalled 3 on his last visit) but the match was so one-sided that can't be offered as mitigation.

It came at the end of the week when Monarchs drew at Rye House and Redcar, won the Premier Fours and went to the top of the league. Just a bad day at the office? Let's hope so.

Full Result Details