SUMMER IS ON ITS WAY!

NEWS Saturday 16th May 2015, 2:19pm

by Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Well we certainly hope it is anyway! After a somewhat wet start to the season, the Border Roofing Monarchs are hoping for an improvement in the weather in the weeks to come.

The Club would, however, like to unreservedly apologise to our supporters for the postponement of the meeting at Armadale yesterday evening and the circumstances surrounding it.

We endeavour to give all of our meetings the best possible chance of running every week and on some occasions this requires working around somewhat less than ideal weather forecasts. This can be made difficult due to a remarkable array of contradictory forecasts, complicated further by their propensity to change rapidly throughout the day.

We generally take forecasts with a pinch of salt. Should we believe them as gospel on each occasion then there are many times when meetings would be postponed needlessly. So far this season we have proceeded, despite poor forecasts, to run what have turned out to be excellent speedway meetings on three occasions where the forecast may have suggested an early call off would have been the most likely outcome.

Yesterday saw forecasts that ranged from no rain up to heavy rain at points throughout the evening. With this in mind the decision was made to continue through late afternoon.

Unfortunately on this occasion some heavy showers did fall, though with the track having been prepared with this in mind it was very much raceable once the rain abated around 6pm.

However, with some rain in the air returning thereafter it became apparent that a further decision may have to be made. At this point the SCB referee, Chris Gay, was in the stadium and once this is the case the fate of the meeting is within his jurisdiction.

While this was in process, the decision was made not to admit the public from 6:30pm as would normally be the case. This was made with the best of intentions as to prevent unnecessary hassle for our supporters. Unfortunately in this instance, the decision making process was delayed due to a somewhat unique approach by the SCB referee meaning that the decision was not made until towards 7pm.

In these situations the Club could be considered to be walking a tightrope. Without accurate information of what rain may fall we continue, while further rain seeks to knock us off. In the end, the rain did clear shortly after for the rest of evening but unfortunately did so too late.

What the Club would like to assure our supporters of is that you are always at the forefront of our decisions and that we value your support immeasurably. We attempt to run all of our meetings where possible, in the best conditions possible and to produce excellent entertainment each week. Unfortunately on this occasion it was not possible and was extremely disappointing for all concerned.

We would welcome comments by email about last night’s events and, for that matter, about any concerns as we strive for continued improvement.

Supporters who purchased tickets online for last night’s meeting can use these tickets at a future meeting simply by presenting last night’s tickets at the advance ticket gate. They remain valid until they are used.

We hope for clear skies and sunshine over Armadale in the near future so that we can all enjoy our Friday night speedway.