Back In The Hunt

REPORT Sunday 17th April 2016, 9:35am

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Well well well once again it appears we have a team that do not know when they are meant to be out of it!

After last Friday’s defeat at the Dale to Berwick it seemed our chances of progression in the League Cup were almost nil and while we may not finish up at the top of the group we have given ourselves a fighting chance after a tremendous and hard fought 48-42 victory at a damp and freezing Shielfield on Saturday night.

I said in my preview that I was quietly confident we could take something if our top men were firing and boy were they firing. The Bandits had little answer for our top trio with Ryan going through the card and being ably backed up by Sam and Kevin who were both only headed home by an opposition rider once apiece. 36 paid for 38 between our top three gave us the building blocks required to race to victory but backup was needed and this was to come in the form of Erik Riss. Erik looked strong in his opening rides scoring 2 solid third places heading home Jorgensen and Wethers comfortably. As he done so many times when it mattered last year he came to the fore when the chips were down securing a tapes to flag victory in heat 8 in what looked a tricky heat and again in heat 11 when we swung the match back in our favour.

As is often the case at Shielfield gating was key. Although in this instance it has to be said that a heavy shower at 6pm which would have caused the abandonment of the fixture if it hadn’t abated was to blame. In fact we had to wait till heat 14 to see the first pass of the evening. With conditions as they were it was clear to see from early we were in with a shout Sam, Kevin and Ryan all firing from the tapes to victory in their opening heats. We got a pleasant surprise in heat 2 also when Dan jumped out the start in second and rode 4 solid laps to comfortably head Liam Carr and he was nipping at Matty Weathers for the 4 laps also. The match was all square after 4 heats with the teams trading 4-2’s in the first couple of heats then a couple of 3-3’s. The Monarchs then took control with back to back 4-2’s Sam and Ryan leading from the front being backed up by Erik and Max picking up the 3rd when Thomas Jorgensen’s bike gave up on him at the start. If there was any small negative to take out of the night it was Max’s performance as he failed to beat an opponent all night. However we win as a team and we lose as a team and on this night this was not to come back to haunt us. We were held to 3-3’s over the next 3 heats and were 4 up after heat 9. We had had a remarkable run of 7 consecutive heat wins at this point but were struggling to pick up the minor places needed to pad our lead.

This was to come back to haunt us in heat 10 when for the only time on the night Kevin missed the start and could not make an impact as Jorgensen and Pijper raced to a 5-1 to even the score. An immediate response was needed and as so often over the last couple of years we got exactly what we needed straight away. Heat 11 looked strong for us with Sam and Erik up against Wethers and an unimpressive Alden. Our boys flew from the gate with Sam holding the inside allowing Erik to swoop round in to the lead. We would have to do it all again though as Matty ran into bend 3 a little too hot and came down awkwardly. The ambulance came out to check over Matty but he appears to be ok and was able to take further part in the meeting. In the re-run our boys repeated the trick and once again we were 4 up. Kevin found his gating boots again in heat 12 as we shared the spoils. Kevin riding a determined first and second bend to swoop round Kevin Doolan who must be said left the racing room required as he invariably always does.

Heat 13 looked strong for us with Sam and Ryan unbeaten and they weren’t to disappoint firing from the gate. While it wasn’t the most comfortable 5-1 with Ryan clearly faster being held back slightly by Sam with Jorgensen nipping at their back wheels we did what was required and we were 8 up with 2 to go so were guaranteed at least a draw. Heat 14 went as expected with Jye and Max being headed home by Theo and Wethers. Jye actually made the start in this one, he was passed coming out the second bend by Theo and managed to hold Matty behind him till the 3rd bend of lap 2 although to be fair Matty appeared to just be biding his time and it never looked like our young Aussie was going to hang on. Nights like tonight will be a learning curve for Jye and I wouldn’t have thought he has seen tracks or conditions like tonight too often back home in Oz.

So into the last heat we went needing to avoid a 1-5 to secure the win and looking for a 5-1 to secure the full 4 points. Our previously unbeaten duo of Sam and Ryan were chosen and were up against home men Pijper and Doolan. At the first attempt the race had to be stopped when Ryan and Doolan clashed on the 2nd bend. It was hard riding by Ryan with no quarter given but all 4 back was the decision when to be fair either of the two riders perhaps could have been disqualified for the re-run. Ryan for riding Doolan out wide and Doolan for laying it down instead of shutting off. Doolan certainly wasn’t happy and had a word with Ryan prior to the re-run. In the rerun it was Pijper who made the start with the Monarchs men packing the minor places. The Fish was not to be denied though and on the 3rd lap he dived up the banking going into the 3rd bend before cutting back and flying past the Dutchman in a majestic move. A 4-2 meant a final score of 48-42 to the Blue and Gold and while this meant we come away with three rather the full four points available it puts us back into contention in the group and we will look on in interest to see how Berwick get on at Ashfield later today.

Full Result Details