The Narrowest Win

REPORT Saturday 6th August 2016, 1:34am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

On a night when so much happened and the Border Roofing Monarchs had so many problems, they finally scraped home to a 45-44 victory when Sam Masters held second place in heat 15, the only point he dropped all night.

No rider likes to be left with a last heat decider, but if you had to choose anyone for the job it would be Sam Masters. Rye House were good and earned their point, but so much had gone wrong it was quite a miracle that the Monarchs held on for the victory.

The biggest problem of all was the heat 3 pileup when Ryan Fisher and Erik Riss tangled up and raced hard into the fence, hitting it head on. Both riders wrecked their bikes and had to change machines, and in Ryan's case he was already struggling after his favoured engine hadn't arrived from the tuners! This heat 3 had the further problem that there was some quite heavy rain and a break of about 30 minutes was taken while it cleared.

Neither Fisher nor Erik Riss was at their best thereafter though wins in heat 12 and 14 were vital. But as well as these problems, Kevin Wolbert had to jump on Sam Masters' machine for heat 4 and promptly stopped on that, and on top of that Max Clegg's excellent performance ended with a lost chain at the start of heat 14 when most people had him marked down as likely to clinch the victory in that race.

Captain Masters did so much to ensure victory. He beat the brilliant Edward Kennett in heats 1 and 13, and eventually secured the crucial second in heat 15. This heat saw the second big pileup of the night with everyone hammering into the fence on the first corner, thankfully with no-one injured.

Our reserves were again excellent, and their scores (Max 8+2 and Dan 6+1) actually didn't do them justice. They are going to be crucial contributors over the coming weeks.

Kevin Wolbert had his worst match of the season though he still won heat 7, a vital 5-1, and got a crucial point ahead of Stuart Robson in heat 13. The winning point, you could say. Kevin rode his second machine after that initial stoppage on Sam's bike.

Fisher and Erik Riss struggled, but as stated earlier they are not quitters and the wins by Erik (heat 12) and Ryan (heat 14) ensured that we maintained a 3-point lead going into the final race.

For the second home match running Mark Riss had a nightmare, and obviously there are certain track conditions he can't yet cope with.

Top PL average man Kennett was a joy to watch with his brilliant control on what was a tricky surface. There were those who expressed displeasure as he pushed under Fisher to win heat 5, but Fisher certainly wasn't complaining.

Stuart Robson and Cameron Heeps also had very good meetings as did Rob Branford, and Kasper Lykke took his chance to win heat 8.

The Rockets clearly realised that there was so much going on in the home camp that they had a chance, and they gave it everything they had. Monarchs were not lucky to win, they deserved it after so many problems, but the Rockets contributed fully to a dramatic evening as well.

Full Result Details