Leicester in command of Playoff semi

REPORT Friday 23rd September 2022, 10:54pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Leicester Lions produced an outstanding performance at Armadale to take complete control of the first Championship semi-final, holding a 17-point advantage with their home leg to come tomorrow.

Monarchs' boss Alex Harkess said "I'm very disappointed and it was a very poor performance by us. We are not as bad a team as we looked tonight, we can't be or we would never have beaten Redcar last week. Even when we gated we were being out-fought round the first corner. Leicester were excellent but we are better than we looked tonight, and I hope we can get a better score away from home – I believe that is possible."

It was a big disappointment to the Armadale supporters who held high hopes who have seen the team finish fourth in the league and reach the semi-finals of the KO Cup and the Playoffs. They are established as the fourth best team in the league, but they scarcely looked that tonight.

Right from heat 1 when Nick Morris raced from the start, joined by Connor Mountain who slipped past Sam Masters to record an opening 5-1, the Lions' onslaught was relentless. Max Clegg and Richie Worrall took race wins in heats 2 and 3, and although Josh Pickering's first bend cutback gave him a heat 4 win over Kyle Howarth, there was no heat advantage, and equally no letup in the grip Leicester had on this match.

They had the next 5 race winners and the lead was extended to 13 by heat 9, assisted by a 5-0 in heat 8 when both Lasse Fredriksen and Jacob Hook slid off in separate runnings of the heat.

Monarchs had no answer to the ferocity of Leicester's onslaught, so fast from the tapes and so determined around the first turn. Morris, Worrall and Howarth were all high-quality but Connor Mountain and Max Clegg were also impressive.

Sam Masters got his first race win in heat 10 against former team mate Worrall, but Josh Pickering had to work hard to even get a second place in heat 11 as he battled past Mountain, which was the first defeat for the Lions' no. 2.

Heat 12 was another 4-2 loss, then finally we saw the best of Masters and Pickering as they teamed up in the usual style for a 5-1 in heat 13 over Howarth and Morris.

Even that though was reversed in the final race by Howarth and Worrall! So that's that, Monarchs will not be in the final but they have a chance tomorrow in their final match of the season to show that they are better than they looked tonight.

It's something of a mystery that Leicester themselves suffered a 30-point defeat at Poole in midweek. Just how good must Poole be? Their team manager Stewart Dickson certainly turned it round for his team and rarely can he have left Armadale feeling more satisfied than he must have done tonight.

Full Result Details