UPS AND DOWNS AT SHEFFIELD

Injury to Derek Sneddon plus race wins for Andrew Tully and Kalle Katajisto were all part of a long night at Owlerton on Thursday.

Derek's problem came when he made a good start of gate one in heat 1. He probably didn't expect James Birtkinshaw to head inwards and tangle up with him, but that's what happened, with Ricky Ashworth clipping the pair as he came from gate four and George Stancl also joining in a 4-man pileup which wrecked the Sheffield fence.

Derek suffered cuts on his neck and went to hospital to be patched up. He was back at Owlerton before the end, which came at post-10:30pm, just what you want when you are miles from home.

Birkinshaw unfortunately has a suspected broken shoulder. The match didn't restart till after 9 due to fence repairs and also awaiting the ambulance's return.

The crash put a damper on things and it looked like a routine Sheffield match, until our two most inexperienced riders took a hand.

Andrew Tully had already pulled off a good pass in heat 8, but he excelled himself in heat 11. He blasted round the field to lead and with George Stancl again showing his willingness to team ride, they scored a 5-1 over Parsons who fell on the final turn.

That perked us up, but heat 14 was even more special.

It looked like a tussle between high-scoring Paul Cooper and Andrew Tully, but Kalle Katajisto suddenly slipped past Cockle and started making inroads on the front two.

Hitting the wide line, he went round his partner, and then on the second bend of lap three squeezed between Cooper and the fence, a very small space indeed. There was no looking back and Kalle completed the race win in style.

The Monarchs' riders raced from the pits to congratulate the youngster, and gave him the bumps - that's how thrilling the ride was.

The final score of 59-31 was nothing to get excited about - our two race wins were!

It will be a patched up Monarchs' squad to face Newcastle on Friday, with Jason Lyons guesting, Derek Sneddon doubtful (rider replacement if he doesn't make it), Daniele Tessari attempting another comeback and George Stancl nursing knocks and blown motors.

Sheffield Tigers v Edinburgh Monarchs

After a hard match at King's Lynn it's a daunting prospect to face a trip to Sheffield 24 hours later but that's the task facing the Monarchs tonight.

The 33 point total at King's Lynn last night, although nothing to brag about, was perhaps a lot better than many might have expected given the strength of the home side around their own track. A similar total tonight at Sheffield would also not be a surprise as the Tigers too are a very dominant side round the big Owlerton circuit.

Last night's greatest satisfaction without doubt came from the excellent display by Kai Laukkanen who beat all of the home riders and dropped only one point after his opening ride. If he can suss out the Sheffield track as quickly another big score from him should be on the cards. Unfortunately George Stancl would not rate this as one of his happier hunting grounds and we have to hope that he is not feeling the effects of his heat 11 crash last night with Trevor Harding.

This will be another track completely new in so many respects to Kalle Katajisto and it would be asking a lot to ask him to produce many points against the home men whose home-match set up and experience is a colossal advantage. We will again have to track a Conference League guest at reserve so are unlikley to get much joy there. It will be up to the rest of the team to compete as hard as they did last night to get amongst the points.

Sheffield are not problem free though. They look like being without Ben Wilson for whom they will need to use Rider Replacement and there is some doubt about the fitness of Ricky Ashworth still struggling with a wrist injury. On top of that Paul Cooper has had some difficulties with his equipment so we may just catch the Tigers at a time when they are not best prepared. On the other hand Andre Compton is as imperious as ever at home these days and rarely drops a point at home while all of the team right down to the reserve berths are a force to be reckoned with.

Rider Replacement for Ben Wilson is not likley to create too many problems for the home side because every one the Tigers' team is quite capable of winning races against any opposition at home. Of course it does leave the team more vulnerable to problems for one of the rest of the side should they encounter problems so we may have a slight advantage there.

As with so many of our away matches this year the main objective will be to keep the score as tight as possible to compete for the bonus point when the two teams meet again at Armadale on 31 August. The nearer we get to 40 points the better the chance we will have although we have already beaten Sheffield by 27 points at Armadale earlier in the season in the Spring Trophy.

Here's hoping for at least a score in the mid 30s and, more importantly, an injury free night.