Edinburgh Monarchs v Stoke Potters

At two-and-a-half hours this match was far too long, and there was precious little entertaining racing either.

The track was simply not conducive to good speedway as riders lost control, ran into each other and generally struggled. The worst moment came in heat 6 when William Lawson clipped the back wheel of Andrew Moore and fell heavily. He has broken his collar bone so will be out for a few weeks.

With Thomas Jonasson also missing, and Aaron Summers not fit, that left only Sneddon, Wethers, Fisher and Tully at something like full fitness. Andrew wasn't at his best either but the others did enough to steer us to victory.

George Stancl sailed to victory in heat 1 after a fast start, with William Lawson getting close in the latter stages.

Derek Sneddon raced away with heat 2 but Aaron Summers lost a lot of ground at the first corner. He caught Evans who made a few big mistakes but didn't get near Klaus Jakobsen who looked steady on his Armadale debut.

Andrew Tully was a first turn faller in heat 3, won from the back by Ryan Fisher who held steady as the opposition lost control.

Heat 4 was also shared, a win for Wethers from Jakobsen. Summers was struggling at the rear and didn't look fit.

Stancl won from Fisher in heat 5, with Tully passing Jakobsen for the point, and next we had the Lawson disaster. Derek Sneddon led at the first running, then won the heat after the long delay waiting for the second ambulance to take William away.

There is always an air of gloom after an injury but we did at least improve our position in heat 7. This should probably have been stopped after Barker had fallen on a messy first corner, and should definitely have been stopped when Kristiansen then fell later as Barker headed towards him. However the home men Wethers and Summers sailed on and took a 5-1.

We might have expected a similar result from heat 8, won by Derek Sneddon, but Ryan Fisher was adjudged to have brought down Jakobsen as he passed him on the final bend.

Barrie Evans was a surprise leader of heat 9 till he fell on the pits corner. Again we passed up a 5-1 chance in the rerun as Andrew fell on the first turn.

Barker finally got going to win heat 10 impressively and against expectations Stoke were not yet in a position to use a TR.

After heat 11, they were. Sneddon and Wethers carved up George Stancl round the first turn, then did it again after Buzz Burrows had ended his disappointing night with a fall.

Now it was TR time for Barker, against Andrew Tully and Aaron Summers. He took the six points easily but Andrew did at least manage to gain a second place.

The gap was now down to 7, and we had not yet sewn up the points. We were even more concerned after the first corner of heat 13 when Derek Sneddon lost a chain and went straight ahead, spearing Matthew and bringing him down.

After lengthy treatment Matthew did come out for the rerun, and somewhat typically produced the best ride of the night. He put real pressure on race leader Stancl and cut brilliantly past him on lap three for what was at the time an important three points.

In the final two heats we finally gated with conviction and finished with two 5-1s, giving a final margin of 54-39. It hadn't really been that easy and the win came at some cost.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Matthew Wethers

Edinburgh Monarchs v Stoke Potters

It?s back to league business this weekend with home and away matches against the Stoke Potters. Wins in both are necessary if the Monarchs are to continue their Premier League challenge.

For the match at Edinburgh Stoke have George Stancl as a guest for Lee Complin while the Monarchs will be at full strength with Andrew Tully moving from reserve to number 3 and Derek Sneddon moving from number 3 to reserve. The Potters haven?t been to Armadale since April 2007 on which occasion they lost by 58-36 with William Lawson top scoring for Edinburgh with 16+2 from 6 rides. The side which returns this year has little in common with the Potters? team then. Gone are Glenn Cunningham, the unfortunate Garry Stead, Rusty Harrison and Jack Hargreaves while Lee Complin is on the injured list. That leaves the vastly improved Ben Barker, and Barrie Evans as the only survivors.

Newcomers to the Stoke side this year are Mark Burrows who is no stranger to Monarchs? fans, Andrew Moore who was part of a ?swap? deal with Scunthorpe as Emiliano Sanchez moved to the Scorpions and their two new Danish riders Klaus Jakobsen and Jesper Kristiansen both signed on seven point assessed averages and now finding their feet in British speedway.

It would be a brave man who would put any money on Stoke to win at Armadale. Their best result at the Dale in recent times was a ten point defeat in April 2005 in a Premier Trophy match in which they had James Grieves and Peter Carr in their side with Grieves and Robbie Kessler scoring 14 points each. The Monarchs should win this match with some comfort despite having to face track specialist George Stancl and Ben Barker. The Potters? tail end just does not appear to have enough fire power to keep the score close.

However it will be a different story at Stoke on Saturday night. Away wins are rarely easy but this one is definitely one which Edinburgh will have targeted as very winnable. Despite a thumping win over Berwick Bandits last Sunday, the Potters have been vulnerable round their own track and have already lost at home in the league to Scunthorpe and Workington.

The records show that the Monarchs have won three of their last seven matches at Loomer Road, the last occasion being in a Premier Trophy match in April 2006 when the score was 44-49. Top scorer for Edinburgh on that occasion was Derek Sneddon who, from reserve, rattled up 11+1 from six rides. For his first away match back at reserve Derek finds himself back at Stoke and a similar return would go a long way to ensuring victory. The Monarchs? only other survivors from that match are Matthew Wethers and William Lawson both of whom scored 6+1 (4). In the league match last August, of course, the team went down by 51-42 in spite of a 21 point maximum from Kyle Legault, one of Edinburgh?s three guests on the night.

The current Monarchs? team is far better than any which has travelled to Stoke in recent times while Stoke are arguably a much weaker outfit so hope runs high for a blue and gold victory. Stoke have not yet announced their guest for Saturday night although last Sunday George Stancl filled the gap in the Potters? team scoring 4+2 (4). This should be a close run affair which will be decided by the riders who hit form in the match. All five points would be a great boost to the Monarchs before the visit of Rye House next week and the southern tour the week after that.

The likely line-ups will be:

Edinburgh: William Lawson, Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Ryan Fisher, Matthew Wethers, Derek Sneddon (captain), Aaron Summers.

Stoke: George Stancl (guest), Mark Burrows, Ben Barker (captain), Klaus Jakobsen, Andrew Moore, Barrie Evans, Jesper Kristiansen .

May the better team win.