Edinburgh Monarchs v Rye House Rockets

It was a match to remember at Armadale, not necessarily all for the best of reasons, but a 1-point win over the Rockets kept the home fans happy.

The apparently inevitable late afternoon shower (a very heavy one) left the track in difficult condition, and the Rockets? manager and captain both felt the match should not have gone ahead.

The Rockets were unfortunate to lose Mear, but Monarchs just about deserved their victory. They held an 8 point lead early on, and a 12-point advantage after 11 heats, but it still almost slipped away as the fast gating Chris Neath and the outstanding Tai Woffinden won seven heats between them.

Mark Lemon won the opening heat with Thomas Jonasson comfortably second, and when Derek and Aaron sailed home well clear of the visiting reserves in heat 2, Monarchs led 10-2. Was this going to be a cruise?

Well of course with Tai Woffinden in the next heat things had to change, and he won easily, but Tommy Allen was well behind our pair when he pulled out.

Which version of Chris neath were we going to see? It?s a while since he has done well at Armadale, but he made a swift gate to win heat 4 with our pair again easily sharing.

Ryan Fisher lifted alarmingly on the second bend of heat 5, and having got the wheel down, lifted again on the pits bend, this time wiping our the unlucky Robert Mear. It looked nasty but thankfully both eventually rose.

Mear was unfit for the rerun from which Fisher was excluded, and indeed Mear was withdrawn from the meeting. Tully won the rerun but we had lost a chance to extend our lead.

Neath again gated to win heat 6 easily, and Halsey gave notice that he was in for a decent night, holding second till passed by Lemon. Thomas Jonasson pulled out at the back.

That was bad enough, but again our gating was suspect in heat 7. Firstly Derek was adjudged to have touched the tapes, which was difficult to discern as everyone shuddered prior to the tapes rising.

Tommy Allen then led the way from Wethers, but with Woffinden third signs were ominous. He soon cruised into second and guided his partner home for a comfortable 5-1. We were now just 22-20 ahead.

Derek and Thomas were away in heat 8 though, easly beating the Rockets reserves.

Neath led again in heat 9 but Fisher nipped past him for the win. Andrew Tully all but fell on the first corner and was a good half lap behind, but a race long chase saw him grab third off the final corner. Our 8-point lead was restored.

Heat 10 was controversial because Thomas led into the first turn, until Tai Woffinden hit him and launched his own machine over the fence, bringing Thomas down. The ?all four? decision was generous to Woffinden.

Tai won the rerun from Mark Lemon, and there was an encouraging ride by Thomas who twice passed Tommy Allen with nice inside moves, and took the point.

Derek?s gating was working well and he led all the way in heat 11. Ekberg led Wethers for a bit but Matthew eventually took him and we were now 12 ahead.

The one thing we really had to avoid was losing a 1-8 and with that in mind, most of the stadium expected to see Derek Sneddon replace Aaron Summers in heat 12. It didn?t happen though, and Halsey rode a fine race to take second behind the TR Woffinden. Andrew Tully pressed but eventually lost a chain.

So that meant we were now just 40-35 ahead and things looked quite different. Rockets gated in heat 13, and Neath took his third win of the night. Matthew Wethers managed to pass Ekberg and put in a terrific challenge on Neath, just missing out. Mark Lemon tried to squeeze past Ekberg without success, and we were now a mere three points up!

Given the last heat pair that Rye were obviously going to field, we needed an advantage from heat 14. Derek Sneddon made no mistake, and when Ryan held third early in the heat it seemed we were almost there.

But no ? it?s never that easy. Ryan went into the muddy outside on the third bend and fell, and that moment could have lost us the match.

We went into heat 15 with Derek Sneddon (4 wins) and Matthew Wethers (just 6+2) against Woffinden and Neath who had dropped juts one point.

Derek didn?t make the start this time and fell on the first corner as Neath turned across his path. Woffinden led but Matthew managed to get round Neath into second. The race was then stopped and Derek excluded.

The captain was not happy, particularly following the decision made in heat 10. However it was now down to Matthew to grab at least second.

Neath actually gated, but he turned too hard and locked up as Matthew went past in the dirt. Woffinden went clear again but Matthew knew what was required of him, and he made sure of the vital 2 points.

It hadn?t been a great night for Stormy but that heat along brought him the Hermiston Monarch of the match award.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Rye House Rockets

The next team to try their luck at Armadale are the Rye House Rockets who are the visitors this Friday. The Rockets have an excellent record at Armadale and are back at full strength for the first time in ages.

Rye House begin a three day northern tour against the Monarchs on Friday. They move on to Berwick on Saturday and Glasgow on Sunday. The Rockets? fans travelling north will be in the unusual position of seeing their side at full strength for a change. Injuries and absences have seen their team having to use guests and rider replacement in many of their matches this season.

Stefan Ekberg returns at number 1 to the side after injury and the sensational Tai Woffinden takes his place at number 3 after missing some matches for the Hertfordshire side.

The two teams have met five times at Armadale over the last four years and two of the current Rockets? squad are ever presents ? Chris Neath, their captain, and Tommy Allen. Completing the team are the exciting newcomer, Robert Mear, and the two reserves, Daniel Halsey and Luke Bowen.

Since 2004 Rye House have won on three occasions and lost on two at Armadale. Edinburgh?s successes were in the League match last year when they won 50-45 and in the KO Cup match in 2005 when they won 47-43. Monarchs? fans will want to draw a veil over the other three matches particularly the League match in 2005 which they lost by 12 points.

Last year the Monarchs were at a low ebb when the League match took place on 14 September. Rye House, who went on to win the league, fully expected to win the match to add to their other away successes in their league championship push. However, although Tai Woffinden excelled with 16 points and reserve, Adam Roynon, contributed 12+2 from seven rides (including a 6 point Tactical Ride), the rest of the Rockets were slated by their own fans after a woeful display which saw them lose by 50-45. Chris Neath managed just 4 points and Steve Boxall six on that occasion.

George Stancl and Matthew Wethers top scored for Edinburgh with 11 while Andrew Tully added 9 and Derek Sneddon and Kai Laukkanen 7 each in just the sort of gritty display needed on Friday.

The Rockets have lost all four of their away League matches so far this season but Armadale is a track which has certainly suited them in the past and they may well pose a threat to the home side. Thomas H Jonasson has so far struggled at home. He will be riding an engine specially prepared for Armadale by Peter Carr and Edinburgh will be hoping that he finds it much more to his liking than his own engines whose set-ups were not suitable for the track. Mark Lemon guests for the injured William Lawson and should prove to be an able deputy judging by his two recent displays for Reading in the League and Premier Trophy semi-final. The rest of the team is on the usual lines but they will need to be at their best to see off what must be considered dangerous opponents with a top three of Woffinden, Ekberg and Neath.

However one big advantage the Monarchs will have is that a friend of mine, who has followed the Monarchs for years and usually comes north to see the matches between the Monarchs and Rockets, will not be at Armadale on Friday. Why is that an advantage? He has never seen the Rockets lose at the Dale!

This should be a close match but hopefully the Monarchs will have enough all round strength to see off one of their bogey sides. A good win will be a real tonic for riders and fans alike as they set off for matches at Reading and the Isle of Wight next week.

Likely line-ups:

Edinburgh: Mark Lemon (G), Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Ryan Fisher, Matthew Wethers, Derek Sneddon (captain), Aaron Summers

Rye House: Stefan Ekberg, Robert Mear, Tai Woffinden, Tommy Allen, Chris Neath (captain), Daniel Halsey, Luke Bowen.

May the better team win.