Edinburgh Monarchs v Ipswich Witches

Without doubt the Scotwaste Monarchs would have liked more than six points to defend at Ipswich in the second leg, but they didn’t ride well enough to deserve any more.

After complaints that the track had been too slick, it was certainly grippier, but the home side didn’t look all that comfortable at times, and Ipswich adapted at least as well.

The opening heat was a big surprise. Derek Sneddon was away from the start and wasn’t seriously threatened by Barker, while Cook tried to work his way through from the back. He got past Heeps but was never very comfortably placed, and finally missed out as Heeps regain the point.

We saw Adam Ellis last week when he impressed for Leicester, and again in heat 2 riding for his own team, he was away quickly. However Max Fricke nipped up the inside to lead, only for the race to be stopped as Ritchie Hawkins brought James Sarjeant off leaving the second bend.

Ellis made no mistake in the rerun.

Gate 4 hasn’t been good recently but Theo Pijper nipped away fast to win heat 3, while Jozsef Tabaka took third ahead of Risager without looking comfortable.

Monarchs made their best gate of the night in heat 4, Claus Vissing and Max Fricke scoring an easy 5-1 over Lanham and Hawkins, who were to prove the weak links in the Witches’ side. At that stage 15-9 was a promising position.

However Barker led heat 5 all the way from Pijper, and Tabaka had an awful ride, losing third spot to Heeps and looking as though he was struggling to turn the bike.

Cook was into the groove in heat 6, and in the early staged Derek Sneddon was second, only to find Ellis flying past.

Again the six point lead was reduced in heat 7 when Vissing could only split Risager and Tungate.

It was Ellis again in heat 8, a comfortable win for him, but Heeps got himself in a mess, hitting the fence on the opening lap, and later falling and stopping the heat.

Tabaka was lucky to stay in heat 9 after the two rides he’d had – but this time he got it right and won the race. Ellis and Lanham actually gated, but Lanham lifted off the second bend and baulked his partner, allowing Tabaka through and dropping Ellis to the back.

So Monarchs were back to 6 up. Cook rocketed away and broke the track record, and in the early stages Sneddon was second. When he dropped to third, passed by Lisager, this was probably an improvement for the team as it meant no TR for Barker in the next race, but then we didn’t want him to lose another position to Tungate which he duly did. Poor ride by Derek.

Losing a 4-2 in heat 11 was not really a surprise, but now we wanted to kick on over the closing stages. Theo Pijper made an excellent start in heat 12, and video replay shows no reason at all why it was unsatisfactory; however the ref rated it a flier and pulled it back.

The restart went badly with Ellis and Tungate taking a 5-1 to level the scores at 36-36.

On the opening lap of heat 13 Barker cut up the inside of Cook off the second corner to lead, but Cook roared back over the finish line at the end of lap one. Moving out to gain speed, Barker went too far and hit the fence hard.

He needed treatment to a leg injury and eventually went to Hospital, though happily we now know the leg is not broken. Monarchs took advantage in the rerun as Craig sat with Vissing for a comfortable 5-1, even though Lanham was not far away.

Tabaka and Fricke had gated so poorly all night it was not surprising to see Risager go ahead from the start. In fact Tabaka was at the back for almost the whole race but eventually squeezed round the outside of Hawkins for the point.

Cook easily won the final race from Risager, with Claus Vissing taking the point from Ellis, to restore Monarchs’ six point advantage. We had never managed to get any further ahead than that.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Ipswich Witches

All eyes in the speedway world will be on Armadale this Friday (7.30) as much for the clash between two of the rising stars of UK speedway as for the League Cup Semi-Final first leg between Edinburgh and Ipswich.

Ipswich have looked to put together attractive, top-drawer Premier League sides full of young talented riders ever since dropping down from many years in the Elite League, and the current line-up looks to be the best yet.

Head to head at No.1 will be the clash between two of the UK's top up-and-coming riders, Craig Cook and Ben Barker who are both vying for places in the forthcoming World Team Cup side. Craig has been given first chance, but Barker (25) from Truro will be out to prove a point to the selectors.

Edinburgh's reliable skipper, Derek Sneddon seems to have found a welcome run of better luck lately and this week faces a very exciting young Australian prospect, Cameron Heeps (17) who has just moved up from reserve in his second Premier league season with Ipswich after starring for Mildenhall.

Hopefully Theo Pijper will gradually be feeling more comfortable on a bike than he has of late. He lines up opposite the Ipswich No.3, a relatively late starter to UK speedway, Rohan Tungate (23) from Kurri Kurri in Australia who is also in his second season with Ipswich on an average approaching seven.

After a sensational start at reserve, Jozsef Tabaka is adjusting to the different demands of riding at No.4. His opposite number is a Danish rider with extensive experience at a handful of Elite League clubs, Morten Risager (25) whose career has been held back at various times by injuries and loss of confidence.

Edinburgh's No.5, Claus Vissing is crucial to the success or otherwise of the Monarchs this year and his opposite number is the Ipswich captain, Leigh Lanham (35), now in his 20th UK speedway season having began his career at Ipswich and enjoyed a ten-year spell with Arena Essex/Lakeside.

Monarchs again bring in the very promising James Sarjeant as a National League guest at No.6. On the other side of the pits is last week's impressive visitor, Adam Ellis (27) from Marmande in France who was a Grasstrack star before making the successful switch to speedway only a year ago.

Max Fricke is still on a steep learning curve in his first Premier League season in the blue and gold and he can have a big influence on the result. He pits his skills against Ritchie Hawkins (29) from Peterborough, now in his 13th UK season having ridden for a dozen different teams.

So make no mistake, this is a huge test of the ambitions of both clubs. Ipswich are fresh from a sensational win at fortress Workington, although Monarchs fans will believe that they would have beaten Ipswich to it, had their match at Derwent Park not been rained off after demolishing them at Armadale.

Monarchs will hope to get some advantage from being the home side but they certainly can't afford such a shambolic start as last week if they are to have any hopes of winning this match and taking a defendible lead to Foxhall Road for the second leg. This is one not to be missed! Tapes up 7.30 sharp.

Likely line-ups:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon (capt.), Theo Pijper, Jozsef Tabaka, Claus Vissing, James Sarjeant (guest), Max Fricke.

IPSWICH SACKERS WITCHES: Ben Barker, Cameron Heeps, Rohan Tungate, Morten Risager, Leigh Lanham (capt.), Adam Ellis, Ritchie Hawkins.