18 point lead for Redcar tomorrow

The WTF Monarchs grabbed an 18 point advantage in the Playoff quarter final at Armadale tonight in a match in which both teams took knocks. Monarchs started very strongly and were 14 ahead by heat 8, and later took 5-1s in heats 13 and 15, and yet the Bears never gave up and were indebted to their reserves for good points hauls.

Monarchs' team manager Alex Harkess said "If you'd offered me an 18 point lead at the start I'd certainly have taken it, but in the end I feel a little disappointed that we didn't take a bit more of a lead. I thought we rode pretty well but there were heats we might have done better in."

There were three multi-rider pileups which prolonged the meeting, at the first bend in heats 2 and 8 and then a more serious one in heat 9. In this, Paco Castagna had gone ahead down the back straight but lifted, so was caught by Kye Thomson (inside) and Lewis Kerr (outside) as they reached the third turn. With Kerr pushing in and Thomson pushing out, it ended with these two falling and both Castagna and Andersen also running into the melee.

Kerr was then withdrawn from the meeting, and although Thomson (who was excluded) took his fourth ride, he limped round and didn't look comfortable. Kerr's injury was described as concussion and Thomson had an arm injury, and we will have to wait and see whether either will ride tomorrow.

The match was certainly hard-fought throughout. Monarchs were 8 up by heat 3, with another heat 2 5-1 exactly as in the cup tie, and they added three more 4-2s in heats 6, 7 and 8. Masters and Pickering looked untouchable, and Kye Thomson also took a win over Wright in heat 3.

Lasse Fredriksen had an excellent third over Summers in heat 1 and then succeeded in passing Newman in heat 6 late in the race with a bold outside sweep. He also got up from the heat 8 crash to force his way past Andersen to win the rerun.

At that point Monarchs would be much the happier team, and they only had one last place at that point. However they then had four successive last places with heat 12 resulting in a 1-5, bringing the margin down to 10.

It took the usual duo, Masters and Pickering, to build up the points tally once more with 5-1s in heats 13 and 15. Heat 14 was won by Kyle Newman who bounced back from engine problems earlier, and we will see how important that battling effort might be.

Monarchs don't generally lose by 18 away from home – but they did on their last Redcar visit, and with the doubts about who might be turning out on both sides, there is still a lot of work to be done. It starts at 5pm at Redcar tomorrow.

Playoffs Are FInally Here

After 20 matches across the length and breadth of the country it is finally playoff time on Friday night as the Redcar Bears head for Armadale in the first leg of this quarter final tussle.

Of course, it is a road well-travelled for the men from the Northeast this being their 3rd visit to Armadale this year and the teams having met in the same stage last season also. The Bears have acquitted themselves well so far with narrow defeats of 7 and 4 points respectively on their two visits so far and while they will be gunning for a win a defeat in that region tonight may well make them favourites to progress.

There are 2 changes to the normal Bears line-up with former Monarchs captain Erik Riss sadly unable to return in steps another former Monarch league winner in Aaron Summers. Elsewhere Jason Edwards also misses out with Jordan Jenkins, Kyle Newman and Kasper Anderson able to take his rider replacement rides.

That puts a little extra pressure on the bottom end of the Bears team but with all 3 having had excellent moments at Armadale in their careers this shouldn't weaken the Bears.

At the top end Charles Wright and Lewi Kerr will line up at heat leader alongside Summers, Kerr in particular very impressive in taking victories in heats 13 and 15 on the Bears last visit in the cup.

For the Monarchs it has been a bit of a quiet spell of late with it having been 4 weeks since they last raced on home shale. For some like Sam Masters this may have been a welcome break as he continues to ride through a broken foot and plated collarbone while for others, they will be keen to get back on it and hopefully continue their seasons with an aggregate victory over the weekend.

Josh Pickering has kept sharp with rides for Kings Lynn and a guest appearance for Birmingham while Lasse Fredriksen has also been busy riding in Sweden so match sharpness will not be an issue for them.

Add into the mix that we are now into the knockout stage of the season so every home meeting for the Monarchs could be the last of the Armadale era so building a big lead takes on even more importance.

Tickets are still available with pay at the gate also in operation and as with all Playoff matches the meeting will also be live streamed on the BSN

Tapes up at 7.30pm for the biggest match of the season so far!