Monarchs Downed At Poole

Stellar Monarchs started brightly before collapsing going down 53-37 to table topping Poole on Wednesday night.

On a night where gating was at an absolute premium on a difficult track the Monarchs adapted best early and were two up with seven heats gone before a string of home heat advantages swung the match in favour of the Pirates.

Monarchs team boss John Campbell left to rue, 'After such a good start it's disappointing what the final score was. We did really well in the first seven heats but we weren't good in the last eight, so it is a disappointing evening and end after a promising start.'

As mentioned the Monarchs started strongly with heat wins in each of the first three heats for Paco Castagna, Jonatan Grahn and Justin Sedgmen respectively and with their teammates slotting into third in the first two of these it was a four point lead for the visitors.

This was wiped out by a home maximum in heat four but the Monarchs wouldn't back down and when Kye Thomson and Sedgmen took a 4-2 in heat seven the lead was back in the Blue and Gold favour.

That would be as good as it got for the Monarchs though as the hosts would then turn the screw with a trio of maximums.

This would set the scene the rest of the way as the home men now dialed into conditions would take further advantages in three of the last five races, a heat 15 chain snap for Lewi Kerr the only thing stopping this from being four.

So, a frustrating ending to a match that showed promise but the Monarchs will know that a more complete performance is required to challenge the current cream of the division.

Positives can be taken for Castagna who top scored with ten and there were moments for most of the rest but consistency is required.

Monarchs Face Tough Task At League Leaders

Stellar Monarchs head on the road again on Wednesday making the long trek down to Dorset to take on current Championship pace-setters the Poole Pirates.

The Pirates have been the envy of the division since joining a few years ago with three league wins in four seasons (and a runners up spot in the other) and the signs are 2025 could be another bumper year on the South coast.

In a rare treat also at time of writing both sides have named their full 1-7 with intriguing battles all the way down the order,

Poole are led brilliantly by Richard Lawson, with backup also available from Anders Rowe enjoying his best year in the sport albeit riding through a few knocks. Lewi Kerr is capable of a big score on any given night and with Zach Cook stepping into the captains role this year and on fine form also it is a powerful spearhead.

Tobias Thomsen is building on his debit season with the Pirates last year and is a firm fans favourite due to his flamboyant celebrations and with the experience of Paul Starke at reserve there are no weak links.

That leaves talk of the sport Will Cairns to fill out the side and while last weekend was perhaps a little tougher going with single point returns at Armadale and Workington Cairns has already shown his liking for his home shale with an eight point debut against Glasgow a couple of weeks ago.

The Pirates are unbeaten at home in the league this season so it will take an almighty effort for the Monarchs to best them but as has been shown time and again this is a team that is capable of springing a surprise.

As mentioned the Monarchs are at full strength also but with one small tweak to the riding order with Paco and Kye swapping places.

Beyond that there will be debuts at the circuit for Victor, Jonatan and Jordy but all have shown they can take this in stride and with Justin Sedgmen returning to the scene of probably the best match of his season last year when he recorded a 14 point haul and was only bested once in heat 15 he should be full of confidence.

Kye and Paco raced to 17 between them on that night also so a repeat of this from all three could go a long way to securing a result.

With Poole having won at Armadale by six at earlier in the season the bonus point will be decided this evening also with the hosts looking to boost their lead at the top while the Monarchs know any result could go a long way to deciding their playoff fate given how few points teams will take from the Pirates home arena.

Tapes-up is at 7.30pm with live stream available from https://livestream.poole-speedway.com/