Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers

REPORT Friday 1st September 2006, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

A dramatic night of speedway ended with a classic final heat and a drawn Scottish derby.

Glasgow had to take to the track without Danny Bird, but the ill fortune on the night went Edinburgh's way with two crucial engine failures in the latter stages. Glasgow showed their table-topping mettle and fought hard in spite of the absence of Bird.

There was a big crowd present and though it was a long match (due to a few first bend crashes and a benevolent fund collection) it was a sufficiently enthralling occasion to hold everyone's attention.

And we started with a new track record. Theo Pijper flew from gate 1 to knock .2 secs off the old time by Gjedde and Karlsson. Tigers' Ksiezak and McAllan comfortably shared the heat with Tessari well back.

An amazing first lap in heat 2 saw Ksiezak lead, only for Sean Stoddart to come right through from the back to go in front! Ksiezak then fell causing Derek Sneddon to swerve and crash also - and as it turned out Derek's Armadale machine was then out of action, a key factor.

James Cockle was a surprise winner in the rerun, assisted by a wobble when under pressure from Sneddon who had to back off.

Heat 3 was a from-the-gate 3-3 with Nieminen looking good in front. Similar situation in heat 4, Parker winning a rerun race after Cockle crashed at the first bend in the first running.

The first break in the scoring came in heat 5. Henrik Moller made the gate and though Tigers held the minor places on the first lap, McAllan took Nieminen wide on the pits corner and Wethers needed no second bidding to nip through.

Parker beat Pijper in heat 6, and this time Tessari took a good third ahead of Ksiezak.

Nieminen returned to winning ways in heat 7, with the lively Stoddart alongside Lawson and well clear of Dicken for another shared heat.

Derek Sneddon burst through the tapes in heat 8 and was replaced by Stoddart, who came up trumps by racing ahead for a very welcome win. McAllan chased unsuccessfully with Daniele again taking a point.

Six points up, but we lost most of that in heat 9. Parker won easily but Ksiezak gated second. Although he was under pressure from Moller and Wethers and it seemed they must pass, they never did.

The flying Pijper won heat 10 by a long way but disappointingly, Tessari messed up his start and first bend allowing Dicken to take his first point.

Heat 11 looked dodgy with Parker taking his r/r ride, and so it proved. Lawson chased, but though Stoddart was briefly third he was passed by McAllan and fell. The scores were now level!

That should not have lasted. Dicken fell on the outside at the first bend and it was all four back. Next time Matthew Wethers gated with Derek sweeping into second on the outside - only to stop going down the back straight. Bitter disappointment for him and the home fans.

So the scores were still level and with unbeaten Parker having two heats to come, Tigers looked favourites..

That's when Theo Pijper came into his own. He made a great start to win heat 13, with Lawson in third behind Parker.

A good heat 14 could have seen us home, but again fate was not with us. Moller shuddered on the line and stopped. It's what you call bottom-of-the-table luck. Although Derek Sneddon led the heat, Nieminen worked his way past to level the scores.

Parker and Nieminen against Pijper and Lawson, Tigers winning the toss and going off 1 and 3. And what a heat it was!

Parker gated and most must have thought that was it. But no, Pijper cut back and raced to the front down the back straight. Parker went hard into the pits turn and squeezed back ahead going into the first corner of lap two. Surely that was it this time, with Nieminen easily getting the better of Lawson? Pijper didn't think so, he rode a superb corner to cut back again and get the drop on Parker when they hit the pits turn once more.

This time he held it to the flag for an honourable draw which left both teams with something to be pleased about.

HALMOND ENGINEERING MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Theo Pijper.

Full Result Details