DEFEAT IN THE MUD

NEWS Monday 4th September 2006, 10:00am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Although we pushed Glasgow very hard, at one time leading by 8 points, we eventually lost 44-49 on a wet day at Ashfield.

It was a long-drawn out meeting with a delay at heat 5 for a track grading after some heavy rain. At this point we were 8 points ahead having scored 5-1's in heats 3 and 5.

Following the grading which saw the top surface scraped off, Shane Parker was able to take a TS ride and team up with Ksiezak for an 8-1 result.

In spite of this setback and a 1-5 in the next race, we stuck to our guns and were still just one point behind after heat 13.

Henrik was not fit for heat 14 after falls the previous night and in his second ride at Ashfield, but Derek won the heat to leave us needing an advantage for a victory in the final race.

Derek Sneddon was just about to go out for heat 15 when the local machine examiner pointed out a problem with his cutout. This resulted in a 2-minute exclusion, and he went off 15 metres in a heat we lost 1-5.

You would not have thought the length of the league separated the two sides. Glasgow scored paid 9 in the first three Bird heats, so his absence had little effect.