Title Partner
REPORT Friday 4th May 2007, 10:00pm
Edinburgh Monarchs
The 'famous five' of last Sunday became the 'super seven' as Monarchs knocked Sheffield out of the KO Cup on a night of drama and thrills.
Rarely can we have had a side displaying such determination and such solidity. By no stretch of the imagination did Sheffield roll over on a track they don't favour - they put everything into the match.
Joel Parsons was tenacious and exciting throughout, and Ricky Ashworth also provided speedway worth watching.
Ashworth is sometimes criticised for his efforts away from Owlerton but he couldn't be faulted for his commitment here - at times he tried just too hard and he did have one unlucky engine failure.
Ben Wilson and James Cockle too made Monarchs fight for their points.
But fight they did, all seven, so effectively that paid 8 was the lowest home score. The Hermiston Monarch of the Match must have been a very close-run affair, with starlet Andrew Tully perhaps the pick for many, but Henrik Moller's paid 11 which finished with a wonderful paid win in heat 14 was given the nod.
The match started with a smooth win for Ronnie Correy, comfortably clear of Andre Compton who gated slowly. Derek Sneddon's comeback ride saw him sensibly slot into third in the tight early stages and hold position.
Cockle gated well in heat 2, but Tessari and Tully passed on either side coming out of the second bend and were never troubled thereafter. A good start, six points pulled back.
William Lawson looked the part in heat 3 as he stormed ahead. The Sheffield riders held the minor positions until Ashworth locked up and fell on the road bend. Cockle slipped past but Henrik Moller clipped him and took an awkward fall. After some attention he returned to the pits wearing a sling, a bit superfluous when his injury was a cut on the face.
Happily he was fit for the rerun in which we took another 5-1, and that was 10 points pulled back.
Obviously there was going to be a Compton TR (or TS) at some stage, and it came in as early as heat 5. It might have been a hasty choice with Lawson in such good form, but although our man clung to his tail Andre delivered the 6. Lead on the night reduced to 7.
Heat 6 was a true classic and an indication of how well Parsons was riding. In fact initially, Sheffield were on a 5-1. On the pits bend Parsons went past partner Cockle, who took his hand off the handlebar to indicate his displeasure. Unsettled, he fell on the next corner before storming round to complain to promoter Neil Machin, presumably about Parsons' poor command of team tactics.
The Aussie was away again in the rerun though, riding a mid track line that was tough to beat. Correy was working the bends, going in mid track and cutting inwards, but it was not easy as we watched in fascination.
Finally Ronnie got on the line for the last turn and got it perfectly right, zipping off turn four to race across the line half a length ahead. Great race.
Heat 7 was also enthralling as Daniele Tessari and Matthew Wethers rode side by side for three laps, Matthew on the inside, with Ashworth piling on the pressure.
Coming out of the second bend on the last lap, Daniele made an error and drifted wide. Ashworth saw his chance and raced through the middle, and in attempting to regain his position with a wide sweep on the pits bend, Daniele went into the fence.
A chance lost, the lead 9 when it might have been 13.
However we immediately pulled out a 5-1 in heat 8, after Ben Wilson had fallen on the first turn. Might it have been stopped at that point? Yes it might.
Heat 9 - this time William and Henrik took 5 from the ever-trying Parsons who had a fine inside line on the pits bend. Now we are 17 up on the night and closing.
Cockle was announced as rider replacement for heat 10 but he didn't make it, excluded on 2 minutes (which seemed harsh as not much extra time was allowed for 2 in a row). Cooper, the most ineffective rider on the night, came in.
This time Ashworth suffered for trying too hard. Trying to regain position on the pits corner, he overdid it and went into the fence hard. Once again a sling was applied but he was OK.
An easy 5-1 in the rerun levelled things up on aggregate. With 5 heats to go, we were now clear favourites but Sheffield certainly did not give way.
Wilson was in the wrong place at the wrong time again in heat 11, caught outside Tessari and into the fence. Compton won the rerun even though Wethers momentarily slipped past on the opening lap.
Ashworth made the start in heat 12, Lawson lined up an inside pass on the pits corner - and Ashworth stopped. Bad luck for him but Cockle was hanging on to second.
Andrew Tully put him under great pressure, trying inside and out but he was still third as they hit the last bend. This time Tully went on a wide sweep and it was perfectly judged, carrying him into second as they crossed the line. Four up on aggregate!
Compton was irresistible in heat 13 and Correy quickly decided to ensure the 3-3, keeping his eye on the danger man Parsons at the back and protecting the lead.
Now Sheffield, with nothing to lose, brought in Parsons on a TS in heat 14 with Wilson. What a thriller it turned out to be.
Wilson made the start, but Tessari burst through coming out of the fourth bend on lap one. By that time, Parsons was right on Moller's tail and looked like going through!
The Dane fought him off, and while Wilson was pressing Tessari, he suddenly found Moller squeezing inside him off the second bend of lap four! Monarchs held it for a great 5-1 and we were through!
Just the final heat to go and it was a thriller too. Compton was away and Parsons was there too, until William got around him on the pits bend. That lasted less than a lap as his chain came off, at the same time as Ronnie burst through from the back.
It was another hell-for-leather heat and only the second race advantage Sheffield took on the night.
The winners were Monarchs, and the fans who had enjoyed such a pulsating speedway meeting.
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