A POINT TAKEN AT BERWICK

NEWS Saturday 2nd August 2008, 10:56pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After trailing for most of the match, we took the lead in heat 13 and finished up with a draw on one of the trickiest tracks we have ever encountered.

The track actually looked in good condition prior to the match but it was deceptive. A great deal of rain had fallen, and for the riders it was a bit of a nightmare.

For much of the evening it was a case of trying to gain good position over the first half-lap, then hanging on. At times the riders were two-wheeling round the bends and still almost coming off.

We were two down after heat 1, six down in mid-match and trailed 32-28 at heat 10. We had our strongest spell thereafter with 5-1s in heats 11 and 13, followed by a 4-2 in heat 14 to take a 44-40 lead into the last race.

In this Thomas gated, but both McGowan and Makovsky went by before Thomas crashed. Thankfully he was OK.

We did throw some points away, notably falls by Ryan and Thomas in heats they seemed likely to do well in, however it would be harsh to fault effort on such a track.

With scores between 4 and paid 9, it was a solid showing again. Speedway's crazy rules prevented the use of Ryan Fisher in heat 15, even though he had beaten both Makovsky and McGowan in his previous two rides.

But it was a point gained on a night when Somerset and King's Lynn both lost.

Full Result Details