Title Partner
REPORT Friday 2nd October 2009, 10:00pm
Edinburgh Monarchs
This was a low-key Scottish derby with problems on both sides and a very easy win for the Scotwaste Monarchs.
Glasgow?s recent form is not good, and with Shane Parker and James Grieves both missing the Tigers? support did not make the journey over in great numbers.
Jason Lyons stood in for Parker and had a poor night, and with rider replacement yielding just four third for Grieves, it was left to Lee Dicken and William Lawson to provide such resistance as there was.
On the home side, Andrew Tully started with a fall and pulled out after three rides. Aaron Summers was again very unlucky, starting with two wins then blowing his new motor when leading heat 11. He has no real backup equipment so two pointless rides followed.
Both Ryan Fisher and Kevin Wolbert were excellent and scored paid maximums in style. Michal Rajkowski, Matthew Wethers and Andrew Tully all dropped one point each, to Lawson, who also challenged the two maximum men in the early stages of heats.
Although there was some dampness in the track from the drizzle Fisher flew to a time just 0.2 outside the track record, with Rajkowski second under not much pressure from rider replacement Lawson. Grajczonek was well back and didn?t look likely to improve his Armadale record.
Aaron Summers on board a new engine had an easy heat 2 win, but Byron Bekker fell trying to burst inside Lee Dicken and left the track. He could have had a point as Davey later withdrew.
Tully and Wethers led Lawson in heat 3 but Andrew came down on the pits corner, Matthew wobbled which allowed William through to the front. Matthew made a big effort to repass and finished a whisker short at the finish. Anders Andersen seemed to be struggling badly at the rear.
Jason Lyons led heat 4 but didn?t look convincing, and eventually Wolbert powered past him. Bekker came down again and must surely be getting tired of tumbling.
No mistakes from Wethers and Tully in heat 5, a maximum by miles, and more problems for Tigers in the next heat when Jason Lyons two-wheeled into the first corner and speared Ryan Fisher, bringing both down. That left Davey on his own and he pulled out again, gifting a 5-0.
William Lawson took a TR in heat 7 but there was no challenge to Summers and Wolbert who made it three 5?s in a row. Glasgow then sent out Lee Dicken for the second TR in heat 8, and the match was so one-sided that we didn?t even bother to make the obvious counter by using Summers.
This allowed Tigers to take a 5-3 as Rajkowski won with Bekker again pointless.
Davey was excluded on 2 minutes from heat 9, possibly as a time-waster, but it was another easy 5-1 with Lyons touring at the back.
Lawson had a better ride in heat 10, briefly slipping past Fisher before Fisher burst past once more. It did mean the first dropped point for Rajkowski.
Summers flew to the front in heat 11 with Wolbert backing up and beating off a Lyons challenge. Regrettably Summers? engine blew on the pits corner and it was just as well this was not a crucial match as we were spilling too many points.
Then came the news that Andrew Tully had withdrawn from the match, leaving heat 12 with all four reserves in it, Summers being on Wolbert?s bike. This was pretty much a gift win for Dicken with our pair limping round to share the points.
We should have been far more than 22 points ahead and our heat 13 pair responded with an easy 5-1. It was a pleasure to watch the excellent of Fisher and Wolbert.
Matthew Wethers won heat 14 from Lawson who put up a reasonable battle, but Aaron, now on his second machine, trailed at the back.
We finished with another excellent exhibition from Wolbert and Fisher as both completed their paid maximums. Tougher tests lie ahead!
HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Kevin Wolbert.
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Bathgate Road
Armadale
EH48 2PD
