GREETINGS FROM UNCLE B (XVII)

NEWS Monday 7th July 2014, 6:14pm

by Brian Gray

  Edinburgh Monarchs

I've said before that there is usually one race in a meeting that is deserving of the admittance money and Max Fricke's last to first in Heat 12 of the Scotwaste Monarch's away victory at Glasgow on Sunday was one of those!

His last bend pass of Theo Pijper left the Dutchman shaking his head in disbelief as did most Edinburgh fans! Top scorer Max is turning into a real entertainer and we hope that he rides like he did against the Tigers at the Premier League Best Pairs at Somerset this coming Friday when he lines up with Sam. As we all know, that win was number 23 but we are going to have to wait until a week on Friday for the visit of Workington to attempt to extend it.

Number 22 (it's not easy to keep up, is it?) was down at Redcar last Thursday. Before the meeting, I was in the pits having a chat with our photographer Ron MacNeill who told me that he thought a visit to his hairdresser was a distinct possibility! For those who don't know, Ron said at the beginning of the season that he wasn't having a haircut until the Monarchs lost a match. That's about fourteen weeks now and his unkempt mop is now starting to resemble that of Matthew Wethers and Aaron Summers! Well Ron, keep it growing! It was a most enjoyable match with, in my opinion, Heat 10 as the best race of the night. Steve and Max were lined up for us and some sort of sixth sense saw Steve automatically take the outside line with Max courageously hugging the inside to team ride brilliantly and take a most magnificent 5-1. At the end, the team was called out to be presented to the fans who incidentally gave them warm applause and I noticed that when one or two were being interviewed, the others were poking and testing the starting line with their toes and heels. Yes, at the end! I suppose it's just a habit!

A good evening's work by our lads and all that was left was to head north and nip in to my local for last orders and enjoy a celebratory pint but that wasn't to be as Northumberland Council decided to hold me up several times with their 'escorted convoy roadworks' which just take ages to negotiate. So, missed the pub by half an hour and had to make do with a cup of tea! Friday's rain-off was annoying but, to be honest, we've been fairly lucky as some tracks have been riddled with them. Let's hope we can get back to the fair weather we were experiencing in June.

To end this week, I wish everyone a safe journey down to Somerset and Cardiff for the Pairs and the GP. Good luck to our boys. I'll be following both meetings back here green with envy that I'll not be there! Take care.

Uncle ‘B’