Edinburgh Monarchs v Redcar Bears

REPORT Saturday 1st August 2015, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The very bad luck suffered by Redcar during and since the first leg meant that there was only going to be one outcome to this tie.

Edinburgh may well have gone through against a full strength Redcar side but they were not tested by this makeshift team. The two National League lads (who gave their all) and Dimitri Berge (who can’t get round Armadale at speed) were out 15 times between them, which meant that you had to wait a while for the occasional competitive heat to come along.

There were a few of these. After Justin Sedgmen had executed a perfect second bend pass in heat 1, Aaron Summers and Craig Cook fought out a good duel for the second spot.

We then had another battle for the minor places in heat 3 between Matej Kus, Jonas Andersen and Erik Riss, with Riss almost diving inside the visitors but locking up and coming on to the centre.

Kus and Andersen had to work hard again to hold off Max Clegg in heat 7, but the score was mounting and Monarchs led by 20 points after heat 8.

Kus was gradually gaining momentum and rode four determined laps in heat 9 in pursuit of Riss, gaining his reward with a perfectly executed pass on the last corner.

Monarchs were far enough ahead to give a ride to no. 8 in heat 11 to Lewis Millar, a big moment for the young Scot. This race also gave a measure of Clegg’s progress as he chased Summers hard for all four laps.

Cook didn’t drop another point after heat 1, Kevin Wolbert sailed home in all his rides, and Justin Sedgmen stayed unbeaten until the final race when Kus got a deserved reward for his night’s work, celebrating what was his team’s second race win.

Full Result Details