Monarchs snatch a draw after trailing by 10

REPORT Friday 3rd September 2021, 11:41pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The What the Fork Monarchs don't have their troubles to seek at the moment and there were plenty of problems in the important match against Birmingham tonight.

With Richie Worrall still unfit, no suitable guest available, and no. 7 Nathan Greaves retiring from the sport the night before, Monarchs were depleted at the start and even more so after a crash while leading heat 9 ruled Kye Thomson out with shoulder and rib injuries.

At that point with Birmingham leading by 10 you could have got extremely long odds on Monarchs getting anything out of the match – and yet they very nearly won it!

Team manager Alex Harkess said "We've certainly got Drew Kemp to thank for getting us back into the match, taking four on the trot. I'm pretty sure Anders Rowe is going to come good too, and Archie Freeman could have made a major contribution in his third ride but for his bike spluttering.

"I wasn't happy with the ragged start to heat 13 but I'm not complaining about the decision to exclude Erik Riss in the last heat. I expected all four. If we had got a decision like that against us I'd be fizzing mad."

Sam Masters and Josh Pickering were to the fore throughout of course, but the young man who made all the difference was Drew Kemp on his Monarchs' debut.

Drew had a couple of points from his first three rides and lined up for heat 11 with Josh Pickering the rider replacement for Worrall. This time Kemp shot from the start with Pickering backing up and staying with the youngster, ensuring there was no chance for Chris Harris to make any headway.

Thomson was unfit for heat 12 so it was Kemp again taking his place, alongside young Archie Freeman, and up against the visiting reserves – a rerun of heat 2. Kemp romped away again and indeed Freeman very nearly followed him into second spot, only for his machine to splutter and force him to drop back.

Drew was out again in heat 13, a controversial heat in which Erik Riss twitched on gate 4, Kemp following with a movement, and the ragged start was allowed to go with Sam Masters stranded at the back for the early laps. It finished a 1-5 but the home camp felt it should have been restarted.

Undaunted, Drew Kemp came out for his fourth ride on the trot in heat 14, and this time went with Pickering to the front for a 5-1, giving Monarchs a 2-point deficit going into the final heat. More controversy, as Pickering, Riss and Masters were bunched going in to the first turn. Riss gave Masters a heave and brought him down, earning a rather unexpected exclusion when 'all four back' was probably the decision people thought they would hear.

Monarchs now had a real chance to win, especially when Masters and Pickering gated, but Chris Harris off gate 1 headed for the dirt and went round Pickering as they reached the back straight, taking the second place needed to give his team a draw. It probably left both teams thinking they might have had more from the night.

The killer heat for Monarchs was the ninth, in which Erik Riss went off 15 metres after going through the tapes. Thomson led it, with Thomas behind and Pickering challenging, but when Josh lifted on the back straight he dropped to the back. As if that wasn't bad enough Thomson then flipped over the handlebars in a very awkward crash, and a home advantage became a 5-1 for Brummies.

Apart from James Shanes Birmingham scored throughout their ranks, with Chris Harris and Jack Thomas both scoring 10. They must have believed with 6 races left that they were going to win but would probably have been happy with a draw before the start.

Monarchs will now need some success in their final three away matches if they are to make the Playoffs, but at least thanks largely to Drew Kemp, they are still in with a chance..

Full Result Details