Monarchs Go Down By 12 At Ashfield

REPORT Sunday 9th April 2023, 7:27pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Stellar Monarchs battled hard but ultimately for naught going down by 12 losing out on the aggregate bonus point also at Ashfield on Sunday evening.

The Monarchs were competitive throughout and were only 4 down after heat 8 but back to back maximums for the home men in the next two took the match away with Monarchs manager Alex Harkess saying after

'It's a shame really we just didn't have enough at the bottom end. Early doors I thought we were in it but the longer it went in the more we drifted away from it. Gating became more and more important and we weren't gating consistently so it's disappointing.'

The Meeting started with a bang as Josh Pickering and Chris Harris traded positions multiple times before the Monarchs captain pulled ahead.

The Tigers took a lead they never relinquished in heat 2 as Lee Complin took the win after a lap 2 mistake from Jacob Hook who had done well to round the field.

It was nip and tuck from there with some excellent races in the early stages before the track slickened off as the meeting progressed, it has to be said though this due to forecast rain that was starting by the time the meeting was complete.

Heat 4 was undoubtedly race of the night as Kye Thomson made the gate for the Monarchs only to be stalked and passed by an excellent cut back off the second bend by Tigers Ben Basso, Thomson repeating the favour on bends 3 and 4 before Basso made the move stick on the last corner.

The turning point of the meeting would come in heat 9 as with the score at 26-22 in the Tigers favour Craig Cook squared off for the Monarchs against the powerful Danish duo of Basso and Claus Vissing.

The Tigers gated best with Cook trying to squeeze into 2nd ahead of Basso, the Tiger would charge hard under Cook entering the 3rd bend of lap 2 and when Cook tried the inside pass again on the next corner he drifted out bringing down the home men.

The resulting disqualification for Cook wasn't argued by many but Basso still had words to say to Cook as he came back round.

The resulting 5-1 in the re-run was matched in heat 10 and with the lead now 12 for the Tigers the only thing to race for was the bonus point.

The Monarchs gave themselves hope as Cook was brought in as a tactical substitute in heat 12 promptly recording a maximum with Kye Thomson but the match was over after a heat 145-1 by home pair Vissing and Lee Complin put the score beyond doubt.

The Monarchs will now look to home and away fixtures against Berwick in 2 weekends time knowing more than likely victory in both is required to progress in the BSN Shield.

Full Result Details