Monarchs fought hard but Pirates win the day

REPORT Friday 30th August 2024, 11:05pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Stellar Monarchs did not land the victory that they need to take them off the foot of the Championship table, but they put up a decent showing against the team now confirmed to be the table-toppers prior to the Playoffs (for which there surely should be an award).

Team manager Alex Harkess said "We were completely out of it after the first third of the match but we did well to get back to just two down at heat 13. With the top riders in that race I felt anything could happen. But the Pirates' pair came out on top, we ran them close but not close enough."

Poole had taken the lead in heat 2 with the seemingly inevitable 1-5 result there, guest Paul Starke passing both the Monarchs. Another couple of 4-2s and later a 5-1 gave Pirates a 26-16 advantage at heat 7. That seemed to be the result all but decided, but Monarchs edged back and took a 5-1 in heat 12 to make it 35-37.

Ben Cook missed the two minutes in this race and with Josh Pickering leading the way, Lasse Fredriksen's chase bore fruit as he rounded Tobias Thomsen on the last bend.

This seemed to be a wake-up call for Poole. Richard Lawson gated in heat 13 and with a fantastic burst off the second bend, Tom Brennan rocketed past both Troy Batchelor and Josh Pickering to restore a 6-point lead for his team. Zach Cook then won heat 14 to clinch the win.

Monarchs only had four races wins for the stalwart Pickering, who stopped on the first bend in heat 1 having been distracted by the two minute light. Guests Drew Kemp and Batchelor (who both put in plenty of effort) managed one win each, but it wasn't enough.

As well as that heat 13 burst, Brennan and Pickering featured in the two best races of the night if not the season. Heats 6 and 15 both saw Brennan produce a great move to pass the Monarchs' no. 1, only for Josh each time to burst back to the front. Two top-line riders going hard at it, and Brennan certainly is one of the most exciting visitors we have seen for a long time.

Full Result Details