Great finish for the Academy

REPORT Saturday 21st September 2024, 10:58pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Leicester Cubs came to Armadale already crowned National Development League Champions, but they had the additional impetus of being unbeaten throughout the season with nine wins out of nine. By the end of the night they were still Champions but still with only nine wins as the Stellar Monarchs Academy gave their best and most determined display of the season to win 47-42.

Mitchell Davey was stand-in team manager for the night as Scott Wilson was unavailable, but he certainly enjoyed the occasion. "Sensational effort, all the boys were up for it, obviously they knew Leicester were coming and were undefeated and already crowned league champions, so they really just wanted to put their stamp on it to show that they were a competitive team. They all worked really well together, it was awesome.

"It was a little bit stressful at first but it came good once we got a lead. It was good."

Dayle Wood was a 14-point hero but the whole side showed a determination and belief that has sometimes been lacking.

The visitors took impressive 4-2 results in the first two heats won by Joe Thompson and Arran Butcher, and things seemed to be going according to expectations. Dayle Wood won heat 3 impressively, and Sam McGurk took a point even though he started off 15 metres after missing the two minutes, when Tom Spencer spun off.

Even worse followed for the Cubs when Butcher fell leading heat 4, then Foord fell in the same spot in the rerun, handing a 5-0 to the Academy to give them the lead.

That seemed to inspire the home side who went on a sensational run of six successive race winners, with Wood, Coles and Perry all victorious against visiting top men Thompson, Foord and Max James.

Guest Harry McGurk won heat 8 then his brother Sam passed Vinnie Foord to join Wood for a 5-1 in heat 9, and by adding a further 4-2 in heat 10 the Academy were in an apparently unassailable 35-24 lead.

Leicester did fight back with a 4-2 followed by a 5-1 after a machine failure for Sam McGurk (heat 12), which meant that the gap narrowed to 5 going in to a big heat 13. The bad news for the visitors at this point was that Vinnie Foord did not come out for this heat, presumably suffering from his heat 4 falls. Although Joe Thompson took a win it was a shared race.

Max James then got his first race won beating Dayle Wood in heat 14 to set up a last heat decider, with Leicester needing a 5-1 to win. But another determined gate by Wood and Coles ensured that was never going to happen, though James did get past Coles.

With two victories in two nights the Academy must be wanting the season to be just starting, but it will be next spring before there is more Speedway action at Armadale.

Full Result Details