Edinburgh Monarchs v Somerset Rebels

It was one of those nights when Monarchs needed to take every point they could, but there were too many which slipped away in a 7-point first leg victory.

There were a good few heats to enjoy and some drama to talk about.

A heat 10 0-5 was a depressing one for Edinburgh, though without that they would surely have had to withstand a TR for Zetterstrom. As it turned out the Rebels used none of the tactical options, though they will be happy enough anyway.

Heat 1 could have seen Monarchs off to a flier because Derek Sneddon led the way with guest Stan Burza slotted inside him and third-placed Zetterstrom initially looking uncomfortable.

However Derek didn?t have one of his steadier rides and Burza was caught at the end of lap three. Zorro then set out after Sneddon and moved inside him on the last turn, pushing past for the win.

Heat two was also won at the last gasp. Matthew Wethers was stranded at the first turn and left at the back, as Warwick led with Gary Beaton second.

Matthew took his time coming past Walker plus his partner, avoiding unsettling Gary, then hit the gas to hunt down Warwick. This he managed on the last corner winning by a whisker.

Heat 3 was shared, Kramer winning with William Lawson fairly close.

Wethers did it the easier way in heat 4, heading Ritchie Hawkins, but even though he worked up close Henrik Moller never got in a real challenge on Hawkins.

Zetterstrom raced off with heat 5, at which point we led by four and weren?t building up the advantage we needed.

Walker came down on the outside of the first corner in heat 6, after Derek Sneddon had made it fairly obvious that he didn?t want to allow him room to come past. An all four decision looked possible but Walker went out, and he wasn?t happy.

In the rerun Burza was clear but Derek was trying everything to get around Hawkins. He was squeezing through against the fence on each straight but finally he ran too hard into the pits turn and fell. He remounted to take the point and increase the lead to six.

Henrik took advantage of a slip by Kramer to take heat 7, and our reliable heat 8 pairing of Sneddon and Wethers had no difficulty taking a maximum advantage. That was us 10 ahead, the high point of the night.

Heat 9 looked like an excellent chance to stretch the lead, but feeble gating by William Lawson and Andrew Tully saw Walker and Hawkins go ahead. William chased hard and got round Hawkins, who fell at the next bend, but it took so long that Walker was unchallenged for an unexpected race win.

That was bad and heat 11 was worse! This time Burza led as Derek had another of these hectic battles, this time with Emil Kramer. Again, Derek found himself too far out on the pits bend and fell.

This time it was disastrous as Burza had stopped at the same time, and when the heat was stopped Somerset were awarded a 5-0.

Heats 9 and 10 should both have added to the 10-point lead, but suddenly we were only 5 up.

With Zetterstrom in heat 11 (but no chance for a TR), the best we were likely to do was share that heat, and for that it was thanks to Gary Beaton who passed Jay Herne.

Matthew Wethers still hadn?t dropped a point and he led Kramer in heat 12. He locked up leaving the pits turn, causing Kramer to hesitate and allow William Lawson through.

We went for broke in heat 13 by pulling out Moller and putting in Wethers. The gamble was that Burza would have recovered from his bike problems, but he was soon struggling to start. He had to borrow a bike ? from Moller!

However it didn?t suit him and he trailed as Matthew at least split the Swedes.

Hard work for our Aussie reserve because inevitably he was in heat 14 as well. This time he got carried away and reared into the tapes, forcing him to go off 15 metres.

Andrew Tully always misses the start so inevitably Warwick and Walker went ahead. Tully was soon into second, then moved neatly under Warwick to lead. Matthew meanwhile was galloping through from the rear, past Walker and then late in the heat with the crowd roaring him on, past Warwick as well. Thrilling stuff indeed.

Matthew though was running out off puff now and he didn?t manage to make an impression in the last heat, in which William was as ever outgated. Rebels finished with a 5-1 and they will be confident they can progress.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Matthew Wethers.