Title Partner
We knew that we didn't have the strength in depth to push Glasgow on Sunday, but our riders gave us some moments of pleasure.
Heat 1 was the first as Derek Sneddon made the start, and Matthew Wethers pushed past Watson on the opening lap for a very nice 5-1.
James Cockle came to life for heat 2, looking a bit wobbly but leading all the way, and we were still four points up.
Kaj Laukkanen gave hard chase to Parker in heat 3, looking impressive on his first Ashfield ride, and Matthew overcame his usual slow start to move into second in heat 4.
Matthew took another second in heat 6, and Kaj won heat 7 comfortably from Trent Leverington, by which time we had slipped 18-24 in arrears.
As at Armadale, David McAllan made a lightning start in heat 8, and he must have imagined he was on his way to another win. However all eyes were on Derek Sneddon, riding the boards with speed and control, and then on lap three coming inside on the third corner to race inside McAllan for one of his best passes.
Quite rightly he celebrated with glee after that one.
Two heats later after seconds by Kaj and Matthew we were 10 behind, so the TR fell quite neatly in time for another Leverington heat. Laukkanen came in as rider replacement and teamed up with Sneddon.
Sure enough they gated, but from an early stage they seemed to be showing too much concern for each other. 'After you, Claude' seemed to be the thinking, very polite no doubt, but it gave Leverington the chance to slip into second.
The politeness could have waited till the last bend, but never mind, a 7-2 was OK.
We lost another couple of 2-4's and then heat 14 looked a bad one with Andrew and Kalle programmed. We tried Matthew (who had had five seconds to the point) as a TS but in fact he made little ground as we lost a 1-5, followed by another in heat 15.
A bit of a feeble finish but some honest toil and some achievement along the way.
On Sunday we make the short trip to Ashfield for the return Premier League fixture against Glasgow. Having lost to the Tigers at Armadale on Friday what chance have we got?
Very little! The eight point defeat marks just about the lowest spot in what is turning into another dreadful season. It's easy to point to the weaknesses in the team and there is no doubt that had George Stancl and a fit Daniele Tessari been riding it would have been a different result.
They weren't however and they won't be either at Ashfield so we will need some sort of miracle to come away from the Tigers' den with anything tangible. Respectability is about the best we can hope for.
The gating problems the Monarchs seem to be afflicted with were never more cruelly exposed than in Friday's fixture and a similar performance at Ashfield could lead to an embarrassing and sizeable defeat. Once again we will be looking to Derek and Matthew to give the opposition some sort of challenge although we could benefit from any complacency that may arise.
With the Tigers outscoring us down the line at Armadale there is little to suggest anything better on Sunday. At the sharp end of the team Kai Laukkanen seems to be afflicted with the dreaded sloth-like gating bug. Unless he can find a set up to propel him out of the starts faster he will find Ashfield a daunting prospect. Derek, Matthew and Andrew have all had their moments at Glasgow and we badly need them to have some more on Sunday. Derek in particular had often been the scourge of the Tigers and his wholehearted efforts on behalf of the team have not always received the credit they deserve from the Glasgow faithful.
At reserve we have often found our trump cards this season but Sunday's match doesn't look like seeing a continuation of that trend. Young Kalle has never ridden the track and with his poor gating may well find it a real struggle. In the other reserve spot we again have James Cockle. Since Ashfield used to be his home track perhaps he will do better there than at Armadale.
Overall there's not much encouragement to take through to Glasgow for this match other than the fact that we have often been looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat there only to find a resolve which has shocked the Tigers and produce decent results. Here's hoping that Sunday will see more of the same.
Sunday 19th August 2007, 8:00pm
Derek Sneddon, Matthew Wethers and Kaj Laukkanen led the fight at Ashfield on Sunday afternoon and had some good moments before the match was lost 38-55.
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