Point Grabbed at Rye House

We went down 42-47 after a lengthy match at Rye House this evening, taking our second away league point of the week.

It had been a close match up till heat 10 after which the Rockets took three successive heat advantages including a heat win for the previously struggling Peter Karger over Monarchs’ captain Sam Masters.

Team manager John Campbell said “We were doing OK till the interval. Then they graded and watered the track, which I’m not saying changed the track, but gate 4 was so dominant throughout the meeting.

“Everything had been going fine but it was a killer blow when Karger won heat 11, it lifted everybody’s spirits on their side, they were all jumping for joy, and then Morley went out and won the next one as well.”

We trailed by nine points and managed to share heat 14 after both Lanham and Karger suffered in a four-man pileup. Morley won the race as a replacement but Karger limped round and we shared it.

Kevin Wolbert and Sam Masters easily took a 5-1 from Lykke and Heeps in the final race.

John Campbell commented further “We were probably fortunate over the last two heats. However we should have had a 5-1 in heat one but Erik’s throttle cable came adrift.

“It’s not a favourite track for Ryan and he said this was the best meeting he’d had here for a while.

"Kevin Wolbert had a good meeting for us. It may have been a mechanical problem for Kennett in heat 10 when Kevin passed him, but he had done very well to be challenging at the last turn.”

Aiming to Ground the Rockets

The Border Roofing Monarchs are on the road again today as we travel to Hoddesdon to tackle the Rye House ‘BMR’ Rockets in a Premier League clash.

The Rockets have had an indifferent start to their league campaign but they are currently atop of their League Cup group and qualified for the quarter finals of KO cup last week so they will be happy with how the season is going so far.

The Rockets have a nice mix of experience and youth this year and if the younger members of the team progress as hoped they have a team that looks likely to be in the reckoning for a playoff place.

Leading the Rockets once again this year is Eddie Kennett. Kennett is a classy performer at this level and is a force to be reckoned with at most tracks none more so than his home shale where he has recorded 4 maximums in 6 meetings so far this season.

Number 2 for the Hertfordshire based men is young Dane Kasper Lykke. It was expected that last year would be a breakout year for Lykke but persistent injuries hampered his progress and he will be looking to take the next step this year. Lykke has had an inconsistent start to the season but had his best meeting of the season last week against Ipswich being paid for 12 points and beating the likes of Danny King in the process.

At number 3 is Cameron Heeps. The young Aussie is another who will be looking to take the next step in his career this season after moving from Ipswich in the close season. We have all seen how good Cameron can be on his day after he was voted most impressive visitor to Armadale in 2014 and it looks like he is starting to get dialled in round the Hoddesdon circuit recording double figures in his last outing after a few indifferent performances.

Joining Heeps in the middle order is the vastly experienced Leigh Lanham. Lanham has been a stalwart at this level for a few years now and has had spells at five clubs in the last 3 years alone. While he may be on the downward side of his career now Lanham is still a well turned out performer who takes some beating on his day and he has shown flashes of his past self this year.

Another with a huge level of experience is number 5 Stuart Robson. Robson may feel his career could have gone further but for a series of serious injuries. Now 39 Robson is another who may be in the twilight of his career but if he can regain even a bit of his previous form he will make a mockery of his 6.50 starting average.

Senior reserve for the Rockets is another young Dane in Peter Karger. 22 year old Karger is the Son of Brian Karger and if he can emulate his father what a career he will have. Karger has found life tough so far with a top score of 3 that coming last week against Ipswich and he will be looking to build on that.

At number 7 is local lad Ben Morley. Ben is a product of the Rye National League team and is one of the more experienced 3 point reserves at this level. Morley loves his home shale and has outscored his average in all home matches so far.

The Border Roofing Monarchs will go into the match looking to inflict a second home defeat of the season on the Rockets and are buoyed by the return from injury of Erik Riss. Riss’s absence was noted on Thursday night when 1 point gained at Ippo would have been more if the young German was in our line-up. Rider replacement only gathered us 1 point and we would have expected much more had our most improved rider this year been in the line-up. Riss will be boosted going into the match having qualified for the world under 21 final at Belle Vue last night.

In fact most of the Monarchs can go into this match feeling on a high. Sam was top scorer for Wolves once again last night only dropping one point as they defeated Leicester away from home in the Elite League. Max is in the best form of the season having been paid for 8 and 9 points in his last 2 away matches respectively. Dan is in fine form having scorched to a maximum on Friday night at the Dale and having joined Craig Cook to come second in a pairs competition at Workington last night beating the likes of Mason Campton and Adam Roynon on their home track. Jye will be boosted by his 11 point score from Friday night which could have been ore but for a fall in heat 15 as well and Kevin and Ryan were both heat winners at Ipswich on Thursday night.

This will undoubtedly a tough match but with Erik back in the fold the Monarchs will be heading south looking to add a further away win to their tally as we look to put our self in position to be in the playoffs to defend our title come the end of the season.