Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

REPORT Saturday 26th April 2008, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Berwick may have had some team problems but we certainly didn?t as we won at Shiefield for the second time this season.

There can't be any arguement that the right team won on aggregate, even though the absence of Rymel over the two legs cost Bandits points.

They should have had Ben Powell guesting for Guglielmi Franhcitti, which might have been a substantial strengthening, but the sometimes-disorganised Powell broke down at Scotch Corner.

The racing early on wasn't too good but it improved as the night wore on.

We held second and third in the opening heat behind Magosi on the first lap, when Derek Sneddon fell up high on the bend. It was announced that he had ripped the posterior out of his race suit.

Heat 2 didn't go well, suggesting that the home reserves could be handy. Adam McKinna won from Aarnio with Andrew Tully close and Aaron Summers not close.

We got that back right away through William Lawson and Thomas Jonasson, easily heading a dismal Bager and junior John McPhail who was in for Powell/Franchetti.

McKinna was also impressive early in heat 4. Makovsky squeezed Wethers up against the fence going into turn 3 - but paid the penalty himself as he went too high on the corner and fell.

Wethers took advantage to win the rerun and we were in front.

Could Bager be as bad again? The answer was yes as this time Fisher and Sneddon headed him fairly easily, and with a 6-point lead now any worries about winning on aggregate at least were forgotten.

Heat 6 was the first really good race of the night. Magosi led the way but Matthew Wethers wasn't to be denied, powering round the turns and blasting his way to the front with unstoppable determination.

Bandits took their second 5-1 though in heat 7. Thomas kept up the chase on Makovsky and Aarnio but couldn't find a passing line.

Magosi gated again in heat 8 and this time Fisher was behind Summers (having a better ride), so Ryan settled for ensuring we shared the heat.

Next up was another Bager ride though, and the Bandits' fans must have been dreading these heats. This time Wethers and Tully took 5 against him to restore our 6-point advantage.

Thomas Jonasson and William Lawson were best away in heat 10, and showed how quick they were by pulling well clear of the Bandits.

The 10-point gap signalled a TR ride for Makovsky, and at first it seemed to have backfired as Fisher and Sneddon went ahead.

Makovsky soon passed Derek, and riding so hard, so close to the edge, almost falling a couple of times on the pits bend, he eventually squeezed round Fisher for a superb victory. After their disagreements of Friday night, how good it was to see Ryan immediately offer a handshake of congratulations.

We were still 7 up though and added to that as Andrew Tully took a win from heat 12. Adam McKinna did well to hold off William Lawson for second.

Bandits were on a 5-1 in heat 13 but as usual Wethers wasn't giving up, and he eventually pulled off a great pass on Magosi for second behind Makovsky.

Aarnio won heat 14 from Jonasson with Summers grabbing third through an exciting late pass on McKinna, and that was the match win guaranteed.

Finally we saw an enjoyable heat 15. Makovsky seemed to be going to the front again but amazingly both Fisher and Wethers passed him coming out of turn two. Makovsky got back past Wethers but Fisher, realising he had held too tight a line in heat 11, rode wider and didn't give Makovsky another chance.

Ultimately it was an enjoyable meeting, especially for anyone wearing blue and gold.

Full Result Details