A VERY NARROW VICTORY

NEWS Friday 11th July 2008, 11:54pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Matthew Wethers was the last heat hero for the Scotwaste Monarchs as they scraped home 47-46 on a rain-damaged circuit against Rye House.

Matthew took the required second place between Tai Woffinden and Chris Neath as Monarchs struggled to hold on to their lead.

The main factor in setting the tone for the night was another dreadful pre-meeting shower, lasting from 6.20pm to about 7, which meant we were yet again faced with a shining wet circuit.

There were several crashes including Fisher and Mear in heat 5 (which rules Mear out for the night) and Jonasson/Woffinden in heat 19.

Monarchs started with two 5-1's to encourage visions of an easy night. However we were pulled back to just a 2-point advantage at heat 7, before pulling ahead again.

A 5-1 from Matthew and Derek in heat 11 put us 12 clear but even then we weren't safe. The decision not to give Derek another ride in heat 12 probably cost us a 1-8 as Woffinden and Halsey hit back.

We lost heat 13 and failed to clinch the win in heat 14 when Ryan fell.

Three up going in to the last heat against Woffinden (unbeaten) and Neath (1 point dropped) was not the position we wanted to be in. It got worst when Derek Sneddon was excluded after a first bend tumble, but a brave ride by Matthew was just enough to give us a 1-point win.

Full Result Details