Newcastle Diamonds v Edinburgh Monarchs

REPORT Sunday 3rd April 2011, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Other than guest Robert Branford in heat 2, it took us so long to get a race winner in this match that it seemed we had no chance of success - until a turnaround which saw us come close to getting all of the last four race winners and pushing the Diamonds hard.

Tully, Wolbert and Katajisto finally won heats, with Kalle also taking a paid win in heat 13, and Craig Cook only losing the lead in heat 14 due to a mistake on the last bend of lap three.

It was just too late as far as the victory on the night or on aggregate was concerned, but it showed what might have been. In the earlier heats, any time we had gated (which was not often) we were undone by failure to cover the outside of turn two, which was the only real passing line on the circuit.

It was used impressively by Robson (over Wolbert in heat 5), Bach (over Katajisto in heat 6) and Sneddon (over Branford in heat 8).

Our reserves were doing their bit and picking up points but the heavy-duty scoring we require from the top five wasn't happening - we were riding like a team of second strings.

Both Kevin Wolbert and Kalle Katajisto had started with last places after poor starts and first corners, and race wins did not look likely.

When Matthew packed up while chasing Newman in heat 11, we slumped to a 28-38 deficit. For Newcastle, it isn't a great idea to go 10 ahead at that point because their heat 12 pair is pretty poor, and there's not much they can do about it.

We duly put Andrew on a TR and with Ashley beating Richie Worrall, the 7-2 cut the gap to 40-35 - a wee bit of a travesty really.

However that proved to be a wake-up call, and with the outside line a little slicker, making the gate was suddenly more profitable as Kevin raced away with the heat and Kalle rode a tenacious race to hold off Bach for second. The previously invincible (and fast gating ) Mark Lemon was nowhere.

So that amazingly was 41-40 and we were in with a chance!

Craig Cook tried his best to keep things going by leading the outstanding Robson in heat 14, though young Branford was well back this time.

Unluckily for Craig he lifted at the end of lap three and by the time he had corrected it, Robbo was gone.

So we needed a 5-1 for victory on the night even though the aggregate was beyond us, unless Newcastle didn't get a finisher.

Kalle kept his improvement going with a good win, but Kevin finished at the back after keeping Bach under pressure for most of the race.

Over the two legs, we know perfectly well we can do a bit better.

Full Result Details