Berwick Bandits v Edinburgh Monarchs

REPORT Saturday 9th April 2011, 10:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Craig Cook led the way but a dreadful spell of six 5-1 reverses on the trot gave us little chance of taking a point in the borders.

Cook might well have scored a maximum had his bike fired up in heat 7 in which he took a TR. He pushed it all the way round to the back straight and missed the two minutes before taking the ride on Kevin Wolbert?s bike.

Having had the first three race winners, our slump left us 15-39 adrift before we came back to enjoy some successes.

Kalle?s performance was the problem, he lacked speed, or commitment, or something, and was uncompetitive in all his heats, adding insult to injury with a wheelie at the back in one heat. It won?t do and we know how much better he can ride.

The night got off to a bad start after Kevin and Matthew had made good starts in heat one. They tangled up and Matthew went heavily into the fence, breaking a couple of boards.

Kevin took the rerun with a bit to spare, and an excellent effort by Kyle Howarth saw him lead all the way in heat 2.

Next up Craig Cook was really impressive in winning heat 3 in fast time, but Andrew after showing up well early he pulled his cutout out and stopped.

So we might have been leading at this point with luck, but then our hopes took a nosedive.

Kalle inched ahead down the back straight in heat 4, but that was the last time he did anything right. He was far too tight and far too slow, and it was an easy matter for Complin and Mudgway to pass him on the obvious wider line.

Wolbert chased Smith and Franc in heat 5 with Matthew mercifully OK to race but looking uncomfortable on his second machine. So that was another 1-5.

Next up was Kalle again, an easy 5-1 to the otherwise unimpressive Gjedde/Stichauer pair.

Then came Craig?s TR debacle, so unlucky. On Wolbert?s bike off 15 metres he caught Sike fairly quickly but didn?t find any room to pass.

Matthew missed the start badly in heat 8 and though he came past his partner and closed on the opposition, that was the fifth 5-1 on the trot. With Kalle in the next one, that became the sixth.

It was looking like the mother of all thrashings, one of our worst ever, but suddenly things turned around. Tully made the start in heat 10 with Cook sitting behind for a couple of laps before going ahead. The 5-1 was ours, followed by another from Wethers and Wolbert over Complin.

Ah, so making the gate was the answer! You?d think they might have cottoned on to that earlier.

Andrew took a TR in heat 12 but lost to Smith, with Howarth taking a point from Mudgway.

Kevin confirmed that he was happy enough on the track by leading all the way in heat 13 (Kalle miles behind). It then looked as though we might take yet another 5-1, with Craig winning heat 14 easily once more and Kyle second for the best part of three laps. Unfortunately he then spun off and hit the fence quite hard, mercifully without damage.

Craig Cook rounded off a great personal performance with another win, Kevin pressing for three laps before throttling back at the rear.

We were looking for a better score obviously, but the signs are that with better fortune and better preparation from Kalle we can improve considerably.

Full Result Details