BRILLIANT WOLBERT BUT BANDITS STEAL A POINT

NEWS Saturday 16th April 2011, 1:16am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Kevin Wolbert produced another heat 15 last bend pass to clinch a memorable maximum, but we had gifted too many points to Bandits by then and they took one of the match points.

Monarchs no. 1 said ?I got a new engine from Peter Carr at Birmingham and I don't even know what the cost of it is, but I don't care because it is worth it!?

Monarchs had gone into that heat 15 needing a 4-2 to take all three match points, but the previously unbeaten Matthew Wethers could not catch Pepe Franc for the all-important point.

Earlier falls by Adam McKinna (miles ahead in heat 2) and Kalle Katajisto (on a 5-1 in heat 9) cost Monarchs the point, but Bandits were there to take advantage and outscored Monarchs 20-13 over the final 5 heats to grab that point.

Charlie Gjedde was by far Berwick's best scorer, though he had to give best to Wolbert three times. Scottish Open champ Pepe Franc won an important heat 14 and then took the third place in heat 15, so in spite of some ordinary rides earlier on he did his bit.

Andrew Tully gave decent backing to the brilliant Wolbert, but lost out twice to Gjedde, and Craig Cook won two heats.

Kalle Katajisto had been working hard on his machinery with help from David McAllan, but probably needs to relax a bit to recapture the form of last season. He backed Craig Cook to a 5-1 in heat 3, but the two of them got tangled up as they lost a 1-5 two heats later.

Kalle then fell when another 5-1 in heat 9 looked on the cards. Even though the Wolbert-Wethers pair recorded three 5-1s, the door was left open for Berwick and they took their chance.