THREE LEAGUE POINTS AT LAST

NEWS Friday 1st June 2012, 11:44pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

We managed to stage our first home league match at the third attempt, and in spite of a stuffy showing from Sheffield we gradually took control of the match to win 56-37 and earn all three points.

We had two unbeatable riders in Craig Cook and Andrew Tully, and very solid performances from the top five. Our reserves didn't have such a good night and were outscored 14-5 by Haines and Sanchez who were very effective for the Tigers.

We started with a 5-1, Cook leading from the tapes and Derek Sneddon stalking Skidmore before passing him. However Sheffield levelled it up in heat 2 and it was clear at that point that they had an advantage at reserve.

By the time we took a 5-1 from heat 8, in which Skidmore fell, we had a 12 point lead, but forceful riding by the impressive Wells brought him a 6-point TR.

In the closing stages heats 13 and 15 were the key races as they often are, and Cook and Tully were dominant, even though it took several attempts to get heat 13 under way.

Ride of the night was Craig Cook's exciting third-to-first move in heat 10. He didn't make a good start but a wide, fast turn on the pits corner took him into second place. A lap later he was driving hard inside race leader Schramm to go ahead for another victory.

Unhappiest rider was Micky Dyer who lost position in heat 14 after lying second, but was rammed when he tried to come back, causing a lot of expensive damage to his machine.

A good win for the Scotwaste Monarchs but thanks to Sheffield for a competitive performance.

Full Result Details