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Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers
Challenge, 01 April 2005
Armadale Stadium, Edinburgh

Edinburgh 54
1Daniel Nermark2*1*332 ..112
2Theo Pijper3231. ..90
3Rusty Harrison33231* ..121
4Cameron Woodward111*0. ..31
5Ross Brady233R. ..80
6William Lawson31R3. ..70
7Robert Ksiezak2*1*10. ..42
Glasgow 42
1George Stancl14^220 ..90
2Jamie Birkinshaw000.. ..00
3Matthew Wethers24^R1*. ..71
4Paul Bentley002.. ..20
5Shane Parker3331*4! 3.171
6(g)Gary Beaton100.. ..10
7Trent LeveringtonX021*2 1*.62

* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).

This was the third match in three days for Edinburgh who were returning home unscathed after matches at Hull and Sheffield to be at full strength. On the other hand Glasgow were without their injured reserve James Cockle whose rib injuries sustained last Sunday at Ashfield were more serious than had at first been thought. They used Gary Beaton at reserve in his place.

Glasgow started this match defending a six point lead and could hardly have made a worse start when they lost the opening two heats 5-1 to find themselves two behind on aggregate. Theo Pijper and Daniel Nermark beat George Stancl in heat one from the gate and that was that. In heat two Robert Ksiezak fell on the first bend and it was all four back. Then Trent Leverington fell at the same spot in the rerun and was excluded! The Edinburgh reserves had little difficulty beating Gary Beaton for a second maximum. Matthew Wethers led briefly in heat three before being overhauled by Rusty Harrison and, with Cameron Woodward third, the lead was increased to ten points (four on aggregate).

There then followed four drawn heats as Glasgow dug in but they needed two TRs – one by George Stancl and the other by Matthew Wethers – to do so as we had two 3-3s and two 4-4s. The highlight of these four heats was the awesome form of Shane Parker who slipped past Ross Brady in heat 4 and then took Theo Pijper from the back in heat 6 with a devastating burst of speed off the third/fourth bends. In heat 8 Trent Leverington split the Monarchs pair of Theo Pijper and Robert Ksiezak but Glasgow slipped two more points in arrears as a result of the 4-2. Shane Parker won heat 9 for a share of the points then Glasgow had some good luck in heat 10. Edinburgh were on a comfortable 5-1 as Theo Pijper and Daniel Nermark led Paul Bentley (Matthew Wethers having retired from the heat) when Theo Pijper’s bike packed up on the last bend of the third lap. This meant that Bentley picked up two points he scarcely deserved as Pijper pushed home for the third place point. Ross Brady won heat 11 but with William Lawson suffering an engine failure at the gate it was another 3-3 as was heat 12 won by Rusty Harrison.

The Glasgow plan had been quite clear for some time. They hoped to claw the points needed back in heats 13 and 15 from their Stancl/Parker pairing and to give Shane Parker a TS ride in heat 14. There were two problems with this plan. The first was the dismal form of George Stancl and the second that nobody had told Stancl and Leverington about it as they both blocked Shane Parker’s attempts to get to the front by pinning him on the inside in heats 13 and 14. As a result a grateful Daniel Nermark and then William Lawson comfortably won these two heats without ever being challenged as the Tigers’ hopes finally died. Shane Parker had the satisfaction of winning heat 15 for another share of the points but he must have been ‘unimpressed’ with his team mates in the previous two heats.

Match Report by Merlin