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Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers
Premier League, 23 September 2005
Armadale Stadium, Edinburgh

Edinburgh 51
1Ross Brady1*23T. ..61
2Daniel Nermark21*2*2*. ..73
3Theo Pijper2*2331 ..111
4William Lawson31*2*0. ..62
5Rusty Harrison23220 ..90
6Matthew Wethers32*32*1* 1.123
7Robert Ksiezak00R.. ..00
Glasgow 43
1George Stancl336^T2* ..141
2Trent Leverington0001. ..10
3Claus Kristensen0001. ..10
4Stefan Ekberg1112*. ..51
5Shane Parker332^33 ..140
6(g)Jonathan Bethell1*00.. ..11
7James Cockle21100 3.70

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

Edinburgh were at full strength for this match while Glasgow had Jonathan Bethell at number 6 for the injured Adam Roynon and arrived at Armadale with a 12 point lead in search of the bonus point.

Once again Edinburgh won a match with the minority of race winners. Their strength in depth was far too much for Glasgow who relied almost entirely on their top two of George Stancl and Shane Parker to keep them in the match until a timely, and unexpected, 1-5 in heat 14 was mainly responsible for them clawing back the bonus point.

In the opening heat Ross Brady made a flying start but George Stancl just behind waited for him to drift wide on the second bend before nipping through on the inside for the first of his three heat wins. Nermark took second place as Brady faded and the heat was shared. James Cockle shot from the tapes in heat 2 but Matthew Wethers was too fast for him and took the heat win but Jonathan Bethell took third place from a disappointing Robert Ksiezak for another shared heat. Edinburgh took the lead with a 5-1 from Theo Pijper and William Lawson from the weak Ekberg/Kristensen pairing in heat 3 but Glasgow pulled two points back in heat 4 when Shane Parker held off a good challenge from Rusty Harrison with Cockle third. The score after the opening four races was 13-11.

Another tapes to flag win for Stancl ahead of Pijper and Lawson shared heat 5 and it was the same for Shane Parker in heat 6 from Brady and Nermark. However in the next four races Edinburgh scored maximum points in each. Rusty Harrison and Matthew Wethers were first up with a 5-1 ahead of Ekberg then Daniel Nermark and Matthew Wethers repeated the dose in heat 8 from Cockle to take the score to 29-19.

Ten points down Glasgow, as expected, gave Shane Parker a TR in heat 9 but they didn’t expect what happened! William Lawson off gate 2 got the drop on Shane Parker from the tapes and clamped him brilliantly on the line as Theo Pijper came round the outside. Both Edinburgh riders were than away and there was nothing Parker could do as the home side took a 5-2. Heat 10 saw another Edinburgh 5-1. Ross Brady won the heat comfortably enough but it looked as though James Cockle would hold on to second place against the struggling Nermark. However Nermark came off the last bend with a burst of speed to get the decision on the line and the Monarchs were 17 points ahead with a 5 point lead for the bonus. In heat 11 George Stancl took a TR and another tapes to flag win gave him all six points. At the back Robert Ksiezak’s bike didn’t get further than the first bend so Trent Leverington picked up the gift point behind Harrison for a Glasgow 2-7. Back came Edinburgh with a 5-1 in heat 12 when Theo Pijper and Matthew Wethers took a 5-1 against Claus Kristensen and the score was 46-30.

Edinburgh faced the Stancl/Parker pairing in heat 13 but after Ross Brady had twitched at the gate George Stancl touched the tapes and was excluded. Rather surprisingly he did not go from 15 metres back but was replaced by James Cockle. Then Ross Brady twitched at the tapes again but this time touched the tapes and he was excluded too and replaced by Matthew Wethers. When the race finally got under way Shane Parker won with Harrison and Wethers filling the minor places for a shared heat. Heat 14 looked as though it would put the bonus point out of Glasgow’s reach but William Lawson and Matthew Wethers both made terrible starts as Cockle and Ekberg hit the front. The Edinburgh pair then baulked each other on the fourth bend before setting off in pursuit. They both reeled in Ekberg and it was a blanket finish as the three of them crossed the line. Ekberg got the decision with Wethers third and Glasgow had taken a 1-5 which tied the aggregate scores for the bonus. In the last heat Parker and Stancl left Pijper and Harrison in their wake from the tapes for the 1-5 which clinched the bonus point for the Tigers.

Match Report by Merlin