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Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers
Premier Trophy (Group), 05 May 2006
Armadale Stadium, Edinburgh

Edinburgh 48
1Henrik Moller01*1*1. ..32
2Theo Pijper22321 ..100
3Matthew Wethers2*01*3. ..62
4William Lawson32230 ..100
5Rusty Harrison3330. ..90
6Sean Stoddart22*12*. ..72
7Derek SneddonFx2*1Fx. ..31
Glasgow 44
1Danny Bird33Fx33 ..120
2David McAllan110.. ..20
3Lee Dicken000.. ..00
4Kauko Nieminen1131. ..60
5Shane Parker1334!2* 2*.152
6Robert Ksiezak3R02X ..50
7James Cockle1F21*. ..41

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

Edinburgh , with Sean Stoddart back at number 6, were at full strength as were Glasgow for this derby match. Glasgow had a five point advantage from the match raced at Ashfield last Sunday in the battle for the bonus point.

This was not one of the better derby matches with falls by riders on both sides having an impact on the scoring. Glasgow, trailing by eight points with three heats to go, pulled back four points over the last three heats. It wasn’t enough for any match points but it was just enough for the bonus point which they took by a single point.

In the opening race Henrik Moller and Danny Bird made fast starts but Bird had the better run round the outside of the second bend and pulled away. Pijper passed Moller and the Dane then got completely out of shape on the last bend of the third lap to let David McAllan through for third place and a 2-4 start to the Tigers. In heat 2 Derek Sneddon fell on the first bend and was excluded from the rerun in which Robert Ksiezak and James Cockle left Sean Stoddart for dead at the gate. However Stoddart with the bit between his teeth reeled in and passed James Cockle to limit the damage to a 2-4. Nonetheless Glasgow were now four points ahead after only two heats. The lead didn’t last long though as William Lawson and Matthew Wethers raced from the gate for a 5-1 ahead of Kauko Nieminen to square the match in heat 3. Rusty Harrison and Derek Sneddon made good starts to heat 4 and Shane Parker never looked like catching them so it was another 5-1 to the Monarchs which put them four points ahead with the heat 4 score reading 14-10.

Back came Glasgow in heat 5. Another lightning start from Danny Bird produced a tapes to flag win. David McAllan joined him at the front but a lap later William Lawson had passed McAllan although Matthew Wethers was stuck at the back. This gave the Tigers a 2-4 which left them only two behind. Shane Parker had a tapes to flag win in heat 6 for a shared race but Edinburgh hit home another maximum in heat 7. It was Sean Stoddart who became the hero. While Rusty Harrison was seeing off Kauko Nieminen, Sean slipped past Nieminen off the second bend and the Monarchs were off to a 5-1 with Nieminen powerless to prevent it. This put Edinburgh six points up and they made it eight in heat 8. James Cockle burst from the tapes but Theo Pijper passed him down the back straight. Derek Sneddon in third place chased Cockle to the line and almost got the verdict when Cockle’s front wheel lifted alarmingly as he crossed the finish line. The 4-2 brought the score after heat 8 to 28-20.

Shane Parker won heat 9 after making another fast start. William Lawson was on his back wheel for a lap but Parker eventually pulled away for a shared race. In heat 10 Kauko Nieminen pulled off a fine tapes to flag win from Pijper and Moller for another 3-3 so Glasgow then replaced David McAllan in heat 11 with Shane Parker as a Tactical Substitute from 15 metres back. In the first running of the race, Danny Bird made the start but trying to clamp Rusty Harrison on the line he overdid his cutback and got completely out of shape. At the same time Sean Stoddart nipped up the inside to join Rusty Harrison as the Monarchs sped off for a 5-1. However on the third bend Bird fell crashing into the safety fence causing the race to be rerun without him. In the rerun Sean Stoddart held off Shane Parker until the last bend of the third lap when the Glasgow man passed him on the outside for second place. This provided a 4-4 shared race. There was another fall in heat 12. James Cockle and Derek Sneddon were having a great tussle for the lead. Sneddon passed Cockle down the back straight of the second lap but went too wide on the fourth bend and was sucked into the fence as Cockle repassed on the inside. Sneddon’s fall looked a bad one and he was taken from the track by ambulance. However it turned out to be not serious. In the rerun Matthew Wethers shot from the gate to win the race and share the points so the heat 12 score was 41-33 with Edinburgh leading on aggregate by three points. They had the big Glasgow finish to contend with though.

In heat 13 Danny Bird and Shane Parker rocketed from the gate for a 1-5 to cut the home side’s lead to four points but they lost by the same score in heat 14. In this heat William Lawson led Kauko Nieminen with Sean Stoddart nipping at Nieminen’s heels as they entered the second lap. Lawson locked up slightly on the second bend causing Nieminen to back off a bit and he was struck from the back by Robert Ksiezak who ran over him after he had fallen. Meanwhile Sean Stoddart had slipped up the inside to join Lawson at the front. The race was stopped and, rather surprisingly, awarded as a 5-1 to Edinburgh which put them eight points ahead again. The match was now out of Glasgow’s reach but they could still win the bonus point with a last heat 1-5. They did too with Bird and Parker leaping from the gate again to leave Pijper trailing in their wake. It was confirmed after the meeting that Kauko Nieminen had suffered a suspected dislocated shoulder and gone off to hospital for treatment.

Match Report by Merlin