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Edinburgh Monarchs v Somerset Rebels
Premier League, 12 August 2005
Armadale Stadium, Edinburgh

Edinburgh 55
1Theo Pijper31*2*32* ..113
2William LawsonR233. ..80
3Rusty Harrison3332*3 ..141
4Daniel Nermark2*12*2. ..72
5Ross Brady1*.... ..11
6Matthew Wethers202*33 1*.112
7Robert KsiezakF21F0 ..30
Somerset 39
1Magnus Zetterstrom224^1*. ..91
2Jamie Smith1*011*. ..32
3Ritchie Hawkins12*F1. ..41
4Paul FryF3131 ..80
5Glenn Cunningham3314^0 ..110
6(g)Rob Grant3000. ..30
7(g)Benji Compton1FxF0. ..10

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

Edinburgh welcomed back Ross Brady to the side for this match but his comeback did not last long. Matthew Wethers also made his return to the team to replace Cameron Woodward who is out injured with a broken wrist. Somerset were missing both their regular reserves, Trevor Harding with a broken scaphoid and Chris Mills also with a wrist injury, so they had Rob Grant and Benji Compton at numbers 6 and 7 instead. The Rebels were defending a 28 point lead for the bonus point.

In the opening heat Magnus Zetterstrom moved Theo Pijper over on the first two bends to lead down the back straight but it wasn’t long before Pijper had retaken the lead with an excellent inside pass. It looked as though Edinburgh would take a 4-2 lead since William Lawson had moved into third place at the back but his bike packed up just before starting the last lap so the heat was shared. In heat two Edinburgh expected to take the lead but it was Somerset who took a 2-4 after a controversial refereeing decision. In the first running of the race Benji Compton fell at the back on the first bend but the decision was all four back. In the rerun Rob Grant drove hard inside Robert Ksiezak on the third bend of the second lap. The Edinburgh rider fell and entering the next lap Benji Compton fell on the first bend as Ksiezak remounted and Matthew Wethers was reeling Grant in. The referee stopped the race and awarded a win for Grant, second to Wethers and third to Benji Compton who had fallen on his own and was lying on the ground at the time! In heat 3 Rusty Harrison and Daniel Nermark took a routine 5-1 with Paul Fry falling at the back and his partner, Ritchie Hawkins, laying down to avoid him then remounting for the third place point. In heat 4 Ross Brady made a good start but the race was stopped after another fall by Benji Compton. In the rerun, Brady again rocketed from the gate but after a lap or so it was clear that he was in trouble and he eventually cruised round for the third place point as Glenn Cunningham took the win for a shared heat. So after 4 heats the score was 13-11.

Rusty Harrison stormed round the first two bends of heat 5 to beat Magnus Zetterstrom who was more intent on keeping the ever pressing Daniel Nermark behind him as Edinburgh doubled their lead with a 4-2. Heat 6 nearly brought a sensational 1-5 to the Rebels. Glenn Cunningham and Rob Grant made a storming start to the race and Grant rode a tenacious race to keep Theo Pijper and William Lawson behind him. The Edinburgh pair just did not seem able to find a way past Grant until coming off the second bend of the last lap when Grant drifted a bit wide as William Lawson then Theo Pijper sailed through the gap to share the heat. In heat 7 the Monarchs did concede a 1-5 however. Ross Brady had been forced to withdraw from the meeting in considerable pain from his injured ankle and Paul Fry and Ritchie Hawkins took the maximum heat win as the two Edinburgh reserves seemed to get in each other’s way. This levelled the scores at 21-21 but in heat 8 very determined rides from William Lawson and Matthew Wethers resulted in an easy 5-1 for the Monarchs to restore their four point lead as Benji Compton came to grief again. The score after heat 8 was 26-22.

Heats 9 and 10 finished off the Somerset challenge both 5-1s to the Monarchs from Harrison and Nermark ahead of Cunningham, then Lawson and Pijper ahead of Paul Fry. Edinburgh had stretched their lead to 12 points at 36-24 so Magnus Zetterstrom took a TR in heat 11 as Edinburgh were again forced to field their reserve pairing in Brady’s absence. The general view was that Magnus Zetterstrom would rarely face such an easy looking six points but Matthew Wethers had other ideas. He made the start and it was Jaimie Smith who took up the challenge as Zetterstrom trailed at the back. Wethers was never challenged however and Jaimie Smith had to back off on the last lap to let his partner through for second place and four points. The heat resulted in a 3-5 to Somerset who were now 10 points in arrears but Wethers took another outing in heat 12 and another win backed by Rusty Harrison produced another Edinburgh 5-1 and a 44-30 lead after 12 races.

In heat 13 Glenn Cunningham took a TR but Theo Pijper won easily from the Rebels pair. With Robert Ksiezak at the back Somerset took another 3-5 to shave two points off Edinburgh’s lead. Paul Fry made a fast start to heat 14 and a great race developed between him and Daniel Nermark. Nermark eventually reeled Fry in and passed him only to pull a locker on the fourth bend allowing Fry to repass him for a shared heat before we were treated to the race of the night in heat 15. Paul Fry again rocketed from the tapes but Rusty Harrison smoothly powered round the outside of bends one and two to lead down the back straight and head for home. The real race was for second and third place as Theo Pijper and Paul Fry became involved in a titanic struggle which ended with a brilliant second bend round the outside on the last lap by Pijper to draw level with Fry then a trip to the outside of bends three and four for the extra drive which took him past his opponent for second place and a 5-1 to the Monarchs.

Match Report by Merlin