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Edinburgh Monarchs v Stoke Potters
Premier League, 08 September 2006
Armadale Stadium, Edinburgh
| 1 | Theo Pijper | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | . | . | 15 | 0 |
| 2 | Daniele Tessari | 0 | 1 | 1 | . | . | . | . | 2 | 0 |
| 3 | Matthew Wethers | 3 | 1* | 2 | 3 | 1 | . | . | 10 | 1 |
| 4 | Henrik Moller | R | 2 | 1* | 3 | . | . | . | 6 | 1 |
| 5 | William Lawson | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2* | . | . | . | 7 | 1 |
| 6 | Sean Stoddart | 2* | 1 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Derek Sneddon | 3 | 1 | 3 | F | 1 | 1 | . | 9 | 0 |
| 1 | Paul Thorp | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | . | . | . | 9 | 0 |
| 2 | Trent Leverington | 1* | 0 | 2 | 1 | . | . | . | 4 | 1 |
| 3 | Paul Clews | 1* | 2* | 1* | 2 | . | . | . | 6 | 3 |
| 4 | Robbie Kessler | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4^ | 0 | . | . | 11 | 0 |
| 5 | Mark Lemon | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | . | . | 9 | 0 |
| 6 | Barrie Evans | R | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | 0 | 0 |
| 7(g) | Kris Irving | 1 | 0 | 0 | . | . | . | . | 1 | 0 |
* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).
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Edinburgh were at full strength but Stoke had Kriss Irving as a guest reserve replacement for Luke Priest at number 7. This was a ‘must win’ match for Edinburgh to pull clear at the foot of the league while Stoke’s play off hopes, although slim, had not yet been extinguished. The result was an entertaining match with only four points between the sides after 11 heats before Edinburgh finally pulled away. Theo Pijper won the opening race in a very fast time while Daniele Tessari, after a good start, went too wide on the first too bends allowing Paul Thorp and Trent Leverington to slip up the inside for second and third to share the points. Barrie Evans shed a chain on the second bend of the reserves race leaving Derek Sneddon and Sean Stoddart to race off for a 5-1. It was Edinburgh’s turn for an engine failure in heat 3. Matthew Wethers and Henrik Moller headed from the tapes for what looked like a 5-1 but Moller knocked his plug lead off and ground to a halt so the race was shared. The Monarchs added two points to their lead in heat 4 though when William Lawson sped from the tapes. Derek Sneddon was in second place until passed by Mark lemon on the second lap with a 4-2 the race result. This made the score after four races 15-9. Paul Thorp was quickly away in heat 5 for the win but both Moller and Wethers passed Leverington coming off the second bend for a shared heat. Edinburgh then went eight in front in heat 6. Theo Pijper and Daniele Tessari headed off in front from the tapes but Lemon shouldered Tessari out of his second place entering the first bend of the second lap with the race ending a 4-2 to the home side. Any ideas Edinburgh had of pulling away for a big win were dashed when the Potters hit back in heat 7. Robbie Kessler sped from the tapes while Sean Stoddart and Paul Clews had an exciting tussle for the second place point. Clews eventually prevailed as William Lawson got a good view of the action from the back. The 1-5 cut the Monarchs lead to four points but it was back to six after heat 8. Derek Sneddon rode an ‘interesting’ first bend when he rode across Trent Leverington to get to the front on the outside. Unfortunately he baulked the run of Daniele Tessari in doing so and the race resulted in a 4-2 which took the score to 27-21. Stoke looked as though they might enjoy another heat advantage when Mark Lemon and Barrie Evans made the gate in heat 9 but Wethers the Moller passed Evans within a lap to share the race points. In heat 10 Derek Sneddon replaced Tessari but promptly fell on the first bend trying to cut back inside Robbie Kessler. The immaculate Theo Pijper raced off for another easy win leaving Kessler and Paul Clews to share the heat behind him. In heat 11 the frowns started to appear on the Monarchs’ fans faces as the Potters got back to within four points again. Paul Thorp raced off for an easy win while William Lawson got the better of Trent Leverington with the race finishing as a 2-4. Edinburgh stretched the lead to six points again in heat 12. Matthew Wethers led from the start but Clews and Evans were in the minor places until Derek Sneddon passed Evans on the second bend for a 4-2 which took the score to 39-33 after twelve races. Heat 13 was rerun after Paul Thorp had got a flyer from the tapes and been warned by the referee for not remaining stationary at the start. In the rerun Pijper and Lawson took a comfortable 5-1 and Edinburgh were ten points clear. This opened the door for Robbie Kessler to take a TR in heat 14. Kessler sped from the tapes but Henrik Moller cruised round the inside to pull well away for an easy win. Derek Sneddon worked his way into second place but a very hard first two bends on the second lap from Kessler invited Sneddon to take a good look at the fence. Sneddon declined and Kessler raced away for second place which resulted in a 4-4 shared race. In the first running of heat 15 Robbie Kessler fell at the back on the first bend and was a bit lucky to be invited to return for the rerun in which Theo Pijper completed an untroubled and very impressive maximum by beating Mark Lemon. Matthew Wethers took third from Kessler so Edinburgh took a 4-2 which increased the winning margin to 12 points. Match Report by Merlin |