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Edinburgh Monarchs v Stoke Potters
Premier Trophy (Group), 12 May 2006
Armadale Stadium, Edinburgh

Edinburgh 58
1Henrik Moller3301*1* ..82
2Theo Pijper2*2*2*3. ..93
3Matthew Wethers312*2. ..81
4William Lawson1333. ..100
5Rusty Harrison33322 ..130
6Sean Stoddart1000. ..10
7Derek Sneddon32*31*. ..92
Stoke 36
1Mark Lemon124^33 ..130
2Trent Leverington0011*. ..21
3Paul Clews21*230 ..81
4Robbie KesslerFx4^1*2. ..71
5Alan Mogridge1110. ..30
6Barrie Evans2000. ..20
7Luke Priest0Fx01*. ..11

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

Edinburgh were at full strength for this match as were Stoke who welcomed Alan Mogridge back to the side after a back injury.

After a week of beautiful warm sunshine, winter returned to Armadale this evening leaving the riders to cope with a heavy track on a very cold evening. Passing was not easy so this did not turn out to be a particularly good match. Most of the excitement came in races which featured Mark Lemon and Paul Clews, the latter having one of his most impressive displays at Edinburgh. The Monarchs built up a 24 point lead over the opening 9 heats to tie up the match points and bonus but Stoke more than held their own over the last six races pulling two points back over the final stretch.

Edinburgh started with a 5-1 as Henrik Moller and Theo Pijper made good starts to leave Mark Lemon in their wake. They added a 4-2 from the reserves race, won comfortably by Derek Sneddon from Barrie Evans. In heat 3 it looked as though Stoke would take a heat advantage. Robbie Kessler and Paul Clews led from the tapes and looked set to team ride for a maximum. However, Matthew Wethers rode round the outside of Clews and proceeded to reel Kessler in. On the last bend of the third lap Robbie Kessler executed a very impressive pirouette which would have got the full 10 points for artistic impression had the manoeuvre not resulted in him falling. The rest of the field did some rubber-necking as they passed the stricken Potter with Matthew Wethers winning the race from Paul Clews and another Edinburgh 4-2. Heat 4 resulted in another 5-1 to the Monarchs. Luke Priest shunted Derek Sneddon on the first bend causing both riders to fall so the race was rerun without the Stoke ride. In the rerun Rusty Harrison and Derek Sneddon led Alan Mogridge home to take the score after four races to 18-6.

William Lawson won heat 5 but all the action was for second place where a ding-dong battle took place between Mark Lemon and Matthew Wethers with the two riders passing and repassing each other several times. Lemon finally made a passing move stick so he took second place in another 4-2 to the Monarchs. Henrik Moller and Theo Pijper left Alan Mogridge trailing in heat 6 for another home 5-1 then Stoke gave Robbie Kessler a TR in heat 7. Rusty Harrison won the race by a distance but Kessler and Clews filled the minor places for a 3-5 advantage to the Potters. They lost another 5-1 in heat 8 as Derek Sneddon and Theo Pijper had an easy win ahead of Trent Leverington to take the score after eight races to 35-15.

Heat 9 also produced a 5-1 for the Monarchs. Matthew Wethers and William Lawson comfortably finished ahead of Alan Mogridge to open the gap to 24 points but, curiously enough, this was the last heat advantage of the match for Edinburgh as Stoke started to get to grips with the match albeit a bit too late. Theo Pijper won heat 10 after passing the Stoke pair and then being briefly repassed by Paul Clews who contested the heat to the end. Henrik Moller lifted at the start so Robbie Kessler took third place to share the heat. In heat 11 Mark Lemon took a TR but Rusty Harrison made a good start to take the wide line preventing Lemon from sweeping round the outside. Trent Leverington beat Sean Stoddart so the race ended as a 3-5 to the Potters. Heat 12 was the best of the night and full credit goes to Paul Clews for a fine win after dicing with Matthew Wethers for most of the race. Clews just held on to win by the narrowest of margins and there was also a good race at the back where Derek Sneddon had his work cut out to beat Barrie Evans for a shared heat which took the score after 12 races to 49-27.

Mark Lemon made the gate in heat 13 but had to fend off Rusty Harrison’s challenge all race before winning narrowly on the line. Henrik Moller took third place from Alan Mogridge for another shared race. Robbie Kessler made a fast start to heat 14 but William Lawson was soon past him. Luke Priest chased Sean Stoddart for third place and got through on the third lap for the third place point and another shared race. In the final heat Mark Lemon again made the gate but had a hard time holding on as both Henrik Moller on the inside and Rusty Harrison on the outside nipped at his heels for all four laps. This produced another shared race and Stoke had won the last six heats by 18-20.

Match Report by Merlin