Edinburgh Ziebart Monarchs 43 : Peterborough Panthers 47

Lothian Arena, Armadale

Friday 21^st August 1998

Edinburgh lost a tense, and at times flat, encounter with league leaders Peterborough. The match hinged on heat 8 which was won 5-1 by Peterborough in a re-run after Barry Campbell was excluded for falling when leading with team-mate Blair Scott close behind. Apart from one 4-2 heat advantage to each side, all other heats were tied.

Edinburgh returned from their Yorkshire mini-tour somewhat battered. Paul Gould was still out from the injuries sustained last week. Monarchs used rider replacement. Peter Carr was riding a bike borrowed from Mick Powell. Paul Taylor took the Number 8 slot.

Peterborough were missing Glen Cunningham who was replaced by Carl Stonehewer (top of the PL averages!) and Jan Andersen for whom they used rider replacement. Ross Brady was number 8. The Peterborough line-up included three genuine Armadale specialists: Stonehewer (18 point max on last visit), Berge (15+2 from six rides last year) and Woodifield (Finalist in Scottish Open last year). Nigel Sadler also did well scoring 10+1 points last year riding for Skegness. The rider replacement facility gave each of the above one extra ride.

The track looked in good condition but had little dirt on the racing line and offered little encouragement for outside passing. Peterborough won the toss and opted for gates 1 and 3 in heat 1.

Heat 1: Carl Stonehewer, Peter Carr, Marcus Andersson, Phillipe Berge [57.4]

Rider replacement Stonehewer outgated Carr while Andersson (also rider replacement) made a great start from gate 4 to sweep past Berge. Carr tried everything to pass Stonehewer but to no avail.

(3-3) (3-3)

Heat 2: Simon Stead, Blair Scott, Barry Campbell [59.1]

Barry Campbell and Blair Scott swept ahead from the start leaving Stead well behind but Oliver Allen fell at the back and stayed down. They teach 'em to be cynical very young at Peterborough! There was a re-run, with Allen excluded. Needless to say, Stead made the gate and won.

(3-3) (6-6)

Heat 3: Brett Woodifield, Kevin Little, Marcus Andersson, Nigel Sadler [58.9]

Woodifield and Sadler were first away from gates 1 and 3 but Sadler made a slip allowing Little and Andersson to pass. Sadler later spun but carried on.

(3-3) (9-9)

Heat 4: Carl Stonehewer, Kenny McKinna, Simon Stead, Barry Campbell [57.7]

Stonehewer again made the gate and withstood everything that Kenny McKinna could throw at him. Meanwhile Stead held off Barry Campbell.

(2-4) (11-13)

Heat 5: Kevin Little, Phillipe Berge, Marcus Andersson [57.5]

Rider replacement, Brett Woodifield, fell on the first bend but all four were back in. In the re-run Little and Andersson were first away while Woodifield fell once more. Determined riding by Berge enabled him to pass Marcus Andersson after the Swede drifted too wide on the home straight.

(4-2) (15-15)

Heat 6: Carl Stonehewer, Peter Carr, Barry Campbell, Oliver Allen [57.6]

Stonehewer from trap 1 had little problem in outgating Carr from trap 4. Oliver Allen also beat rider replacement Barry Campbell away. Campbell pursued and eventually passed Allen to tie the heat.

(3-3) (18-18)

Heat 7: Kenny McKinna, Nigel Sadler, Brett Woodifield, Blair Scott [58.9]

McKinna made a great start to win while Sadler and Woodifield team rode to keep Blair Scott at the back although the Monarch's youngster tried repeatedly to pass on the outside.

(3-3) (21-21)

Heat 8: Phillipe Berge, Simon Stead, Blair Scott [59.1]

Barry Campbell made a good start and in appeared that rider replacement Blair Scott would join him until Berge lost it and knocked Scott into the fence. Surprisingly, Berge was not excluded. In the re-run, Campbell again made the start with Scott, riding Kenny McKinna's bike fighting for second. Campbell then fell on the second bend and was excluded. In the next run of the heat, Scott made the start and while Berge did not take too long to pass, Scott held onto second until Stead also passed.

(1-5) (22-26)

Heat 9: Carl Stonehewer, Kevin Little, Marcus Andersson, Simon Stead [57.9]

Carl Stonehewer had another win over Kevin Little and Marcus Andersson with reserve replacement Simon Stead trailing.

(3-3) (25-29)

Heat 10: Peter Carr, Brett Woodifield, Nigel Sadler, Barry Campbell [58.2]

Peter Carr, riding McKinna's bike had his first win of the night with Woodifield and Sadler again shutting out rider replacement Barry Campbell.

(3-3) (28-32)

Heat 11: Kenny McKinna, Nigel Sadler, Phillipe Berge, Blair Scott [59.1]

McKinna again had an easy win but Blair Scott, having held third place for most of the race and indeed challenged Sadler hard, drifted too wide allowing Berge to squeeze through on the line. This heat woke up the crowd for the first time.

(3-3) (31-35)

Heat 12: Brett Woodifield, Kevin Little, Barry Campbell, Oliver Allen [58.9]

Woodifield had his second win of the night from Little while Campbell had to work hard to pass Oliver Allen.

(3-3) (34-38)

Heat 13: Kenny McKinna, Carl Stonehewer, Phillipe Berge, Peter Carr [58.7]

Carr was obviously unable to use the McKinna bike for this heat but still contributed to a classic race. McKinna made the start from gate 3 with Stonehewer and Carr in close attendance. Stonehewer pushed McKinna all the way and also kept Carr on the white line to give passing opportunities to the wider riding Berge. Carr tried all he knew to pass Stonehewer but seemed to lack speed with his borrowed equipment. A blanket could have been thrown over all four riders for most of the race. On the final bend, Stonehewer pinned Carr to the white line and Berge edged past.

(3-3) (37-41)

Heat 14: Nigel Sadler, Blair Scott, Marcus Andersson [59.7]

Simon Stead went straight through the second bend fence and was excluded. In the re-run, Sadler gated and held off passing attempts by both Andersson and Scott to virtually clinch the points for Peterborough.

(3-3) (40-44)

Heat 15: Carl Stonehewer, Kenny McKinna, Kevin Little, Brett Woodifield 58.2]

With Edinburgh needing a maximum to draw, Kevin Little was preferred to Carr and given the inside gate. With Stonehewer off gate 2, a draw was never going to happen. He made his fifth start of the night and McKinna could make no impression.

(3-3) (43-47)

Given the standard of the opposition, none of the Monarch's riders should be too disappointed with their scores. Peter Carr struggled on borrowed equipment but was only beaten by Stonehewer (and Berge in heat 13). McKinna also only lost out to Stonehewer. Kevin Little made another double figure score. Marcus Andersson had his best Armadale meeting for some weeks and beat Berge, Woodifield, Sadler, and Stead. Campbell and Scott were always going to find the going heavy against the very strong Peterborough second strings and reserves.

Carl Stonehewer was clearly the Peterborough match winner and probably scored five points more than Cunningham would have achieved. Berge, Woodifield, and Sadler all had wins and can be satisfied with their performance. Stead made an impressive Armadale debut. Allen failed to score but was always on the pace.

Man of the match: Carl Stonehewer for scoring 17 points.

Most exciting rider: Kenny McKinna for a great win in heat 13.

Next meeting: Scottish Open Championships, Armadale, Friday, August 28^th 1998.