Edinburgh lost out in a last heat decider at Ashfield going down by 46 points to 44 in the first leg of the Spring Trophy. Peter Carr won heat 15 to complete an untroubled 15 point full maximum but Robert Eriksson was stuck at the back before retiring to give Glasgow the 3-3 they needed to win the leg.
The meeting had been dominated by Edinburgh big three of Carr, Eriksson and Jan Andersen. Monarchs took ten heat wins to five by Glasgow. Eriksson scored nine paid ten from five rides while Andersen had three heat wins in his score of ten from four rides. Blair Scott weighed in with an excellent heat 8 win and scored four paid five. Ben Shields found the conditions somewhat difficult and while he gated reasonably well he was brushed aside on the first bend and failed to score. He was always on the pace and should start to score when he can sort out his first and second bends.
Derek Sneddon made an excellent debut as a Monarchs team member and scored three paid four from his four rides. He dominated his Glasgow counterpart, Scott Courtney. Christian Henry was rather subdued but scored three points from his four rides.
This sets Monarchs up for an overall win in the return leg at Armadale on Friday.