Just when most assumed that Edinburgh's injury crisis couldn't get any worse it did! Chrsitian Henry limped out of the match against the Islanders after crashing in his second race. Ben Shields also suffered a leg injury after piling into Ray Morton who stopped with engine failure in heat 4 but carried on.
Monarchs found the in-form Islanders far too strong and went down by 28 points losing the aggregate match point in the process.
Monarchs lost their now traditional 5-1 in the reserves race to go 9-3 down but fought back with a couple of 4-2 heat advantages. The Islanders finished things off with a run of maximums. From then on it was a case of damage limitation with the use of tactical substitutes.
Guest Simon Stead was again top scorer with 13 points from six rides. Robert Eriksson scored 9 points also from six rides and Jan Andersen picked up 6 points from five rides. Only Ben Shields of the bottom end contributed much with 3 points from four rides. Blair Scott scored 1 points from four rides. Rory Schlein failed to score from three rides and Christian Henry also failed to score from two rides before retiring from the meeting.
While Simon Stead again proved a capable guest for Peter Carr, the loss of Dalle Andersson's scoring power from reserve was felt once more. Blair Scott's continued poor scoring is a worry for Monarchs while Ben Shields is certainly justifying his reinstatement to the team.
There is only one match, at home to Berwick, before the cut-off date for the August Green Sheet averages. As the figures stand it seems likely that Dalle Andersson will leapfrog from reserve to a heat leader position. Jan Andersen seems likely to drop down to second string. It is a toss up if Blair Scott or Christian Henry will move to reserve with their averages being almost identical.
Monarchs drop to third in the table as a consequence of this result with Newcastle moving up to second on race points difference.
Edinburgh will probably be thankful that they have only one Premier League fixture in the next three weeks. This will give some time to get Peter Carr, Dalle Andersson, and Christian Henry fit. It will also give Jan Andersen more time too regain full fitness after his recent injury and maybe let Blair Scott sort out his bikes!