Arena Essex Hammers 49: Edinburgh Century Mortgages Monarchs 41
Premier League Cup: Second Leg
(Edinburgh win by 95 points to 85 points on aggregate)
Purfleet Raceway
Saturday 16th October 1999
Edinburgh held of a spirited challenge from a fired-up Arena Essex side to regain the Premier League Cup after a pulsating second leg. The early heats suggested a comfortable Monarchs win with the score 12-12 after four heats, but Arena Essex came storming back with successive maximums in heats 5 and 6. Edinburgh steadied things with a couple of tied heats albeit using two tactical substitutes along the way.
Then when Peter Carr fell in heat 9 and was taken off in the Ambulance, Arena collected a 5-1 in the rerun. This reduced the overall lead to a very fragile 6 points. The prospect of Carr being ruled out of the meeting would have put more strain on Monarch’s reserves already having to cope with rider replacement for Justin Elkins.
Kevin Little then led a fightback for Monarchs winning heat 10 with Brady weighing in to increase the lead to eight points. Grieves and Brady produced another 4-2 in heat 11 and Peter Carr emerged to win as a tactical substitute in heat 12 and Monarchs were nearly home. Arena needed three 5-1s to gain a two-legged replay. Lanham and White obliged in heat 13 but Kevin Little came in as a tactical substitute to clinch things in heat 14.
Edinburgh used rider replacement for the departed Justin Elkins and had local junior Phil Ambrose in at number 6. Arena Essex were at full strength. The track was in excellent condition although the white line was the place to be. The crowd was large including a huge visiting contingent from Edinburgh.
Kevin Little called wrong once again and Arena Essex opted for gates 1 and 3 in heat one.
Heat 1: James Grieves, Leigh Lanham, Phil Ambrose, Gary Corbett [61.4]
James Grieves was first away and took the while line and Lanham was unable to come back. Rider replacement Ambrose picked up enough drive to pass Corbett on the back straight of the first lap and also held his position.
(2-4) (2-4)
Heat 2: Roger Lobb, Phil Ambrose, John Wainwright, Blair Scott [62.8]
Lobb and Wainwright gated but Blair Scott edged past Wainwright on the back straight. Phil Ambrose made a charge from the back and passed both Wainwright and Scott. This left Blair Scott somewhat boxed in and pinned to the line. This allowed Wainwright to come back and take third place.
(4-2) (6-6)
Heat 3: Troy Pratt, Ross Brady, Kevin Little, Matt Read [61.5]
Troy Pratt made a lightning start ahead of Brady with Read third. Just when it seemed another home heat advantage was on the cards Matt Read got into trouble and presented Little with third place.
(3-3) (9-9)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, Colin White, Roger Lobb, Blair Scott [61.7]
Peter Carr made a great start from gate 4 and cut off White on the first bend. Lobb took third to tie the heat.
(3-3) (12-12)
Heat 5: Troy Pratt, Matt Read, James Grieves, Phil Ambrose [61.0]
Phil Ambrose was again used as rider replacement. Troy Pratt gated once more and Read rode a stunning first bend to head off Grieves. This led to a home 5-1 and brought the match to life.
(5-1) (17-13)
Heat 6: Leigh Lanham, Gary Corbett, Peter Carr, Phil Ambrose [61.7]
Lanham and Corbett produced another 5-1 despite Peter Carr trying everything to get past Corbett.
(5-1) (22-14)
Heat 7: Colin White, Ross Brady, Kevin Little, Jon Wainwright [62.2]
Colin White produced his first win but Ross Brady and Kevin Little took the minor placings ahead of John Wainwright.
(3-3) (25-17)
Heat 8: Gary Corbett, James Grieves, Ross Brady, Roger Lobb [61.6]
James Grieves was brought in as a tactical substitute for Blair Scott and Ross Brady came in as a tactical substitute rather than as rider replacement. Despite this Gary Corbett made the start and tied the heat.
(3-3) (28-20)
Heat 9: Troy Pratt, Matt Read, Blair Scott [61.7]
Blair Scott was introduced as a reserve change for Ambrose to clear his third ride and leave things open for a tactical substitution in heat 14. Troy Pratt made the gate once more and led Carr but Blair Scott managed to surge past Read on the first lap. As the riders came around to the first bend, Read had a go at Scott and the Monarchs reserve came down. Seemingly independently, Carr hit a greasy patch and also fell. The referee excluded Carr who was taken off in Arena’s shining new ambulance. Blair Scott made a fight of the rerun but a 5-1 was the inevitable outcome and the lead was down to six points.
(5-1) (33-21)
Heat 10: Kevin Little, Leigh Lanham, Ross Brady, Gary Corbett [62.7]
With Monarchs really up against it, Ross Brady joined Little and faced the formidable Lanham/Corbett partnership. Come the hour come the man and Kevin Little gated to hold on while Brady kept Corbett at the back to hand the initiative back to the visitors.
(2-4) (35-25)
Heat 11: James Grieves, Colin White, Ross Brady, John Wainwright [62.0]
Brady was out again, this time as rider replacement and gated along with Grieves ahead of White. A 5-1 would have just about clinched things for Edinburgh. Grieves went ahead while Brady continued to frustrate White. White never gave up and managed to pass Brady although Grieves was by now well ahead. The margin was now up to 10 points.
(2-4) (37-29)
Heat 12: Peter Carr, Troy Pratt, Blair Scott, Roger Lobb [61.1]
With the match still very much in the balance, Peter Carr got up off his stretcher and came in as a tactical substitute for Ambrose. This was just as well as Kevin Little was excluded for tape touching and Blair Scott came in as Ambrose was not eligible having already been replaced. Carr gated to defeat the hitherto unbeaten Pratt. Blair Scott secured an easy third place after Lobb slowed down early on before getting going once more.
(2-4) (39-33)
Heat 13: Colin White, Leigh Lanham, Peter Carr [61.6]
Arena now needed three maximums to force a replace. James Grieves gated but was soon overhauled by both White and Lanham. Grieves appeared to have mechanical problems and retired leaving Carr to take third place.
(5-1) (44-34)
Heat 14: Kevin Little, Ross Brady, Roger Lobb [62.8]
Roger Lobb came in for Wainwright as a reserve change while Kevin Little was brought in as a tactical substitute for Scott to avoid a last heat decider. Little made the start and led from Brady. Lobb and Read were buzzing all around Brady for most of the heat. Lobb seemed to have forced his way past Brady on the last bend. Brady had other ideas and came back. Lobb overdid things and slewed into the path of Read causing his teammate to fall just short of the line. Lobb then went ballistic and after picking up Read charged around the outer track to confront the celebrating Brady in the pits. This ended with an unseemly melee involving pit crews as well.
(1-5) (45-39)
Heat 15: Leigh Lanham, James Grieves, Troy Pratt, Kevin Little [62.2]
With Carr not eligible, and unlikely to go anyway, Monarchs opted for Grieves and Little rather than Brady. Arena went with Lanham and Pratt. This produced a home 4-2 with Lanham taking his second win of the night.
(4-2) (49-41)
|
Arena Essex Hammers |
|
|
|
||||
|
Leigh Lanham |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2* |
3 |
|
12+1 |
|
Gary Corbett |
0 |
2* |
3 |
0 |
|
|
5+1 |
Troy Pratt |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
|
12 |
|
Matt Read |
0 |
2* |
2* |
F |
|
|
4+2 |
|
Colin White |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
10 |
|
John Wainwright |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
Roger Lobb |
3 |
1* |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
5+1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
3 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
R |
2 |
11 |
|
Justin Elkins |
Rider replacement |
|
|
(3) |
|||
|
Kevin Little |
1* |
1* |
3 |
T |
3 |
0 |
8+2 |
|
Ross Brady |
2 |
2 |
1* |
1 |
1 |
2* |
9+2 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
1 |
X |
3 |
1 |
|
8 |
|
Phil Ambrose |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Monarchs produced an all round team performance to defend their lead. Ross Brady came up with a great show to collect a paid 11 points despite not winning a single heat. None of the Edinburgh heat leaders were quite at their best but won two heats each as well as collecting crucial points from minor placings. Blair Scott also had a torrid time but was there or there abouts. Special mention must go to Phil Ambrose who collected three points in the first two heats.
Arena demonstrated why they have such a good home record that has only been bettered by Sheffield and Newport. They battled hard but had probably left themselves too much to do after the Armadale leg.
It was a compelling contest that was enjoyed by supporters of both teams and neutrals alike. The match was run with great spirit throughout apart from the unfortunate ‘rush of blood’ for Roger Lobb after heat 14.
Next meeting: v Glasgow, Scottish Cup, Armadale on Friday 22nd October 1999
John Lowe