Premier League
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 25th June 1999
Edinburgh recorded another convincing win over a Berwick side that took some time to come to terms with a tricky Armadale track. Scott Lamb led the resistance inflicting a rare defeat on James Grieves. Peter Carr roared to another full maximum, while Guest Mick Powell recorded a four-ride paid maximum.
Edinburgh were without Kevin Little and David McAllan and replaced them with Mick Powell and Jon Swales. Berwick had Stuart Coleman standing in at number 6. The weather was warm and dry and a big crowd assembled
The track had plenty of dirt but most appeared to be off the rather slick racing line. There was little passing in the first half of the meeting but later on things improved as the dirt was spread and Mogridge found out where passing was possible.
Gate position A was in used with Edinburgh off 1 and 3 for the first heat.
Heat 1: James Grieves, Scott Lamb, Tom Madsen, Stewart McDonald [58.3]
Scott Lamb made a fair start and was side-by-side with James Grieves coming out of the second bend but Grieves had the better line and pulled ahead to win with Tom Madsen shutting out Stewart McDonald.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, Stuart Coleman, Dean Felton, Jon Swales [59.9]
Stuart Coleman made a good start from the inside gate but Blair Scott swept ahead from gate 4. Jon Swales was at the back and made several attempts to get past a rather wobbly looking Dean Felton.
(3-3) (6-6)
Heat 3: Ross Brady, Mick Powell, David Meldrum, Claus Kristensen [59.6]
Ross Brady made a cracking start and won in tremendous style. Mick Powell backed him up but looked rather unsteady but not as unsteady as Meldrum and Kristensen.
(5-1) (11-7)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, Blair Scott, Alan Mogridge, Dean Felton [59.5]
Peter Carr blasted away while Blair Scott was behind. Both Mogridge and Felton went wide on the second bend and Blair Scott cut inside to take second place. Mogridge came back to pass Scott but fell, on the second bend, gifting Monarchs a second successive maximum.
(5-1) (16-8)
Heat 5: Ross Brady, Mick Powell, Tom Madsen, Scott Lamb [59.6]
Scott Lamb made another start but Ross Brady swept around the outside and elbowed Scott aside on the second bend. Lamb dropped back to last as Brady and Powell sped away.
(5-1) (21-9)
Heat 6: James Grieves, Stewart McDonald, Alan Mogridge [59.9]
McDonald gated from the inside trap and was joined by Grieves. Mogridge could not get back on terms and Coleman fell coming out of the last bend.
(5-1) (26-10)
Heat 7: Peter Carr, Claus Kristensen, David Meldrum, Jon Swales [59.6]
Another win for Carr by a huge margin with Kristensen and Meldrum shutting out Swales.
(3-3) (29-13)
Heat 8: Scott Lamb, Stewart McDonald, Tom Madsen, Blair Scott [59.1]
Scott Lamb came in as a tactical substitute for Dean Felton. This provided Berwick with their first race win and their first heat advantage. Lamb won without difficulty from McDonald and Madsen took third.
(2-4) (31-17)
Heat 9: Mick Powell, Alan Mogridge, Ross Brady, Stuart Coleman [59.2]
(4-2) (35-19)
Heat 10: James Grieves, Stewart McDonald, David Meldrum, Claus Kristensen [59.5]
Grieves and McDonald gated once more to lead. Meldrum never gave up and failed with a last gasp surge up the inside
(5-1) (40-20)
Heat 11: Peter Carr, Scott Lamb, Tom Madsen, Jon Swales [58.1]
Peter Carr had another big win from Lamb and Madsen.
(3-3) (43-23)
Heat 12: Mick Powell, David Meldrum, Alan Mogridge, Blair Scott [59.7]
Alan Mogridge came in as a tactical substitute for Coleman. Mick Powell was pushed all the way by an increasingly confident David Meldrum. Blair Scott passed Mogridge on the back straight but Mogridge came back to take third.
(3-3) (46-26)
Heat 13: Peter Carr, Scott Lamb, James Grieves, Alan Mogridge [58.9]
Scott Lamb was first away but Carr and Grieves swept past him on either side going down the back straight. Lamb recovered to pass Grieves and just held on as the Monarchs’ number 1 had a race for the line.
(4-2) (50-28)
Heat 14: Claus Kristensen, Ross Brady, Blair Scott, Dean Felton [60.4]
Monarch’s put in Blair Scott for Jon Swales. This heat featured a fine duel between Brady and Kristensen. Brady was first away but Kristensen swept past on the outside only for Brady to come back before Kristensen passed again to record Berwick’s second race win.
(3-3) (53-31)
Heat 15: Peter Carr, James Grieves, Scott Lamb, David Meldrum [58.6]
Grieves and Carr swept ahead from the gate leaving Lamb and Meldrum trailing.
(5-1) (58-32)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2* |
|
12+1 |
|
Stewart McDonald |
0 |
2* |
2 |
2* |
|
|
6+2 |
|
Mick Powell |
2* |
2* |
3 |
3 |
|
|
10+2 |
|
Ross Brady |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
9 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
15 |
|
Jon Swales |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
2* |
0 |
0 |
1* |
|
6+2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Berwick Bandits |
|
|
|
||||
|
Scott Lamb |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
|
Tom Madsen |
1* |
1 |
1 |
1* |
|
|
4+2 |
|
David Meldrum |
1 |
1* |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
6+1 |
|
Claus Kristensen |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
5 |
|
Alan Mogridge |
F |
1 |
2 |
1* |
0 |
|
4+1 |
|
Stuart Coleman |
2 |
F |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Dean Felton |
1* |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
2+1 |
The Monarch’s heat leaders including guest Mick Powell were far too powerful for the visitors although Scott Lamb did defeat Grieves in heat 13.
Stewart McDonald made a poor start running last in heat 1 but after that was only beaten by Scott Lamb in as a tactical substitute. Ross Brady could easily have produced his first maximum but was passed by Alan Mogridge and by Claus Kristensen in his last two rides.
Blair Scott started well but suffered from tactical substitutes in heat 8 and 12. Jon Swales was never off the pace. He missed the start in heat 2 and had little chance in his other two rides.
Lamb was again the pick of the Berwick side. Mogridge produced plenty of entertainment but was rewarded with fewer points than he deserved. He was involved in the best two contests of the night with Brady and Scott. Madsen was steady and Kristensen demonstrated his ability to pull out a really good ride once or twice a meeting. Meldrum looked quite impressive towards the end of the meeting but again didn’t do justice to himself in terms of points.
Man of the match: Peter Carr for a full maximum.
Most exciting rider: Alan Mogridge.
Next meeting: v Newcastle, Premier National Trophy Semi-Final, Brough Park on Sunday 27th June 1999
John Lowe