Berwick Bandits 29: Edinburgh Monarchs 28:
Glasgow Tigers 27: Newcastle Diamonds 12
Premier League Fours Northern Group Qualifier 2nd Leg
Shielfield Park, Berwick
Saturday, 19th June 1999
Edinburgh had another troubled evening at Shielfield Park with falls for Brady and Little and a tape exclusion for Grieves. Despite this they managed to come second one point behind the home team and to stretch their lead over Glasgow to eight points and that over Newcastle to a whopping seventeen points. This should ensure that Edinburgh will qualify should they avoid disaster in the last two legs.
Miraculously, Berwick escaped the heavy rain that hit everywhere from Glasgow to Edinburgh to Newcastle. The meeting went ahead on a slick but dry track and provided fair racing. However gating was paramount on a track where passing was difficult but not impossible. The gate position was also significant with the inside gates enjoying an advantage early on with gate four coming in to its own near the end.
Edinburgh had the blue helmets, Glasgow were in white, Newcastle in yellow and black, while Berwick were in red. The gate positions suggested that the Yellow and Black helmets were a factor in the poor showing for Newcastle.
Heat 1: Les Collins, Peter Carr, Alan Mogridge [67.3]
Les Collins made a blistering start from gate 1 to head Eriksson and Carr. Eriksson retired when under pressure.
(1-2-3-0)
Heat 2: James Grieves, Tom Madsen, Will Beveridge [68.1]
James Grieves was first away from gate 1. Jesper Olsen fell when second.
(3-5-4-0)
Heat 3: Mick Powell, David Walsh, Kevin Little [67.6]
Kevin Little totally missed the start but was able to pass Meldrum. Powell and Walsh were well ahead by then.
(3-6-7-2)
Heat 4: Scott Lamb, Ross Brady, Emiliano Sanchez, Paul Gould [68.2]
Scott Lamb edged out Ross Brady from the gate to win while Sanchez came from behind to pass Gould.
(6-8-8-2)
Heat 5: James Grieves, Mick Powell, Alan Mogridge, Paul Gould [68.2]
Grieves gated once more from Powell and Mogridge. The main interest was centred on the attempts by Mogridge to pass Powell. He tried repeated surges off the fourth bend banking.
(7-11-10-2)
Heat 6: Peter Carr, Tom Madsen, Emiliano Sanchez, David Walsh [68.0]
Carr blasted ahead to win from Madsen and Sanchez. The Newcastle nightmare continued with Walsh trailing well behind.
(9-14-11-2)
Heat 7: Jesper Olsen, Les Collins, David Meldrum, Ross Brady [67.7]
Ross Brady made a good start and was attempting to go around Olsen into the lead when he fell on the second bend. Ross restarted half a lap behind as Olsen finally won a heat for Newcastle.
(10-14-13-5)
Heat 8: Will Beveridge, Scott Lamb, Kevin Little [68.4]
In a very tough heat, there was some surprise when Beveridge was first away. Little was chasing Eriksson for third place when Robert stopped after a loud ‘bang’ and retired. Beveridge held on to win and put Glasgow into the lead.
(12-15-16-5)
Heat 9: Jesper Olsen, Alan Mogridge, Emiliano Sanchez [67.6]
Little was vying with Olsen for the lead into the second bend when he appeared to be hit and dropped back. He recovered and seemed set for third place behind Olsen and Mogridge when he had a nasty crash on the exit from the second bend. He retired from the meeting and went to hospital for checks on an injured wrist.
(14-15-17-8)
Heat 10: Ross Brady, Mick Powell, Tom Madsen, Derrol Keats [67.4]
Ross Brady gated and rode an immaculate race to win from Powell, Madsen and Derrol Keats who was in reserve replacement for Eriksson.
(15-18-19-8)
Heat 11: Peter Carr, Claus Kristensen, Will Beveridge, Paul Gould [68.2]
Peter Carr made a poor start but still managed to get the first bend in front. He won from Claus Kristensen in for Meldrum who passed Beveridge. This put Edinburgh back into the lead.
(17-21-20-8)
Heat 12: Scott Lamb, Les Collins, David Walsh, Blair Scott [67.4]
Just when it seemed that Edinburgh were about to take control of the match, things started to go wrong. James Grieves was excluded for tape touching and Blair Scott, who was impressive in the two reserve races, came in. With the outside gates starting to gain advantage, Scott Lamb edged out Les Collins while Blair Scott snapped at the heels of David Walsh.
(20-21-22-9)
Heat 13: Les Collins, Tom Madsen, Paul Gould, Blair Scott [67.9]
Blair Scott came in again, this time for Little. Les Collins made a cracking start from gate 4 and was followed home by Madsen. Blair Scott had a real go at getting past Gould for third. Monarchs were now third.
(22-21-25-10)
Heat 14: Alan Mogridge, Ross Brady, Will Beveridge, David Walsh [68.9]
Ross Brady made another start and led from Beveridge and Mogridge with Walsh at the rear. Mogridge started to charge and first passed Beveridge. He then swept past Brady coming off the fourth bend banking.
(25-23-26-10)
Heat 15: Claus Kristensen, James Grieves, Emiliano Sanchez, Derrol Keats [68.2]
Kristensen came in for Meldrum and Keats came in for Eriksson. Grieves had a slip on the second bend but recovered to take second place. He could do nothing about Kristensen who won to the acclaim of the home support.
(28-25-27-10)
Heat 16: Peter Carr, Jesper Olsen, Scott Lamb, Mick Powell [68.2]
The big showdown ended with a win for Carr after a really brutal first and second bend struggle with Olsen and Lamb. Mick Powell was unable to get out of last place. Had he passed Lamb, this would have resulted in a three-way tie.
(29-28-27-12)
|
Berwick Bandits |
|
|
|
||||
|
Scott Lamb |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
9 |
|
David Meldrum |
0 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
||
|
Tom Madsen |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
7 |
|
Alan Mogridge |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
7 |
|
Claus Kristensen |
2 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
Peter Carr |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
11 |
|
James Grieves |
3 |
3 |
T |
2 |
|
|
8 |
|
Ross Brady |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
7 |
|
Kevin Little |
1 |
1 |
F |
|
|
2 |
|
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Glasgow Tigers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mick Powell |
3 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
7 |
|
Emiliano Sanchez |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
|
Will Beveridge |
1 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
6 |
|
Les Collins |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
10 |
|
Sean Courtney |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Newcastle Diamonds |
|
|
|
||||
|
Jesper Olsen |
F |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
8 |
|
Robert Eriksson |
R |
R |
|
|
0 |
||
|
David Walsh |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
|
Paul Gould |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
Derrol Keats |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Peter Carr was the best of the Edinburgh side with James Grieves suffering a tape exclusion. Ross Brady looked very solid on the Berwick track apart from a falling trying to round Olsen and a slip that allowed Mogridge to pass. Kevin Little had a day to forget on a track where he usually excels and ended up crashing out of the meeting in heat 9. Monarchs won seven races but had four non-scoring rides. Blair Scott looked very impressive in the reserve races coming from last to take second behind Kristensen in the first race and winning the second in fine style. He suffered from the gate position in the two heats he came in.
Les Collins was again the best of the Glasgow team and even made two starts. Mick Powell started well but faded. Sanchez and Beveridge picked up points. Glasgow only had one non-scoring ride, and that was in heat 16. Glasgow have now overhauled Newcastle and put themselves in pole position for at least the second qualification place with Ashfield hosting the next leg.
The Newcastle riders all did well with seven race winners between them and once more demonstrated their liking for the Armadale track. Gould can be pleased with his score of five.
Berwick just about stayed in touch with Edinburgh and Glasgow in the early stages and came through to take the leg with three wins in the last four heats. Berwick would probably have done better had Kristensen been in the starting four rather than Meldrum.
Man of the match: Peter Carr.
Most exciting rider: Alan Mogridge.
Next meeting: Glasgow Fours, Saracen Park, Sunday, 20th June.
John Lowe