Newcastle Diamonds 33: Berwick Bandits 13:
Edinburgh Monarchs 31: Glasgow Tigers 18
Premier League Fours Northern Group Qualifier 4th Leg
Brough Park, Newcastle
Sunday, 20th June 1999
Edinburgh produced a battling performance to come back from the disasters of the afternoon at Glasgow and once again top the Northern Group of the Fours qualifiers. Newcastle also had a good evening to win the leg and take the second qualifying place in the group. Glasgow must await the completion of the other groups to see if the ninety-nine points they have gained is sufficient to qualify.
All teams were unchanged from the match at Glasgow.
The evening was dry but the area had received a lot of rain in the days prior o the match. The track was rather tricky particularly on the second bend.
Newcastle were in red, Berwick were in blue and Edinburgh had white and Glasgow had the jinxed yellow and black.
Heat 1: Scott Lamb, David Walsh [67.6]
Edinburgh got off to a disastrous start when Ross Brady was harshly excluded after Scott Lamb fell on the second bend. In the re-run Sanchez smashed into the first bend fence and then David Walsh fell and restarted gifting Lamb three points.
(2-3-0-0)
Heat 2: Mick Powell, David Meldrum, Stewart McDonald, Paul Gould [68.1]
Mick Powell led with McDonald struggling at the fiddling with his engine. Paul Gould fell and was attempting to restart as McDonald came around. McDonald nearly had to lay down to avoid hitting Gould. By the time McDonald had recovered, Gould was away again. McDonald stuck with it and took advantage of a last bend slip by Gould to take third.
(2-5-1-3)
Heat 3: James Grieves, Jesper Olsen, Will Beveridge, Alan Mogridge [67.1]
Jesper Olsen was first away pursued by Grieves ahead of Beveridge and Mogridge. Grieves stuck to his task and produced a stunning overtake on the outside of the last bend to win.
(4-5-4-4)
Heat 4: Robert Eriksson, Les Collins, Peter Carr [66.8]
Peter Carr was slow away and pushed wide by Les Collins. Eriksson won from Collins with Carr third after Tom Madsen fell.
(7-5-5-6)
Heat 5: James Grieves, David Walsh, Les Collins, David Meldrum [66.8]
Grieves won easily as Collins chased Walsh for second place. Collins appeared to have edged it on the inside off the last bend but Walsh out wide picked up extra drive to win the race to the line.
(9-5-8-7)
Heat 6: Peter Carr, Scott Lamb, Paul Gould, Will Beveridge [66.1]
Carr made another bad start but cut inside and rode such a powerful first and second bend that he was well in contention by the back straight and passed Lamb to win by a long way.
(10-7-11-7)
Heat 7: Jesper Olsen, Ross Brady, Tom Madsen, Mick Powell [66.9]
Jesper Olsen made the start with Ross Brady slow away. Brady picked up speed and swept past Madsen and Powell on the back straight. Powell fell and restarted.
(13-8-13-7)
Heat 8: Robert Eriksson, Stewart McDonald, Alan Mogridge [67.3]
Eriksson won his second race while McDonald secured a good second place ahead of Mogridge and Sanchez hit the first bend fence once more. The curse of the yellow and black helmets was still there!
(16-9-15-7)
Heat 9: Mick Powell, Peter Carr, David Walsh, Alan Mogridge [66.2]
Mick Powell stopped the rot for Glasgow with a win over Peter Carr.
(17-9-17-10)
Heat 10: James Grieves, Paul Gould, Sean Courtney, Tom Madsen [67.1]
Sean Courtney came in for the accident-prone Sanchez. Grieves continued his winning run with Gould second and Courtney third.
(19-9-20-11)
Heat 11: Jesper Olsen, Stewart McDonald, Scott Lamb, Les Collins [66.0]
Olsen gated while Collins and Lamb appeared to hit on the second bend allowing McDonald to slip past and hold a good second place.
(22-10-22-11)
Heat 12: Robert Eriksson, Will Beveridge, Ross Brady, David Meldrum [67.1]
Eriksson won his third race from Beveridge and Brady.
(25-10-23-13)
Heat 13: Ross Brady, Alan Mogridge, Paul Gould, Les Collins [67.7]
Brady made a superb start sweeping around the outside from gate 4 to lead by a long way but Gould fell at the back without assistance. Amazingly, the referee invited all four back. Brady gated once more with Gould second. Mogridge started a charge and passed Gould and attempted to pass Brady but made no impression. This win clinched a place in the finals for Edinburgh.
(26-12-26-13)
Heat 14: David Walsh, Will Beveridge, Claus Kristensen, Stewart McDonald [63.4]
Kristensen came in for Madsen and secured third place behind Walsh and Beveridge.
(29-13-26-15)
Heat 15: Jesper Olsen, Peter Carr, Sean Courtney, David Meldrum [65.2]
Sean Courtney came in for Sanchez with Newcastle on the brink of qualification. Olsen needed only two points to secure a place but went one better with a win over Carr. This made certain that Edinburgh would top the group once more.
(32-13-28-16)
Heat 16: James Grieves, Mick Powell, Derrol Keats, Scott Lamb [66.6]
The clash between the two maximum men Grieves and Eriksson failed to take place. Eriksson was rested due to his recent injury with Newcastle having secured a place. Grieves duly completed his maximum winning from Powell while reserve Derrol Keats beat Scott Lamb for third.
(33-13-31-18)
|
Newcastle Diamonds |
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
9 |
|
Jesper Olsen |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
11 |
|
Paul Gould |
0 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
|
David Walsh |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
8 |
|
Derrol Keats |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Berwick Bandits |
|
|
|
||||
|
Scott Lamb |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
6 |
|
David Meldrum |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
2 |
|
Tom Madsen |
F |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
Alan Mogridge |
0 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
|
Claus Kristensen |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
12 |
|
Peter Carr |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
8 |
|
Stewart McDonald |
1 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
5 |
|
Ross Brady |
X |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
6 |
|
Blair Scott |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
- |
|
Glasgow Tigers |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Mick Powell |
3 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
8 |
|
Emiliano Sanchez |
1 |
X |
0 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
|
William Beveridge |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
5 |
|
Les Collins |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
3 |
|
Sean Courtney |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
James Grieves was very much the rider of the night achieving what many thought was impossible by taking Jesper Olsen from the back at Brough Park. Peter Carr was still struggling with his gating. Ross Brady did well taking account of his heat 1 exclusion. Stewart McDonald produced a gritty performance substituting for Kevin Little.
Berwick started well but faded. Five points in the first two heats and eight points in the last fourteen says it all. Scott Lamb and Alan Mogridge did best.
Emiliano Sanchez remains an enigma. He looked useful at Armadale, very ordinary at Berwick, sensational at Glasgow and a disaster at Newcastle. Les Collins failed to make any impression and it was down to Powell and Beveridge that Glasgow escaped a real disaster. Glasgow look a fair bet for qualification but would have felt happier had they topped 100 points.
Man of the match: James Grieves for a full maximum.
Most exciting rider: James Grieves for his pass of Jesper Olsen in heat 3.
Next meeting: Berwick, Premier League, Armadale, Friday, 25th June.
John Lowe