(Edinburgh won by 100 to 73 on aggregate)
Premier League Cup
Brough Park, Newcastle
Sunday 23rd May 1999
Monarchs went through to the second round of the cup after beating their bogie side Newcastle at Brough Park. It was an all-round team performance by Edinburgh. The final score is slightly flattering to Newcastle in that the home team posted two 5-1 heat advantages to finish against the visitors who were coasting by then.
Newcastle suffered injuries to Derrol Keats and Roberts Eriksson in heat 10 that eliminated both from the meeting. The tie, and arguable the match, were over by then.
Monarchs were at full strength with David McAllan over his injury from Friday and James Grieves freed from any need to travel to the British Final as first reserve. Newcastle were without shingles victim, Anthony Barlow, and Peter Johnson deputized. This may have proved crucial since the Diamonds reserves scored 1 point between them compared to 11 by their Edinburgh counterparts.
Gate position A was used with Newcastle off gates 1 and 3 in heat 1.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Derrol Keats, Stewart McDonald, Blair Scott [66.3]
Edinburgh got off to the worst possible start. James Grieves suffered carburetor problems at the start line and was two minuted. Stewart McDonald replaced Grieves. Even worse for Monarchs, after Scott and McDonald were holding second and third behind Eriksson when they got into a tangle on the fourth bend and allowed Derrol Keats through for a maximum.
(5-1) (5-1)
Heat 2: Stewart McDonald, David McAllan, Steven Jones, Peter Johnson [68.1]
Stewart McDonald gated and was followed by Steven Jones and David McAllan. Jones lost position on the third bend of the first lap and McAllan slipped inside him to level the scores.
(1-5) (6-6)
Heat 3: Kevin Little, David Walsh, Ross Brady, Paul Gould [66.3]
Kevin Little was first away and held off David Walsh. Behind them Ross Brady won after a good scrap with Paul Gould.
(2-4) (8-10)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, Jesper Olsen, Stewart McDonald, Steven Jones [65.1]
Carr and McDonald gated ahead of Olsen. McDonald held up Olsen for the best part of a lap and by the time Olsen passed him, Carr was well away.
(2-4) (10-14)
Heat 5: James Grieves, David Walsh, Blair Scott, Paul Gould [65.8]
James Grieves gated ahead of Walsh. The Newcastle number 4 then passed Grieves on the back straight only for Grieves to come right back and re-pass. Blair Scott held off his former teammate Paul Gould.
(2-4) (12-18)
Heat 6: Peter Carr, Robert Eriksson, David McAllan [65.0]
Carr got the drop on Eriksson and McAllan passed Derrol Keats to take third place. Keats came back and repassed McAllan before getting into trouble on the second bend. McAllan slipped through as Keats fell.
(2-4) (14-22)
Heat 7: Jesper Olsen, Kevin Little, Ross Brady, Peter Johnson [65.2]
Jesper Olsen stopped the rot with a win over Little and Brady.
(3-3) (17-25)
Heat 8: David Walsh, Stewart McDonald, Blair Scott, Steven Jones [66.9]
Tactical substitution time with David Walsh coming in for Derrol Keats. Walsh won easily from the Monarchs pairing with Jones way behind once more.
(3-3) (20-28)
Heat 9: Peter Carr, David Walsh, Paul Gould, David McAllan [65.7]
Walsh gated from Carr with Gould threatening to pass on the exit from the second bend. Carr repulsed this threat and barged Walsh aside on the fourth bend with a touch of brutality.
(3-3) (23-31)
Heat 10: Kevin Little, Ross Brady [Awarded]
Kevin Little outgated Robert Eriksson but the race was stopped when Derrol Keats fell at the second bend. Keats was excluded and didn’t look too happy. He was ruled out for the rest of the meeting but it was on his last scheduled ride. On the second attempt, Little and Brady made the start but Eriksson passed Brady only to fall on the second bend of the last lap. Eriksson sustained a bad cut next to his right eye and was also ruled out.
(0-5) (23-36)
Heat 11: Jesper Olsen, James Grieves, Paul Gould [65.3]
Paul Gould was brought in as a tactical substitute for Johnson, instead of the unfortunate Eriksson. Grieves gated ahead of Olsen but lifted as Olsen passed only for Blair Scott to fall on the fourth bend and stop the race. In the re-run, without Scott, Grieves was once more first away but Olsen again passed.
(4-2) (27-38)
Heat 12: Kevin Little, Paul Gould, Stewart McDonald, Steven Jones [66.8]
Stewart McDonald replaced David McAllan as Monarchs went in for the kill against a weak looking Diamonds pairing. A maximum seemed to be on the cards until Paul Gould got inside Stewart McDonald on the last bend to atke second on the line.
(2-4) (29-42)
Heat 13: Jesper Olsen, James Grieves, Peter Carr, Peter Johnson [65.2]
Peter Johnson came in for the injured Eriksson to finish his three rides. Carr made a dreadful start and was nearly forced wide on the second bend by Johnson before passing to join Grieves. Johnson later fell and restarted.
(3-3) (32-45)
Heat 14: David Walsh, Jesper Olsen, Ross Brady, David McAllan [67.5]
Newcastle used their final tactical substitution to bring in Olsen to join Walsh against Ross Brady and reserve replacement David McAllan who was in for McDonald. The home maximum had an air of inevitability about it from the start.
(5-1) (37-46)
Heat 15: Jesper Olsen, David Walsh, Kevin Little, Stewart McDonald [66.9]
Predictably, Newcastle went with Olsen and Walsh while Edinburgh left out their big guns. James Grieves was not eligible and Stewart McDonald came in rather than Peter Carr. Olsen and Walsh gated and that was it apart from McDonald falling and restarting while trailing.
(5-1) (42-47)
|
Newcastle Diamonds |
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
2 |
X |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Derrol Keats |
2* |
F |
X |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Paul Gould |
0 |
0 |
1* |
1 |
2 |
|
4+1 |
|
David Walsh |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2* |
14+1 |
|
Jesper Olsen |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2* |
2 |
16+1 |
|
Peter Johnson |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
Steven Jones |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
M |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
7 |
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
1 |
1* |
X |
|
|
2+1 |
|
Kevin Little |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
12 |
|
Ross Brady |
1 |
1* |
2* |
1 |
|
|
5+2 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1* |
|
|
10+1 |
|
David McAllan |
2* |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
3+1 |
|
Stewart McDonald |
1 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
James Grieves looked good in his three rides and was only beaten by Olsen. Peter Carr looked unstoppable until his bad start in heat 13. Kevin Little was assured throughout dropping only one point (to Olsen) before the nominated heat.
Ross Brady has had a complete transformation. Earlier in the season he was hit or miss away from home either storming away for a win or failing to score. He was a model of consistency picking up the minor points only being headed by Walsh and Olsen. Blair Scott was competitive and possibly deserved a better return.
David McAllan did his job well but found the competition a bit tough in his last two rides. Stewart McDonald again produced a match-winning score of eight points despite a slip in heat 1 and a fall in heat 15.
Robert Eriksson was unlucky with a injury. David Walsh plugged away although his score of 14+1 is rather flattering since he was riding at number 4 and his two race wins were in heat 8 and heat 14. He failed to beat Grieves or Carr and only beat Little in the nominated heat. Jesper Olsen was the star of the show with a brilliant performance after losing to Carr in his opening heat.
Gould and Keats were always competitive but did not score as many as would have been expected. Newcastle’s reserves were never really in contention. What has gone wrong with Steven Jones?
Monarchs rode well within themselves securing a place in the next round as early as heat 8, and effectively won the match by heat 12. That makes seven straight wins.
Man of the match: Jesper Olsen
Most exciting rider: Jesper Olsen
Next meeting: v Arena Essex, Premier League, Armadale on Friday 28th May 1999
John Lowe