Premier National Trophy
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 2nd April 1999
Edinburgh Monarchs without Peter Carr proved incapable of holding the rampant Newcastle side. Newcastle have always proved Armadale specialists but bolstered by three former Monarchs riders (who scored 28 points between them) they were always in command of this Premier National Trophy match. While the score of 13 from 5 rides by Robert Eriksson was probably expected, the 8 (paid 12) by Paul Gould and the 7 by Steven Jones was certainly not.
Many supporters the felt that choice of Paul Pickering as guest for Peter Carr had contributed to the defeat. There were few options within the points allowed especially with Craig Watson or Brent Werner both unavailable and Scott Lamb short of match practice. With the benefit of hindsight, Monarchs would probably have done better using rider replacement.
The feeling in the Monarchs pits was that the choice of Dunlop tyres rather than Barums as used by Newcastle was the crucial factor. The Barum tyres have proved to be much faster out of the gate than the Dunlop hard compound tyres.
Gate position B was in used with Newcastle off 1 and 3 for the first heat. The match started promptly at 7.30 without a parade presumably because of fears over the lingering mist closing in.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Paul Gould, James Grieves, Blair Scott [58.7]
Eriksson and Gould, who were heroes of many opening heat maximums at Armadale in 1997, did the trick for Newcastle. Eriksson shot out of gate one and was unchallenged. Grieves seemed to be set for second place from the gate but was passed on the outside by Gould on the second bend of the opening lap and while Grieves had several attempts to pass he was held off.
(1-5) (1-5)
Heat 2: Ross Brady, David McAllan, Anthony Barlow, Steven Jones [62.2]
A routine win after Brady and McAllan gated with Jones stuck at the back.
(5-1) (6-6)
Heat 3: Kevin Little, David Walsh, Derrol Keats, Stewart McDonald [60.1]
Walsh made the gate from Little with McDonald trailing well behind. Little pursued Walsh all the way and managed to get past on the third lap.
(3-3) (9-9)
Heat 4: Ross Brady, Jesper Olsen, Paul Pickering, Steven Jones [59.1]
Brady and Pickering had the edge from the gate but Olsen made short work of Pickering slipping past on the back straight of the first lap. Olsen then tried everything he knew to pass Brady and appeared to have got past on the inside a couple of times but the wide riding Brady held on for probably his best win to date.
(4-2) (13-11)
Heat 5: Robert Eriksson, Paul Gould, Kevin Little, Stewart McDonald [59.4]
Just in case anyone thought the opening heat 5-1 was a fluke, they repeated it. Eriksson was again first away while Gould passed Little on the outside in the first lap.
(1-5) (14-16)
Heat 6: James Grieves, Jesper Olsen, Blair Scott, Anthony Barlow [59.8]
A good win by Grieves over Jesper Olsen with Blair Scott weighing in to level the scores.
(4-2) (18-18)
Heat 7: David Walsh, Paul Pickering, Derrol Keats, David McAllan [62.1]
This looked like another Newcastle maximum after Pickering fluffed his start. The Monarchs guest finally managed to pass Keats on the line.
(2-4) (20-22)
Heat 8: Steven Jones, Paul Gould, Ross Brady, Blair Scott [60.3]
Steven Jones really exploded out of the gate and held off Ross Brady with Paul Gould third. Brady continued to try and ran too wide on the second bend and lost position allowing Paul Gould to slip inside and maintain his paid maximum.
(1-5) (21-27)
Heat 9: Stewart McDonald, Kevin Little, Anthony Barlow [60.2]
McDonald made the gate followed by Little. Olsen was trailing but pulled out during the first lap leaving an easy 5-1 to the home pairing.
(5-1) (26-28)
Heat 10: James Grieves, David Walsh, Ross Brady [60.4]
Edinburgh brought in Ross Brady for the out-of-touch Blair Scott. The first attempt at this heat ended with a second bend pile-up. Brady was side by side with Walsh when he fell collecting Keats. In the re-run with all four back, Grieves and Brady gated with Walsh in hot pursuit. Keats fell at the back and was very slow clearing his bike away. It was still being wheeled away by a track official as the riders approached. Grieves and Brady slowed slightly allowing Walsh to close the gap. Walsh then slipped inside Brady to take second place.
(4-2) (30-30)
Heat 11: Robert Eriksson, Paul Gould, Paul Pickering, David McAllan [60.1]
Yet another 5-1 for the dynamic Newcastle 'dream pairing' of Eriksson and Gould over the Monarchs 'nightmare partnership of Pickering and McAllan.
(1-5) (31-35)
Heat 12: Kevin Little, David Walsh, Steven Jones [60.7]
Ross Brady had problems on the start line and had to use Blair Scott's bike. He couldn't get that to go either and soon dropped out. Meanwhile Kevin Little recorded an excellent win over Walsh and reserve replacement Steven Jones.
(3-3) (34-38)
Heat 13:James Grieves, Robert Eriksson, Jesper Olsen, Paul Pickering [59.8]
Grieves was now really flying and he inflicted the first defeat on Robert Eriksson. Paul Pickering made no impression and trailed in last.
(3-3) (37-41)
Heat 14: Steven Jones, Stewart McDonald, Derrol Keats [62.2]
With Grieves win in the previous heat keeping the margin to 4 points, Monarchs were unable to use Grieves and Little as tactical substitutes, they had to content themselves with bring in Ross Brady as a reserve change for McAllan. Ross, for once, missed the start and fell trying to get on terms forcing a Newcastle rider onto the centre green. The heat was stopped and Brady excluded. McDonald missed the start in the re-run and while he was able to pass Keats he couldn't get past Jones.
(2-4) (39-45)
Heat 15: James Grieves, Robert Eriksson, Kevin Little, Paul Gould [59.9]
Newcastle gave Paul Gould a run in the nominated heat in preference to Walsh. Grieves rode another immaculate heat to win while Little had to come from the back. The Monarchs captain passed Gould but couldn't get past Eriksson despite some determined riding.
(4-2) (43-47)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
13 |
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
1 |
|
Kevin Little |
3 |
1 |
2* |
3 |
1 |
|
10+1 |
|
Stewart McDonald |
0 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
5 |
|
Paul Pickering |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
|
David McAllan |
2* |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Ross Brady |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
E |
F |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Newcastle Diamonds |
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
13 |
|
Paul Gould |
2* |
2* |
2* |
2* |
0 |
|
8+4 |
|
David Walsh |
2 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
|
|
9 |
|
Derrol Keats |
1 |
1* |
F |
1 |
|
|
3+1 |
|
Jesper Olsen |
2 |
2 |
E |
1* |
|
|
5+1 |
|
Anthony Barlow |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Steven Jones |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1* |
3 |
|
7+1 |
James Grieves looked good after a poor first ride and reeled off four straight wins including two wins over Eriksson and one over Olsen. Kevin Little also had a poor ride in heat 5 but did well otherwise with two wins over Walsh. Paul Pickering was the major failure. Those who saw him guest for Monarchs against Glasgow last year will not be surprised.
Stewart McDonald partially recovered from two last places in his first two rides. He appeared set to beat Olsen before the Dane stopped in heat 9 but will not be pleased to have failed to beat Steven Jones in the decisive heat 14. After his good away showing at Workington, Blair Scott had another poor Armadale night.
David McAllan started with a good heat 2 ride but couldn't come to terms with Derrol Keats or Paul Gould in his other two rides. Ross Brady made another sensational start with two wins including a great defeat of Jesper Olsen. He tailed off after experiencing mechanical problems and having to use Blair Scott's bike.
Robert Eriksson continued his fine Armadale form and was only beaten by Grieves in his last two outings. David Walsh was competent and had a good pass of Ross Brady in heat 10. Jesper Olsen was quieter than usual with one engine failure but was only beaten by Grieves and Brady.
Gould, with help from Jones, turned out to be the match winner. Derrol Keats scored a couple of vital points at the expense of McDonald and McAllan. Barlow picked up some gifts.
Monarchs should not feel too despondent after losing. They will probably not encounter a team so well equipped for Armadale as Newcastle until the Diamonds return in the League. The presence of a fit and in-form Peter Carr would have probably led to a routine home win. Edinburgh have a number of Brough Park specialists and could yet win the return leg.
Man of the match: James Grieves
Most exciting rider: Paul Gould
Next meeting: v Berwick, Premier National Trophy, Armadale on Friday 9th April 1999
John Lowe