Premier League
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 13th August 1999
Edinburgh lost their 100% home record to bogy team Newcastle. The defeat was down to a combination of poor gating, bad tactics, misfortune and good riding by the Newcastle heat leaders. The bad tactics involved scoring a 5-1 in heat 13 allowing Newcastle a crack at a golden double in heat 14. The misfortune was illustrated by two falls (by Brady and Grieves), two tape exclusions (for Little and Carr), and an engine failure (for Birkinshaw) when lying second. It may have been no coincidence that the fixture took place on Friday 13th! However, with most of the Newcastle team visiting Armadale for the fifth time this season (sixth for the heat leaders), they have clearly improved their already impressive track expertise.
Monarchs recovered from an early deficit with a golden double in heat 8 only to fall foul of another golden double in heat 14. This left the scores level into the final heat. Then came the fall by Grieves when trying to win the match with Carr well ahead. In the rerun, Carr taped and Blair Scott came in to lose out to Walsh and Eriksson.
Edinburgh were missing Stewart McDonald and used rider replacement. Newcastle were at full strength with new signing and Armadale specialist Stuart Swales coming in for Derrol Keats.
The track was rather slick and this obviously suited the fast gating Walsh and Eriksson.
Gate position A was in used with Edinburgh off 1 and 3 for the first heat. The weather was fine despite the predictions of rain.
Heat 1: James Grieves, Robert Eriksson, Paul Gould, James Birkinshaw [57.9]
James Birkinshaw took the first rider replacement outing. James Grieves won from the gate with Birkinshaw left by Gould.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, James Birkinshaw, Mark Blackwell, Steven Jones [59.4]
Blair Scott swept around from gate 4 and Birkinshaw edged past Blackwell on the back straight to join Scott and record a 5-1 by a huge margin. Newcastle protested over the rather untidy start, but the result stood.
(5-1) (8-4)
Heat 3: David Walsh, Stuart Swales, Ross Brady, Blair Scott [59.2]
There was a mess at the start and Walsh certainly hit the tapes. It was Kevin Little who was excluded for tape touching and replaced by Scott. Walsh gated managed to push Brady wide to allow Swales through to level the scores.
(1-5) (9-9)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, Jesper Olsen, Steven Jones [58.0]
Carr didn’t make the best start but a good first bend saw him onto the lead. Olsen went too wide trying to get around Carr and reserve replacement James Birkinshaw passed impressively. Just when it seemed that Olsen had a fight on his hands to avoid a 5-1, Birkinshaw stopped gifting a tied heat.
(3-3) (12-12)
Heat 5: Robert Eriksson, Paul Gould, Ross Brady, Kevin Little [58.2]
Robert Eriksson gated from Brady with Little stuck at the back. Things remained like that until Ross Brady made a slip on the fourth bend allowing Gould through for second.
(1-5) (13-17)
Heat 6: Jesper Olsen, James Grieves, Blair Scott, Mark Blackwell [58.6]
Blair Scott came in as rider replacement. Olsen outgated Grieves to win but Scott took second to tie the heat.
(3-3) (16-20)
Heat 7: David Walsh, Peter Carr, Stuart Swales, James Birkinshaw [58.6]
Walsh gated and held off Peter Carr, while Swales similarly held off Birkinshaw.
(2-4) (18-24)
Heat 8: Peter Carr, James Grieves, Paul Gould, Steven Jones [58.9]
The 4-2 defeat in heat 7 was very convenient in that it allowed Monarchs to use tactical substitutes and take some pressure off their overworked reserves. Monarchs used their first Armadale golden double with Grieves off scratch and Carr off the back grid. This worked to perfection with Grieves ahead from the tapes and Carr passing Jones on the first lap and Gould after a couple of laps. Grieves finally allowed Carr to pass after Gould had been left.
(8-1) (26-25)
Heat 9: Kevin Little, Ross Brady, Mark Blackwell [58.9]
Ross Brady wasn’t first out of the gate but drew level with Olsen on the back straight. The two were elbow to elbow into the third bend but Brady got their just ahead and allowed Little to come around the outside. Olsen then lost it and fell on the third bend and was excluded. Little and Brady took an easy maximum in the rerun.
(5-1) (31-26)
Heat 10: James Grieves, David Walsh, Stuart Swales [58.4]
Walsh gated with rider replacement Brady and Grieves right behind him when Ross clipped James’s back wheel and fell and was excluded. In the rerun, Walsh again gated but Grieves passed stylishly after a stalking him for a lap or so.
(3-3) (34-29)
Heat 11: Robert Eriksson, Peter Carr, Paul Gould, Blair Scott [58.3]
Eriksson made a lightening start to head Carr while Gould beat off reserve replacement Blair Scott to cut the lead to three points.
(2-4) (36-33)
Heat 12: David Walsh, Kevin Little, Blair Scott, Mark Blackwell [59.2]
Walsh clocked up another win over Little and Scott.
(3-3) (39-36)
Heat 13: Peter Carr, James Grieves, Robert Eriksson, Jesper Olsen [57.7]
Robert Eriksson gated but first Carr and then Grieves passed to put Monarchs seven points up. This proved to be the biggest mistake of the meeting as it allowed Newcastle to use tactical substitutes in heat 14.
(5-1) (44-37)
Heat 14: Jesper Olsen, David Walsh, Ross Brady, Blair Scott [59.6]
Monarchs put Blair Scott in as a reserve replacement for Birkinshaw while predictably Newcastle went for a golden double with Olsen from 15 metres back and Walsh coming in for Swales and Jones. Walsh just outgated Brady and was able to dictate the pace of the heat and allowed Olsen to catch up and pass.
(1-8) (45-45)
Heat 15: David Walsh, Robert Eriksson, Blair Scott [59.5]
Carr made a great start and was well in control. James Grieves was at the back and trying to pass the team riding Eriksson and Walsh to win the match. He found this difficult on the slick track and eventually hit the fourth bend fence and was excluded. Carr obviously felt the pressure in the rerun and taped. Blair Scott came in and gave Walsh a run for his money holding second place for a couple of laps before being passed by Eriksson.
(1-5) (46-50)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
James Grieves |
3 |
2 |
2* |
3 |
2* |
X |
|
12+2 |
|
Stewart McDonald |
Rider replacement |
|
|
|
(7+1) |
|||
|
Kevin Little |
T |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Ross Brady |
1 |
1 |
2* |
X |
1 |
|
|
5+1 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
3 |
T |
|
16 |
|
James Birkinshaw |
0 |
2* |
E |
0 |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
0 |
1* |
0 |
1* |
0 |
1 |
6+2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Newcastle Diamonds |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
2 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
2* |
|
|
11+1 |
|
Paul Gould |
1* |
2* |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
5+2 |
|
David Walsh |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
16 |
|
Stuart Swales |
2* |
1 |
1* |
|
|
|
4+2 |
|
|
Jesper Olsen |
2 |
3 |
X |
0 |
6 |
|
|
11 |
|
Mark Blackwell |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Steven Jones |
0 |
1* |
0 |
|
|
|
|
1+1 |
Peter Carr was not gating consistently and found that the Newcastle riders had learned to block his favourite inside line run on the back straight. You have to go back to Newcastle’s visit in May to the last time Carr was beaten twice on the track at Armadale in a seven a side fixture. James Grieves was only beaten once until his heat 15 mishap and looked impressive coming from the back to heat Walsh in heat 10. Kevin Little had a poor meeting with only one win. Ross Brady just didn’t make starts and was unlucky to fall in his rider replacement outing.
The rider replacement facility for Stewart McDonald only yielded one point apart from six points from Carr’s golden double ride. The rider replacement commitments imposed a lot of work on the reserves. They had to take their own rides, most of McDonald’s and one each for Little and Carr. Only the use of tactical substitutes in heat 8 reduced this to manageable proportions.
James Birkinshaw was unlucky not to score more. He stopped when leading Olsen in heat 4 and came second in the reserves race by some margin. Blair Scott had a funny meeting looking good in some heats and poor in others. He would have expected more than six plus two from his seven rides.
Walsh again proved very difficult to beat around Armadale and was well supported by Eriksson. Olsen didn’t look as happy in the slick conditions. Gould and Swales provided the necessary backup although Jones and Blackwell were both way off the pace and collected only gift points.
Man of the match: David Walsh
Most exciting rider: James Grieves
Next meeting: v Berwick, Premier League, Shielfield Park on Saturday 14th August 1999
John Lowe