Edinburgh Century Mortgages Monarchs 52: Newport Wasps 38
Premier National Trophy Final First Leg
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 10th September 1999
The patched-up Monarchs team recovered from a bad start and overturned an early four-point deficit to beat Newport by a useful margin of 14. While Edinburgh will have to improve on their previous two visits to Newport to take the Premier National Trophy, the lead is certainly defendable and well within Monarchs capabilities.
There was a fair crowd on a bright evening.
Monarchs were depleted with the absence of Justin Elkins and Brian Turner while Newport were, for once, at full strength. Edinburgh used rider replacement for Elkins and put in Stuart Coleman for Turner.
Kevin Little won the toss and opted for gate position A with Edinburgh off 1 and 3 for the first heat.
Heat 1: James Grieves, Craig Watson, Chris Neath, Stuart Coleman [57.7]
Grieves beat Watson from the gate to win but rider replacement Stuart Coleman was a clear last.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, Bobby Eldridge, Andrew Appleton, Stuart Coleman [59.7]
Eldridge led the way from the gate but Blair Scott had little difficulty passing. Stuart Coleman was holding third place when he fell on the third bend gifting a point to Appleton.
(3-3) (6-6)
Heat 3: Anders Henriksson, Kevin Little, Frank Smart, Ross Brady [59.5]
Henriksson gated from Little and Brady. Frank Smart passed Brady in his own inimitable style whilst looking likely to fall off at any time.
(2-4) (8-10)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, Bjorn Gustafsson, Andrew Appleton [58.2]
This looked like a potential home 5-1 until Blair Scott suffered an engine failure on the start line. Carr swept ahead to win by an enormous margin.
(3-3) (11-13)
Heat 5: Craig Watson, Ross Brady, Chris Neath, Kevin Little [58.9]
Ross Brady made the start from Watson with Little stuck at the back. Ross held on for three laps until he went off line and allowed Watson to surge past.
(2-4) (13-17)
Heat 6: James Grieves, Blair Scott, Bobby Eldridge, Bjorn Gustafsson [60.1]
Grieves and rider replacement Scott made the start to take an easy 5-1 with Gustafsson really toiling at the back.
(5-1) (18-18)
Heat 7: Peter Carr, Frank Smart, Anders Henriksson, Stuart Coleman [58.1]
Peter Carr missed the start but cut inside and passed Henriksson and Smart on the back straight to win without difficulty.
(3-3) (21-21)
Heat 8: Ross Brady, Blair Scott, Andrew Appleton, Chris Neath [59.1]
Ross Brady came in as rider replacement for Elkins and gated to win. Blair Scott came from behind to pass Appleton.
(5-1) (26-22)
Heat 9: Ross Brady, Kevin Little, Bjorn Gustafsson [58.9]
Bobby Eldridge looped just after the start and was excluded. Brady and Little produced a second 5-1 ahead of Gustafsson.
(5-1) (31-23)
Heat 10: James Grieves, Frank Smart, Anders Henriksson, Stuart Coleman [59.9]
Edinburgh replaced Justin Elkins with Stuart Coleman. Grieves edged out Frank Smart with Henriksson third. Coleman fell at the back and restarted.
(3-3) (34-25)
Heat 11: Peter Carr, Frank Smart, Blair Scott, Craig Watson [57.2]
Frank Smart came in as a tactical substitute for Neath. While Carr had an easy time winning, reserve replacement Blair Scott outgated Watson and passed Smart before being repassed but held out for third.
(4-2) (38-28)
Heat 12: Kevin Little, Anders Henriksson, Blair Scott, Andrew Appleton [60.3]
Andrew Appleton came in for Eldridge rather than the expected tactical substitution of Craig Watson. Kevin Little, on Ross Brady’s bike, won from Henriksson and Blair Scott took another crucial third place.
(4-2) (42-30)
Heat 13: Peter Carr, Craig Watson, James Grieves, Anders Henriksson [57.6]
Anders Henriksson was used as a tactical substitute for Gustafsson. Carr and Grieves gated and it looked like another Monarchs 5-1 for a couple of laps until Watson caught Grieves napping and passed on the back straight.
(4-2) (46-32)
Heat 14: Craig Watson, Ross Brady Blair Scott [59.2]
Craig Watson made his expected tactical substitute appearance in place of Appleton to join Frank Smart. This looked a banker for a Wasps' 5-1 until Frank Smart appeared to blow his engine just after the start.
(3-3) (49-35)
Heat 15: Peter Carr, Craig Watson, Frank Smart, James Grieves [57.7]
Newport won the toss for choice of gates and Watson and Smart took second and third behind Carr.
(3-3) (52-38)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|||||
|
James Grieves |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
10 |
|
|
Justin Elkins |
Rider replacement |
|
(5+1) |
|||||
|
Kevin Little |
2 |
0 |
2* |
3 |
|
|
7+1 |
|
|
Ross Brady |
0 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
10 |
|
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
15 |
|
|
Stuart Coleman |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
0 |
|
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
R |
2* |
2* |
1 |
1 |
1* |
10+3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Newport Wasps |
|
|
|
|||||
|
Craig Watson |
2 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
12 |
|
Chris Neath |
1* |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
|
Anders Henriksson |
3 |
1* |
1* |
2 |
0 |
|
|
7+2 |
|
Frank Smart |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
R |
1 |
|
8 |
|
Bjorn Gustafsson |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
3 |
|||
|
Bobby Eldridge |
2 |
1 |
X |
|
|
|
3 |
|
|
Andrew Appleton |
1* |
1* |
1 |
0 |
|
|
3+2 |
|
Peter Carr secured one of his most convincing full maximums of the season. James Grieves provided excellent support until he seemed to flag towards the end of the meeting. Kevin Little had a fair meeting apart from one bad ride. Blair Scott returned to form with paid thirteen and only failed to score when he suffered an engine failure in heat 4. Ross Brady was also excellent value for ten points. The loss of Brian Turner probably cost Monarchs a Final winning lead. Stuart Coleman struggled throughout and fell twice, once when in a scoring position. The fact that Monarchs were operating rider replacement made the form of the reserves more important.
For Newport, Watson, Smart and Henriksson contributed well but points were scored all down the line. Bjorn Gustafsson was way off the pace and finished a quarter of a lap behind Bobby Eldridge in one heat. He scored only gift points. Bobby Eldridge looked the best of the Newport lower orders until his heat 9 mishap.
The Newport race order produced an unbalanced team with a very strong 3-4 pairing and a very weak 5-6/7 partnership. Henriksson and Smart only secured one heat advantage while Gustafsson and Eldridge conceded two 5-1 heat advantages. Gustafsson and Appleton were probably rescued from a 5-1 by a Blair Scott engine failure.
This result leaves the tie nicely balanced. If Carr, Grieves, Little and Brady can produce their best Queensway Meadow form in the second leg then Monarchs will have no difficulty in defending their lead. If one or more of them is not at his best, then Monarchs face a real battle.
Man of the match: Blair Scott
Most exciting rider: Frank Smart
Next meeting: v Newport, Premier National Trophy, Queensway Meadow on Sunday 19th September 1999
John Lowe