Edinburgh Monarchs 43: Arena Essex 29
Premier League Cup: First round Second leg
(Match abandoned after 12 heats result stands: Edinburgh win by 85 points to 77)
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Saturday 10th June 2000
Edinburgh progressed to the second round of the cup after defeating Arena Essex at Armadale. The match was abandoned before the 13th heat could be run. Because 12 heats had been completed the result stands.
The match started on a cold windy but dry evening. Some rain came down after heat 8. A major downpour during heat 12 led to the abandonment.
Blair Scott will probably feel annoyed that the abandonment cost him a good chance to pick up a four-ride full maximum. The win was a fairly routine one for Edinburgh with little passing until the rain made the track treacherous.
Edinburgh were at full strength. Arena Essex had Lee Dicken guesting for the injured Savalas Clouting.
Colin White won the toss and took gates 1 and 3 in the opening heat.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Colin White, Gary Corbett, Will Beveridge [57.8]
Robert Eriksson surged ahead from the tapes for a massive win. Will Beveridge made a fair start from gate 4 but was taken wide and Colin White blocked his way allowing Gary Corbett to consolidate third place with some good team riding.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, Christian Henry, Jon Underwood [60.4]
Blair Scott made the gate from Barrie Evans. Christian Henry tried to go around Evans but Blair Scott had moved out partially blocking his partner. Evans withstood several attempts by Henry to pass on both inside and out and seemed set for second until his engine packed up near the start/finish line gifting a maximum to Edinburgh.
(5-1) (8-4)
Heat 3: Kevin Little, Ross Brady, Jan Pedersen, Matt Read [59.1]
Kevin Little made a blistering start from gate 4 to lead while Ross Brady tucked in behind for another maximum.
(5-1) (13-5)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, Lee Dicken, Christian Henry, Jon Underwood [58.5]
Guest Lee Dicken was first away but Carr went around his outside on the second bend to win easily. Christian Henry took a comfortable third place to stretch Monarchs' lead to 10 points.
(4-2) (17-7)
Heat 5: Kevin Little, Colin White, Gary Corbett [59.2]
Colin White made a great start from gate 4 but Ross Brady went down on the first bend. Brady stayed down expecting another chance in the re-run but was excluded. In the re-run, Kevin Little made the start and stayed ahead riding a wide line despite the best endeavors of Colin White riding a tight line to pass.
(3-3) (20-10)
Heat 6: Robert Eriksson, Lee Dicken, Barrie Evans, Will Beveridge [59.2]
Eriksson made another start to lead. Beveridge was squeezed between Dicken and the impressive Evans, and tried a second bend cutback only to fall. He restarted to finish.
(3-3) (23-13)
Heat 7: Blair Scott, Peter Carr, Jan Pedersen [58.8]
Carr and Scott made the start. Matt Read fell at the first bend and retired. Pedersen was not able to challenge the Monarchs' pair. Peter Carr allowed Blair Scott to take the flag.
(5-1) (28-14)
Heat 8: Colin White, Will Beveridge, Christian Henry [60.1]
Colin White replaced Underwood as a tactical substitute. Beveridge made the start and withstood all attempts by Colin White to pass for a couple of laps. Then both Christian Henry and Gary Corbett seemed to fall simultaneously on the second bend. To his credit, Corbett quickly moved to get off the track while Henry seemed to be on the point of restarting. The referee had stopped the race without justification and excluded Corbett. Colin White took his chance and won the re-run.
(3-3) (31-17)
Heat 9: Lee Dicken, Barrie Evans, Ross Brady, Kevin Little [61.4]
While the riders were lining up to start a heavy shower hit the Arena. This made the track very slippy and produced by far the best heat of the meeting. Kevin Little missed the start and got into trouble on the second bend dropping well back. Brady was second behind Evans, but some good riding by the youngster allowed Dicken to come around the outside to join him. Brady made a few attempts to get back but despite getting into second place a couple of times, excellent team-riding by the visitors pegged him back. He had another try and just failed to pass Evans on the line.
(1-5) (32-22)
Heat 10: Robert Eriksson, Jan Pedersen, Will Beveridge, Matt Read [61.1]
Robert Eriksson swept ahead once more with Beveridge in close attendance. Jan Pedersen put in a challenge and passed Beveridge to take a good second place.
(4-2) (36-24)
Heat 11: Blair Scott, Peter Carr, Colin White [60.3]
Blair Scott made another great start to hit the font with Peter Carr. Gary Corbett fell on the second bend and Colin White could make no impression.
(5-1) (41-25)
Heat 12: Lee Dicken, Kevin Little, Barrie Evans, Christian Henry [62.1]
The rain was now really heavy and Kevin Little didn't appear to relish the conditions as the Arena pair led. Kevin made an inside lunge that took him into second place but he couldn't do anything about tactical substitute Lee Dicken who picked up another heat win.
(2-4) (43-29)
At this point, the two minutes for heat 13 were cancelled because Lee Dicken had two races in a row. The rain continued to fall and after a waiting a few minutes to see if it was going to stop, the referee called a halt to procedings
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
9 |
|||
|
Will Beveridge |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
Kevin Little |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
Ross Brady |
2* |
X |
1 |
|
|
|
3+1 |
|
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
2* |
2* |
|
|
7+2 |
||
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
|
9 |
|
|
Christian Henry |
2* |
1 |
1* |
0 |
|
|
|
4+2 |
|
Arena Essex |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Colin White |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
8 |
|
|
Gary Corbett |
1* |
1* |
X |
F |
|
|
|
2+2 |
|
Matt Read |
0 |
F |
0 |
|
|
|
0 |
|
|
Jan Pedersen |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
4 |
||
|
Lee Dicken |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
10 |
|
|
Barrie Evans |
E |
1* |
2* |
1 |
|
4+2 |
||
|
Jon Underwood |
1 |
0 |
|
|
1 |
|||
Robert Eriksson was untroubled throughout his three rides. Similarly with Peter Carr, except that he was also able to 'ride shotgun' behind Blair Scott in two rides. Kevin Little started with two smooth wins but faded as the rain made the track slippy. Ross Brady also looked unhappy on the wet track after a bright start.
Will Beveridge demonstrated how difficult the number two position can be when you're out of form and out of luck. A last in heat one coming (as ever!) off gate 4, a fall in heat 6 and suddenly a low score beckons. In heat 8 he faced Colin White, in as a tactical substitute but still appeared to have the race under control until the race was stopped when Corbett fell and was excluded. Beveridge had to do it all again and White made the start to win. Beveridge finished with a point in heat 10 after being passed by Pedersen.
Christian Henry did what was expected of him and scored in his first three rides although he found Evans a bit hot for him. Blair Scott was unlucky not to get a four-ride maximum. He would have faced Underwood and Pedersen in heat 14, and with no viable tactical options for Arena would have been a hot favourite to win.
Lee Dicken put in a good stint for Arena Essex with ten points from four rides. Colin White was not able to challenge any of the top home riders and apart from beating Beveridge twice and Henry once, his points were at the expense of his teammates. Gary Corbett and Matt Read both have double figure scores at Armadale in the past but neither got going in this match. Jan Pedersen looked competitive but only beat Beveridge of the home riders. Underwood was off the pace but Barrie Evans was very impressive indeed and unlucky to miss out on second place in heat two and a paid score of eight points.
Man of the match: Blair Scott
Next meeting: v Workington, Premier League, Armadale on Friday 16th June 2000
John Lowe