Edinburgh Monarchs 52: Berwick Bandits 37
Premier League
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 8th September 2000
Edinburgh won easily enough against Berwick after taking an early stranglehold on the match. Berwick held back the lead using tactical substitutions and attention was focussed on the fight for the bonus point. This looked to have been lost when Ross Brady was excluded in heat 14. However Christian Henry pressured Dean Felton into a fall in the rerun. Scott Smith beat Henry in the second rerun but a 5-1 by Carr and Eriksson was enough to tie the scores. Carr made no mistake in the run-off against Alan Mogridge.
As with many matches this season, the top-two Edinburgh riders were immaculate but support was somewhat patchy.
Edinburgh were at full strength while Berwick were without Jorg Pingel and broken ankle victim Wesley Waite. Pingel had been expected to miss the match through German League commitments, so it came as a surprise to see a sick note produced and rider replacement operated. Gary Flint stepped in at number 7.
Peter Carr lost the toss once more and Berwick opted for gate position B with Monarchs off 2 and 4 in heat 1.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Paul Bentley, Blair Scott, David Meldrum [57.6]
Bentley made a good start but Eriksson soon carved his way to the front. Blair Scott was at the back but swept around the outside of both rider replacement David Meldrum and Bentley on the third/fourth bend to take second. Blair seemed set to hold his place but Bentley managed to get inside him on the second bend of the last lap.
(4-2) (4-2)
Heat 2: Dean Felton, Christian Henry, Will Beveridge [59.8]
Henry and Beveridge appeared to have made the start but Dean Felton emerged from the second bend ahead and won without challenge. Gary Flint was well behind and failed to finish.
(3-3) (7-5)
Heat 3: Peter Carr, Ross Brady, David Meldrum, Scott Smith [57.3]
Peter Carr swept into a big lead early on but Ross Brady made a poor start. Brady passed Meldrum to take second place but Meldrum came back. They rode virtually side-by-side for a lap before Brady eventually established himself.
(5-1) (12-6)
Heat 4: Alan Mogridge, Kevin Little, Christian Henry, Gary Flint [58.2]
Mogridge gated but Little chased him all the way without ever looking like he was capable of passing. Henry took an easy third place.
(3-3) (15-9)
Heat 5: Peter Carr, Paul Bentley, Dean Felton [57.2]
Ross Brady missed the start and was rather impatient trying to pass rider replacement Dean Felton and fell on the fourth bend and retired. Peter Carr had no problems winning the heat.
(3-3) (18-12)
Heat 6: Robert Eriksson, Alan Mogridge, Blair Scott, Gary Flint [58.1]
Gary Flint replaced Felton as a reserve change to clear his third ride. This was a processional heat won by Eriksson from the gate.
(4-2) (22-14)
Heat 7: Kevin Little, David Meldrum, Scott Smith, Will Beveridge [58.8]
Kevin Little made the start and had no problems holding off David Meldrum. Beveridge missed the start and fell trying to pass Scott Smith and restarted.
(3-3) (25-17)
Heat 8: Paul Bentley, Blair Scott, Christian Henry, Dean Felton [58.9]
Berwick made changes with Felton replacing Flint and Bentley coming in as a tactical substitute for ride replacement. Bentley made the start and managed to stay ahead of Blair Scott and Christian Henry.
(3-3) (28-20)
Heat 9: Peter Carr, Alan Mogridge, Ross Brady, David Meldrum [57.3]
David Meldrum replaced Felton as a tactical substitute but trailed in last. Carr easily beat Mogridge and Brady once against passed Meldrum.
(4-2) (32-22)
Heat 10: Robert Eriksson, David Meldrum, Blair Scott, Scott Smith [59.1]
Blair Scott gated and Eriksson took Meldrum wide to join Scott at the front. This looked like a 5-1 until Blair made was passed by the tight-riding Meldrum on bend two of the final lap.
(4-2) (36-24)
Heat 11: Alan Mogridge, Kevin Little, Paul Bentley, Will Beveridge [58.5]
Monarchs as ever looked vulnerable in this heat especially after Alan Mogridge came in as a tactical substitute for rider replacement to join Bentley. Mogridge gated but Beveridge had Bentley stuck at the back. While Bentley was eventually able to pass Beveridge on the second bend but by then Little was well ahead to secure an important second place.
(2-4) (38-28)
Heat 12: Peter Carr, David Meldrum, Christian Henry, Dean Felton [57.2]
Carr missed the start but soon got ahead to win by a huge margin while Christian Henry took another important point as Monarchs edged towards the target for the bonus point.
(4-2) (42-30)
Heat 13: Robert Eriksson, Alan Mogridge, Paul Bentley, Kevin Little [58.1]
Eriksson had no problems in winning this heat but Little finished last after trying everything to pass Bentley.
(3-3) (45-33)
Heat 14: Scott Smith, Christian Henry [60.5]
Both teams made reserve changes with Christian Henry and Dean Felton coming in for Beveridge and Flint. The Berwick pair gated and Ross Brady fell trying to pass on the outside of the second bend and was excluded. In the rerun, Smith and Felton were ahead but Felton fell on the third bend under pressure from Henry and was also excluded. Smith made the start in the next attempt to run the heat. Henry had a couple of tries to pass on the first lap but then settled for ensuring that he finished. This left the bonus point still available.
(2-3) (47-36)
Heat 15: Peter Carr, Robert Eriksson, Paul Bentley, Alan Mogridge [58.4]
Monarchs now needed a 5-1 to force a run-off for the bonus point. Berwick won the toss for gate position and went for the inside gates. They took advantage of this and were first away. Carr soon carved his way through to lead but Eriksson had his work cut of passing Mogridge. After a couple of probes, Eriksson finally passed on the fourth bend. Mogridge fell almost immediately. This was no surprise as he had often looked in trouble there in previous heats. With Carr and Eriksson way ahead of Bentley it would have been easy for Mogridge to stay down and try and force a rerun. However he got up and restarted.
(5-1) (46-43)
Run-off for Bonus point: Peter Carr, Alan Mogridge [57.6]
Peter Carr off the inside gate beat Mogridge by a huge margin to secure the bonus point.
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2* |
|
|
14+1 |
|
Blair Scott |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
15 |
|
Ross Brady |
2* |
F |
1 |
X |
|
|
|
3+1 |
|
Kevin Little |
2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
Will Beveridge |
1* |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
1+1 |
|
Christian Henry |
2 |
1* |
1* |
1 |
2 |
|
|
7+2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Swindon |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Paul Bentley |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1* |
1 |
|
10+1 |
|
Jorg Pingel |
Rider replacement |
|
(7+1) |
|||||
|
David Meldrum |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
|
7 |
|
Scott Smith |
0 |
1* |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
4+1 |
|
Alan Mogridge |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
12 |
|
Dean Felton |
3 |
1* |
0 |
0 |
X |
|
|
4+1 |
|
Gary Flint |
R |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
Peter Carr produced an easy five-ride maximum (six -rides if the run-off is counted). Robert Eriksson also had a paid maximum with several points earned from the back. Kevin Little had a much better meeting than of late and was only beaten by Mogridge (three times) and Bentley (once). He also displayed more fight this time when behind.
Blair Scott was a bit vulnerable from the back but scored in each ride. Christian Henry also scored in every ride and had a creditable paid nine. Ross Brady failed to make a start. He managed two passes but also fell twice trying to pass. Will Beveridge also failed to make starts and fell once.
Berwick had little to offer apart from Mogridge and to a lesser extend Bentley. Meldrum was steady but only beat the Blair Scott and the home reserves. Scott Smith had one of his better Armadale meetings. Dean Felton did well in his first two rides but faded and eventually cost Berwick the bonus point by falling in heat 14. Gary Flint scored the same as Wesley Waite would have zero! Rider replacement yielded seven points but that included two tactical substitutes.
Man of the match: Peter Carr
Next home meeting: v Stoke, Premier League, Armadale on Friday 15th September 2000
John Lowe