Newcastle Diamonds 49: Edinburgh Monarchs 41
Premier League
Brough Park, Newcastle
Sunday 25th June 2000
Newcastle's new look team secured its first win after a tight match against Edinburgh. The scores were close throughout but Newcastle pulled away with 4-2 heat advantages in the last three heats. This was the most entertaining match of the season at Brough Park in front of a healthy crowd.
Newcastle were at full strength. For Edinburgh, Christian Henry passed a late fitness test and lined-up at number 7 despite pulling out of the Workington match after two heats.
Jesper Olsen won the toss and opted for gate position A with Newcastle off gates 1 and 3 in heat one.
Heat 1: Bjarne Pedersen, Robert Eriksson, Will Beveridge, Grant MacDonald [64.4]
Bjarne Pedersen headed Robert Eriksson off the second bend to win convincingly. Will Beveridge outgated his former teammate Grant MacDonald and held on despite the close attentions throughout.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, Darren Pearson, Christian Henry, Rob Grant [68.4]
Blair Scott won yet another heat 2 with Henry third to given Monarchs a two-point lead.
(2-4) (5-7)
Heat 3: Jesper Olsen, Peter Carr, Stuart Swales, Ross Brady [65.6]
Newcastle hit back to square the match through Jesper Olsen and Stuart Swales.
(4-2) (9-9)
Heat 4: André Compton, Kevin Little, Rob Grant, Christian Henry [65.8]
Kevin Little was first away but André Compton forced his way past for a win to give Newcastle the lead.
(4-2) (13-11)
Heat 5: Robert Eriksson, Stuart Swales, Will Beveridge [65.9]
Eriksson and Beveridge gated and Jesper Olsen fell and retired. Swales took second place but Monarchs drew level.
(2-4) (15-15)
Heat 6: Bjarne Pedersen, Kevin Little, Grant MacDonald, Blair Scott [65.2]
Pedersen continued his winning form to beat Kevin Little with Grant MacDonald third.
(4-2) (19-17)
Heat 7: Peter Carr, Ross Brady, Darren Pearson [65.8]
Carr and Brady made the gate but Compton pursued Brady relentlessly and passed him at the end of the third lap. Brady came back and repassed on the second bend of the last lap. Compton knocked Brady off on the back straight and crossed the line in second place but was excluded and Brady awarded second place.
(1-5) (20-22)
Heat 8: Grant MacDonald, Will Beveridge, Rob Grant [66.6]
Reserve change Blair Scott fell on the third bend of the first lap and was excluded. In the re-run, Grant MacDonald gained revenge on Beveridge for the heat 1 reverse by overtaking him to level the scores.
(4-2) (24-24)
Heat 9: Stuart Swales, Jesper Olsen, Christian Henry, Kevin Little [66.1]
Kevin Little locked up on the first bend and fell. He restarted to finish last as Newcastle gained a 5-1 to pull ahead.
(5-1) (29-25)
Heat 10: Bjarne Pedersen, Peter Carr, Ross Brady, Grant MacDonald [65.3]
Peter Carr made the start but was hauled back for an unsatisfactory start due to problems with the tapes and Pedersen made the gate the second time out.
(3-3) (32-28)
Heat 11: Robert Eriksson, André Compton, Will Beveridge, Darren Pearson [65.1]
Eriksson and Beveridge took a heat advantage to bring Edinburgh within two points.
(2-4) (34-32)
Heat 12: Peter Carr, Stuart Swales, Rob Grant, Blair Scott [64.9]
Carr secured another win but Swales and Grant took the minor placings to main the home lead.
(3-3) (37-35)
Heat 13: Bjarne Pedersen, Robert Eriksson, André Compton, Kevin Little [65.3]
Eriksson gated from Pedersen and Little. Pedersen overhauled Eriksson by the end of the third lap while Compton likewise passed Little.
(4-2) (41-37)
Heat 14: Jesper Olsen, Ross Brady, Darren Pearson, Christian Henry [66.7]
With the margin at 4 points, no tactical substitutes were possible. Jesper Olsen had little difficulty in winning with Pearson taking third to secure the home victory.
(4-2) (45-39)
Heat 15: Bjarne Pedersen, Peter Carr, Jesper Olsen [65.6]
Pedersen and Olsen gated while Eriksson retired early with an engine failure. Carr kept up the chase and passed on the last bend when Olsen ran wide.
(4-2) (49-41)
|
Newcastle Diamonds |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Bjarne Pedersen |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
15 |
|
Grant MacDonald |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
4 |
|
Stuart Swales |
1 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
|
8 |
|
Jesper Olsen |
3 |
R |
2* |
3 |
1 |
|
|
9+1 |
|
André Compton |
3 |
X |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
6 |
|
Darren Pearson |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
4 |
|
Rob Grant |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1* |
|
|
|
3+1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
E |
|
|
10 |
|
Will Beveridge |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1* |
|
|
|
5+1 |
|
Peter Carr |
2 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
12 |
|
Ross Brady |
0 |
2* |
1* |
2 |
|
|
|
5+2 |
|
Kevin Little |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
4 |
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
0 |
X |
0 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
Christian Henry |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
Peter Carr and Robert Eriksson predictably top scored but neither managed to beat the home number one Bjarne Pedersen. Kevin Little started well but faded with two last places in the demanding number five place.
Both second strings did well making up for their disappointing scores at Workington a day earlier. Beveridge had his best score in Monarchs colours and seemed to be more assured than of late including his spell with Newcastle. He was probably trying too hard previously. Ross Brady also came back well with a paid seven points. Both Monarchs reserves struggled. Blair Scott won heat 2 but failed to score a point after that. Christian Henry who was touch and go if he was fit to ride took third in the reserves race and scored only one gift point after that.
Newcastle had too much strength with Jesper Olsen a major boost at second string. The points came from all members of the team to give Newcastle their most convincing performance in weeks.
Man of the match: Bjarne Pedersen
Next meeting: v Newcastle, Premier League, Armadale on Friday 30th June 2000
John Lowe