Reading Racers 49: Edinburgh Monarchs 41
Premier League
Smallmead, Reading
Monday 3rd July 2000
Edinburgh went down to a defeat against Reading on a heavy track at Smallmead. Edinburgh were up against it from heat 3 onwards after Ross Brady crashed out of the meeting when he shed a chain whilst lying second. This gifted Reading a 5-1 heat advantage that overturned Monarchs' early lead. The absence of Brady was covered by Edinburgh's reserves and by a tactical substitution in heat ten. This hampered Monarchs' tactical options.
It appeared that Edinburgh were in for another heavy defeat as Racers piled up a 12-point lead until Carr and Scott steadied the ship with a heat eight 8-1 golden double. This closed the gap to 5 points and there it remained giving Edinburgh the bonus point by a comfortable eight-point margin.
Edinburgh were at full strength while Reading introduced their revised line-up. Per Wester was out and replaced by Matt Read, recently released by Arena Essex. Read came in at number 2. This resulted in Paul Clews moving up to heat leader taking the number 5 spot.
Heat 1: Armando Castagna, Robert Eriksson, Matt Read, Blair Scott [63.3]
Castagna and Read gated. Matt Read held off Robert Eriksson for three laps.
(4-2) (4-2)
Heat 2: Will Beveridge, Christian Henry, Shane Colvin, Marc Norris [64.5]
Beveridge and Henry gated and won by a huge margin. Norris was a quarter of a lap behind Henry when he slowed down gifting a point to Colvin.
(1-5) (5-7)
Heat 3: Phil Morris, Krister Marsh, Kevin Little [Awarded]
Ross Brady fell after a mechanical problem when lying second and took no further part in the meeting. The race was stopped and awarded.
(5-1) (10-8)
Heat 4: Paul Clews, Peter Carr, Shane Colvin, Christian Henry [63.0]
Clews made the gate as Carr made a mess of things and was never able to get on terms. Christian Henry was third when he fell and restarted to gift Colvin a second point.
(4-2) (14-10)
Heat 5: Phil Morris, Robert Eriksson, Krister Marsh [62.8]
Morris had a great race to best Eriksson while Scott tried everything to get past Marsh eventually falling off.
(4-2) (18-12)
Heat 6: Armando Castagna, Peter Carr, Marc Norris, Will Beveridge [62.8]
Read made a rapid gate from Castagna. The Italian went past Read and Peter Carr followed.
(4-2) (22-14)
Heat 7: Paul Clews, Marc Norris, Kevin Little, Christian Henry [64.1]
Christian Henry replaced Ross Brady. Kevin Little got onto trouble on the second bend and nearly fell. Clews and Norris were away while Henry fell and restarted when third.
(5-1) (27-15)
Heat 8: Peter Carr, Blair Scott, Matt Read, Shane Colvin [63.5]
Edinburgh went for a golden double with Peter Carr in for Christian Henry. Blair Scott gated and Carr had no trouble passing Colvin and Read in the first two laps and finally heading Scott. Read put in a late challenge to Scott.
(1-8) (28-23)
Heat 9: Phil Morris, Peter Carr, Krister Marsh, Will Beveridge [62.8]
A great battle between Morris and Carr went in favour of the home captain. Peter Carr wasn't too happy at Morris's riding and let him know so in the pits afterwards!
(4-2) (32-25)
Heat 10: Armando Castagna, Robert Eriksson, Kevin Little, Matt Read [62.1]
Robert Eriksson came in as a tactical substitute for Brady. Eriksson and Little gated but Castagna swept around the pair of them to maintain his 100% record.
(3-3) (35-28)
Heat 11: Robert Eriksson, Paul Clews, Blair Scott, Marc Norris [62.9]
Eriksson made a fast start and held off a challenge by Clews. Blair Scott took third to close the gap to 5 points and put a stop to nay more tactical substitutes.
(2-4) (37-32)
Heat 12: Phil Morris, Kevin Little, Will Beveridge, Shane Colvin [62.8]
Phil Morris won from the Edinburgh pair.
(3-3) (40-35)
Heat 13: Armando Castagna, Robert Eriksson, Peter Carr, Paul Clews [62.7]
Castagna took another win while Clews fell trying to get past the team-riding Edinburgh pair.
(3-3) (43-38)
Heat 14: Krister Marsh, Will Beveridge, Marc Norris, Christian Henry [64.2]
With the gap at five points, no tactical options were available to replace Brady so Will Beveridge came in to join Christian Henry. Marsh produced his best ride of the night to win. Beveridge took second to secure the bonus point for Edinburgh.
(4-2) (47-40)
Heat 15: Robert Eriksson, Phil Morris, Peter Carr [63.4]
Eriksson gated and was chased by Castagna. The Italian's bid to pass was halted on the second bend when he stopped with a mechanical problem. Morris took second ahead of a subdued Peter Carr.
(2-4) (49-44)
|
Reading Racers |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Armando Castagna |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
R |
|
|
12 |
|
Matt Read |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
3 |
|
Phil Morris |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
14 |
|
Krister Marsh |
2* |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
|
7+1 |
|
Paul Clews |
3 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
8 |
|
|
Marc Norris |
0 |
2* |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
3+1 |
|
Shane Colvin |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1* |
3 |
|
13+1 |
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
0 |
2* |
1 |
|
|
|
3+1 |
|
Kevin Little |
1 |
1 |
1* |
2 |
|
|
5+1 |
|
|
Ross Brady |
X |
N |
N |
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
Peter Carr |
2 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
15 |
|
Will Beveridge |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1* |
2 |
|
|
6+1 |
|
Christian Henry |
2* |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
2+1 |
Peter Carr top scored for Monarchs without looking near his best. Robert Eriksson did well on a track where he has not always excelled. Kevin Little was not really in the picture and only managed to beat Shane Colvin and Matt Read. Will Beveridge picked up points without looking near as good as he did at Smallmead last year. Blair Scott never gave up battling for points. Christian Henry could have had decent payday if he could have avoided falling. Ross Brady fell on his first ride.
Castagna and Morris looked upstoppable for the home team although both were denied a maximum in heat 15. Paul Clews did a great job in his first match at heat leader. Matt Read made a quiet debut. Krister Marsh scored well without being at his best. Both Reading reserves were not really in contention most of the time although Norris did managed a good paid win heat 7.
Man of the match:
Next meeting: v Sheffield, Premier League, Armadale on Friday 7th July 2000
John Lowe