Edinburgh Monarchs 43: Workington Comets 50
Premier National Trophy
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 21st April 2000
Edinburgh received a body blow before the match when Ross Brady withdrew following a failure to recover in time from his foot injury. This left Monarchs with a mountain to climb if they were to contain a rampant Comets side stuffed with Armadale specialists.
Monarchs recovered from a poor start when little went their way and came to within a single point of the visitors after a heat 8 golden double. Without Brady they were unable to cope with the strength of the Workington top-four led by the unstoppable Carl Stonehewer. The match went to a last heat decider but Peter Carr was excluded and that was that.
There were many parallels with Monarchs' defeat by Newcastle in the opening home Premier National Trophy meeting last year. Monarchs recovered from that to go on and qualify and indeed went all the way to the final.
The weather was threatening with some rain earlier in the day. It held off for most of the meeting although there was one shower before heat 11. The crowd was the largest of the season buoyed up by a massive Workington contingent.
Monarch's Captain Peter Carr predictably lost the toss. Gate position A operated after Workington went for 2 and 4 for the first heat.
Heat 1: Carl Stonehewer, Kevin Little, Barry Campbell, Blair Scott [57.9]
Carl Stonehewer was away well and after seeing off Kevin Little on the second bend never looked like losing. Blair Scott made a fair start and seemed set to tie the heat. His bike appeared to lack speed and Barry Campbell soon passed Blair on the inside.
(2-4) (2-4)
Heat 2: Lee Smethills, Geoff Powell, Brian Turner [61.0]
Christian Henry made a storming start from gate 4 and was followed by Brian Turner. Geoff Powell kept up the chase and had a surge on the third bend of the penultimate lap but Turner held on. The heat seemed set for Monarchs' 5-1 when Henry fell on the last bend and balked Turner in the process. The referee controversially ordered a rerun with Henry excluded, rather than award the heat to Turner. In the rerun, Turner was sandwiched from gate 2 after missing the start and could not get back on terms.
(1-5) (3-9)
Heat 3: Peter Carr, Peter Karlsson, Mick Powell, Christian Henry [57.9]
Christian Henry came in as rider replacement but was unable to cope with the powerful Workington pairing. Peter Carr had little difficulty in winning after an incredible second bend turn enabled him to recover from a poor start.
(3-3) (6-12)
Heat 4: Robert Eriksson, Brent Werner, Christian Henry, Lee Smethills [58.1]
Eriksson made a storming start to win without difficulty. Christian Henry made a good start and was briefly second before losing position and slipping to last. He stormed back to pass Lee Smethills and secure Edinburgh a heat advantage.
(4-2) (10-14)
Heat 5: Carl Stonehewer, Peter Carr, Barry Campbell, Blair Scott [57.8]
Carr managed to force himself into the lead ahead of Stonehewer and rider replacement Blair Scott. Carl came back with an outside pass to take the lead. Even worse, Blair Scott, again hampered by lack of speed, was picked off by Barry Campbell.
(2-4) (12-18)
Heat 6: Kevin Little, Brent Werner, Blair Scott, Geoff Powell [59.3]
Brent Werner was nearly excluded after his bike failed on the line. Mick Powell's bike was brought out just in time. Little and Scott gated and looked set for a 5-1 until Werner pulled off a last gasp pass of Scott on the line.
(4-2) (16-20)
Heat 7: Peter Karlsson, Mick Powell, Robert Eriksson, Brian Turner [58.5]
Robert Eriksson missed the start and stayed in third place. This loss gave an advantage to Edinburgh in being able to pull a golden double in heat 8.
(1-5) (17-25)
Heat 8: Peter Carr, Kevin Little, Lee Smethills [59.8]
The inevitable happened and Carr and Little were introduced as tactical substitutes for Scott and Henry. They faced Campbell and Smethills with Carr on the back start line. Kevin Little gated and it took Carr half a lap to pass Smethills and just over a lap to pass Campbell. Barry got himself into trouble and hit the second bend fence and was excluded. He was taken off in the ambulance and missed his final ride. The rerun proved easy although Smethills made a good start and it took Carr a couple of laps to get past. The only doubt was whether Carr would catch Little who showed no signs of slowing down. While many thought that the pair went across the line together, the verdict went to Carr.
(8-1) (25-26)
Heat 9: Peter Carr, Brent Werner, Geoff Powell, Christian Henry [58.4]
Christian Henry came in as rider replacement. Peter Carr had another win but Henry finished last.
(3-3) (28-29)
Heat 10: Mick Powell, Kevin Little, Blair Scott, Peter Karlsson [59.3]
Blair Scott found his bike a bit faster after some adjustments and held position to beat Peter Karlsson for third place. Kevin Little could do nothing about Mick Powell and the margin stayed at one point to the visitors.
(3-3) (31-32)
Heat 11: Carl Stonehewer, Robert Eriksson, Geoff Powell, Brian Turner [61.1]
Eriksson and Stonehewer went into the second bend elbow to elbow. Stonehewer edged it and pushed Eriksson wide. Brian Turner was unable to get past reserve replacement Geoff Powell and the margin was back at three points.
(2-4) (33-36)
Heat 12: Peter Carr, Mick Powell, Christian Henry [59.4]
Peter Carr won against Mick Powell and the rapidly improving Christian Henry beat Geoff Powell to cut the margin once more.
(4-2) (37-38)
Heat 13: Carl Stonehewer, Robert Eriksson, Brent Werner, Kevin Little [59.1]
Stonehewer again muscled Eriksson wide on the second bend. Eriksson recovered to take second place but with Little trailing, the margin was increased once more.
(2-4) (39-42)
Heat 14: Peter Karlsson, Kevin Little, Christian Henry, Lee Smethills [59.8]
Kevin Little in as rider replacement really needed a heat win. It didn't happen. Peter Karlsson made that start and never looked like being caught. Christian Henry, in as a reserve change, had another good ride to tie the heat.
(3-3) (42-45)
Heat 15: Carl Stonehewer, Mick Powell, Robert Eriksson [59.7]
The riders were bunched with Stonehewer just ahead when Powell went down on the fourth bend. Carr complained that he needed little encouragement but nevertheless was excluded. Bar a double engine failure by Workington, the rerun became academic. Carl Stonehewer and Mick Powell led Eriksson home.
(1-5) (43-50)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Kevin Little |
2 |
3 |
2* |
2 |
0 |
2 |
|
11+1 |
|
Blair Scott |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1* |
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
2 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
X |
|
17 |
|
Ross Brady |
Rider replacement |
|
|
(2) |
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
9 |
|
Brian Turner |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
1 |
|
Christian Henry |
X |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1* |
|
3+1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Workington Comets |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Carl Stonehewer |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
15 |
|
Barry Campbell |
1 |
1 |
X |
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
Mick Powell |
1* |
2* |
3 |
2 |
2* |
|
|
10+3 |
|
Peter Karlsson |
2 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
|
|
|
8 |
|
Brent Werner |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
7 |
|
Geoff Powell |
2* |
0 |
1* |
1 |
0 |
|
|
4+2 |
|
Lee Smethills |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
4 |
Peter Carr led the way for Monarchs but suffered a defeat from the back by Stonehewer and a last heat exclusion. Kevin Little was steady and gated well but looked rather slow and was beaten by all of the Comets' top four. Robert Eriksson looked good but had the misfortune to encounter Stonehewer three times. He also ran third in heat 7 but was that a tactical move? With Ross Brady absent, Edinburgh didn't have the firepower to win races. His four programmed rides produced a mere two points.
Blair Scott had a troubled evening. He was lacking speed on his bike although adjustments seemed to fix that by his last ride. He was taken from the back three times in his first three rides. Brian Turner also looked down on speed but was very unlucky not to have been awarded heat 2. Christian Henry was the main success story of the night although it is not reflected in his score. He managed six rides and seemed set to win heat two until he fell. He was always on the pace. His gating has been transformed by a new clutch. The points will flow if he can sustain this improvement.
Stonehewer was in unstoppable form. He had a couple of hard second bends against Eriksson and passed Peter Carr. Mick Powell displayed his usual Armadale form, as did Brent Werner. Powell and Werner were first choice guests for Edinburgh at Armadale last season and showed why. Peter Karlsson made a great Armadale debut.
Geoff Powell and Lee Smethills made the most of their good fortune in heat 2. Powell went on to beat both Henry and Turner in subsequent heats.
Man of the match: Carl Stonehewer
Most exciting rider: Barry Campbell
Next home meeting: v Berwick, Premier National, Armadale on Friday 28th April 2000
John Lowe