Workington Comets 46:
Edinburgh Monarchs 44Premier League
Derwent Park, Workington
Saturday 24th June 2000
Edinburgh came close to a shock win at Derwent Park after a dramatic last heat decider. For just over a lap, Peter Carr and Robert Eriksson held the required 5-1 position before first Carl Stonehewer and then Mick Powell passed Eriksson to give the result to Workington.
Monarchs did manage to easily defend their 9-point lead from the Armadale match and thus took the bonus point.
Edinburgh were at full strength although Christian Henry was troubled with a wrist injury sustain at Armadale the day before in the heat 2 pile-up. He withdrew from the meeting after struggling in his first two heats.
Workington had Peter Karlsson back after World Championship duty and replaced the injured Barry Campbell with James Mann of Buxton.
This was a highly entertaining match with some good racing and a tight scoreline throughout.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Carl Stonehewer, Lee Smethills, Will Beveridge [66.9]
Robert Eriksson sped from the tapes to inflict a rare defeat of Carl Stonehewer.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Blair Scott, Geoff Powell, Christian Henry, James Mann [69.5]
Blair Scott and Christian Henry made the start but Henry was soon struggling with his wrist injury and was passed by Geoff Powell. It finished with a Monarchs heat advantage to enable to the visitors to take the lead.
(2-4) (5-7)
Heat 3: Peter Carr, Mick Powell, Brent Werner, Ross Brady [67.6]
Peter Carr headed Mick Powell and Brent Werner to maintain the lead.
(3-3) (8-10)
Heat 4: Peter Karlsson, Kevin Little, James Mann, Christian Henry [67.6]
Kevin Little made a start but was passed by Karlsson. It appeared that Monarchs would get another tied heat but the toiling Christian Henry was passed by James Mann off the last bend. Henry withdrew from the meeting after his second ride due to aggravating the wrist injury sustained at Armadale on Friday.
(4-2) (12-12)
Heat 5: Mick Powell, Robert Eriksson, Brent Werner, Will Beveridge [67.8]
Mick Powell and Brent Werner led this heat but Robert Eriksson came hard under Karlsson off the fourth bend.
(4-2) (16-14)
Heat 6: Kevin Little, Carl Stonehewer, Lee Smethills, Blair Scott [67.8]
Kevin Little gated and withstood everything that Carl Stonehewer tried and held on to secure his finest Derwent Park heat.
(3-3) (19-17)
Heat 7: Peter Carr, Peter Karlsson, Ross Brady, Geoff Powell [67.9]
Peter Karlsson gated but both Carr and Brady passed him on the exit from the second bend. Karlsson came back to pass Brady at the end of the first lap but could make no impression on Carr as Monarchs drew level.
(2-4) (21-21)
Heat 8: Lee Smethills, Will Beveridge, Blair Scott, James Mann [68.7]
Lee Smethills continued his excellent form with a heat win over Will Beveridge and reserve replacement Blair Scott.
(3-3) (24-24)
Heat 9: Brent Werner, Mick Powell, Kevin Little, Blair Scott [67.6]
Workington moved ahead after a maximum from Brent Werner and Mick Powell ahead of Little and Scott.
(5-1) (29-25)
Heat 10: Carl Stonehewer, Peter Carr, Ross Brady, Lee Smethills [67.5]
Carl Stonehewer secured his first (and only) heat victory beating Peter Carr and Ross Brady.
(3-3) (32-28)
Heat 11: Robert Eriksson, Peter Karlsson, Blair Scott, Geoff Powell [67.7]
Monarchs reduced the deficit with a 4-2 courtesy of Robert Eriksson and Blair Scott, in as a reserve replacement for Beveridge.
(2-4) (34-32)
Heat 12: Mick Powell, Peter Carr, Blair Scott, James Mann [68.0]
Mick Powell demonstrated his return to form, with a win over the hard chasing Peter Carr. Blair Scott took third place to tie the heat.
(3-3) (37-35)
Heat 13: Peter Karlsson, Carl Stonehewer, Robert Eriksson, Kevin Little [67.8]
Workington took their second 5-1 of the meeting to stretch the lead to six points.
(5-1) (42-36)
Heat 14: Peter Carr, Robert Eriksson, Brent Werner, Geoff Powell [68.1]
Inevitably, Monarchs went for a double tactical substitution with Carr and Eriksson replacing Ross Brady and the injured Christian Henry. They delivered a 5-1 over Brent Werner and Geoff Powell to close the gap to two points.
(1-5) (43-41)
Heat 15: Peter Carr, Carl Stonehewer, Mick Powell, Robert Eriksson [67.4]
Carr and Eriksson needed a 5-1 to win the Match and looked to be on course as they sped from the tapes. Carl Stonehewer had other ideas and passed Eriksson on the second bend of lap 2. Then when it appeared that Monarchs were set for a draw Mick Powell passed Eriksson on the last lap.
(3-3) (46-44)
|
Workington Comets |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Carl Stonehewer |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2* |
2 |
|
|
11+1 |
|
Lee Smethills |
1* |
1* |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
5+2 |
|
Mick Powell |
2 |
3 |
2* |
3 |
1* |
|
|
11+2 |
|
Brent Werner |
1* |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
6+1 |
|
|
Peter Karlsson |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
10 |
|
|
Geoff Powell |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 |
||
|
James Mann |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2* |
0 |
|
11+1 |
|
Will Beveridge |
0 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
2 |
||
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
|
16 |
|
Ross Brady |
0 |
1 |
1* |
|
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Kevin Little |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
6 |
||
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
0 |
1* |
0 |
1 |
1* |
|
6+2 |
|
Christian Henry |
1 |
0 |
N |
|
|
|
1 |
|
Monarchs took 8 out of the 15 heat wins and certainly matched the much-hyped Comets top four. Carr and Eriksson both stood out and Kevin Little did well in the tough number 5 position. Monarchs' reserves also outscored their counterparts and would have done so more comfortably had Christian Henry been fully fit. Both Edinburgh second strings failed to get the points they would have hoped for.
Carl Stonehewer unusually was restricted to one win and Carr, Eriksson and Little all had heat wins against him. Mick Powell was probably the match winner with a dramatic return to form. Lee Smethills produced another great show from number 2. Comets do look very weak at reserve with Geoff Powell having lost his early season form.
Man of the match: Peter Carr
Next home meeting: v Newcastle, Premier League, Brough Park on Sunday 26th June 2000
John Lowe