Edinburgh Monarchs 47: Glasgow Tigers 43
Spring Trophy
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 23rd March 2001
Edinburgh did just enough to secure the Spring Trophy at Armadale. The meeting went ahead despite heavy rain falling throughout central Scotland. The track proved very difficult and there were a number of falls and near falls.
Glasgow proved once again that they are a difficult team for Edinburgh to dominate. Glasgow may not win many heats but their strong middle order was always capable of taking minor points from the Monarchs bottom end.
Edinburgh's cause was not helped by the injury suffered by Ben Shields in his first heat. He took no further part in the meeting and his remaining three rides yielded no points.
Falls by Blair Scott and Derek Sneddon when in scoring positions, and engine failure for Peter Carr when leading and a last heat mix up between Jan Andersen and Robert Eriksson all hampered Monarchs' cause. This along with judicious use of tactical substitutions kept Glasgow in contention to the end.
Both teams were at full strength.
Gate position A was in used with Edinburgh off 1 and 3 for the first heat.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Les Collins, Emiliano Sanchez [58.6]
Robert Eriksson gated with Blair Scott in contention. Les Collins passed and Blair went into the third bend fence and was excluded. Eriksson won the re-run without trouble.
(3-3) (3-3)
Heat 2: Derek Sneddon, Aidan Collins, Christian Henry, Scott Courtney [60.6]
Derek Sneddon made a blistering start from gate four and held off Aidan Collins without difficulty with Christian Henry third.
(4-2) (7-5)
Heat 3: Mark Courtney, Jan Andersen, Ben Shields [Awarded]
Mark Courtney showed up the marked advantage of gate four with a sweep past Jan Andersen on the first and second bend. Ben Shields was at the back but pursued Stuart Swales relentlessly and had several attempts to pass. Shields finally seemed to have passed off the fourth bend of the penultimate lap but Swales appeared to pick up drive and both riders ended up off the track. This happened right in front of the referees' box and Jim McGregor immediately put on the white exclusion light and awarded the race.
(3-3) (10-8)
Heat 4: Peter Carr, James Grieves, Derek Sneddon, Scott Courtney [59.3]
Peter Carr made a fair start but Grieves came off the outside gate and swept past into the lead. Carr stalked Grieves for a couple of laps before producing a great inside pass on the back straight. Derek Sneddon had no problems securing another point to put Monarchs ahead on aggregate.
(4-2) (14-10)
Heat 5: Jan Andersen, Les Collins, Emiliano Sanchez, Christian Henry [58.9]
Christian Henry replaced Ben Shields but finished out of the points. Jan Andersen made a great start from gate 4 and won his first Armadale race.
(3-3) (17-13)
Heat 6: Robert Eriksson, Aidan Collins, Blair Scott, James Grieves [60.2]
Eriksson and Scott made the start but Blair slipped from second to last as first James Grieves and then Aidan Collins passed. Grieves suffered mechanical problems off the last bend and Blair was gifted a point.
(4-2) (21-15)
Heat 7: Christian Henry, Mark Courtney, Stuart Swales [60.1]
The Edinburgh pairing made the start as Carr pulled ahead with Courtney pressing Henry. Carr then pulled up with ignition problems. Courtney sensing his chance passed Henry only for the young Australian to come back and retake the lead.
(3-3) (24-18)
Heat 8: Les Collins, Blair Scott, Emiliano Sanchez, Christian Henry [59.7]
Les Collins replaced the out-of-sorts Scott Courtney as a tactical substitute. Derek Sneddon was excluded for tape touching and was replaced by Christian Henry. Blair Scott made the gate from the outside trap and held on for three laps before Les Collins found a way past.
(2-4) (26-22)
Heat 9: Jan Andersen, James Grieves, Aidan Collins, Derek Sneddon [60.1]
Derek Sneddon replaced Ben Shields and had a real go at Aidan Collins for third place while Jan Andersen secured another impressive win over Grieves.
(3-3) (29-24)
Heat 10: Robert Eriksson, Mark Courtney, Blair Scott, Stuart Swales [60.3]
This produced a routine win for Robert Eriksson ahead of Mark Courtney. Blair Scott battled his way past Stuart Swales to collect a point.
(4-2) (33-27)
Heat 11: Peter Carr, Les Collins, Emiliano Sanchez, Christian Henry [58.7]
Peter Carr beat Les Collins while Sanchez came from behind to pass Christian Henry.
(3-3) (36-30)
Heat 12: Mark Courtney, Aidan Collins, Derek Sneddon, Christian Henry [60.4]
Monarchs put in Christian Henry to replace Ben Shields and join Derek Sneddon. Glasgow responded by bringing in Mark Courtney to replace the struggling Stuart Swales. The Monarchs' reserve pairing looked like splitting the heat as Henry and Sneddon kept Aidan Collins at the back for a couple of laps. However the home reserves got into a tangle and allowed Collins to pass.
(1-5) (37-35)
Heat 13: Peter Carr, Robert Eriksson, Les Collins, James Grieves [59.9]
Monarchs hit back to restore a six point margin as Carr and Eriksson secured an easy maximum over Collins and Grieves.
(5-1) (42-36)
Heat 14: Jan Andersen, Mark Courtney, Scott Courtney [61.3]
Jan Andersen ensured a Monarchs victory with a win over Mark Courtney in this re-run heat. Derek Sneddon looked set for a point until he fell on the fourth bend and was excluded.
(3-3) (45-39)
Heat 15: Les Collins, Jan Andersen, Mark Courtney, Robert Eriksson [60.1]
Edinburgh needed only to avoid a 5-1 against to take the Spring Trophy and with the match already won, Peter Carr sat out this heat leaving Jan Andersen and Robert Eriksson to face Collins and Courtney senior. This looked like being a routine home 5-1 after Eriksson and Andersen gated. However Andersen appeared to lock up on the second lap nearly bringing down Eriksson. This allowed Les Collins to slip between them and with Eriksson off his best line, Courtney took third place. Andersen tried to come back at Collins but settled to stay ahead of Courtney and avoid a run-off for the Trophy.
(2-4) (47-43)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2* |
0 |
|
11+1 |
|
Blair Scott |
X |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
4 |
|
Ben Shields |
1* |
N |
N |
N |
|
1+1 |
|
|
Jan Andersen |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
13 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
R |
3 |
3 |
|
|
9 |
|
Christian Henry |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
|
Derek Sneddon |
3 |
1 |
T |
0 |
1 |
X |
5 |
|
Glasgow Tigers |
|
|
|
||||
|
Les Collins |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
|
Emiliano Sanchez |
1 |
1* |
1 |
1* |
|
|
4+3 |
|
Stuart Swales |
X |
1* |
0 |
|
|
|
1+1 |
|
Mark Courtney |
3 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
13 |
|
James Grieves |
2 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
4 |
|
|
Aidan Collins |
2 |
2 |
1* |
2* |
|
|
7+2 |
|
Scott Courtney |
0 |
0 |
1* |
|
|
|
1+1 |
This was a strange match with Monarchs winning 11 out of 15 heats yet only securing a 4-point winning margin. Many of the races wee won from the gate on a slick and at times treacherous track. Gate 4 was certainly the place to be in the early stages of the meeting. The rider in the outside gate made the start in seven of the first ten heats and won in five of them.
Surprisingly no Edinburgh riders took a maximum with Peter Carr suffering a breakdown in heat 7 while Robert Eriksson ran in last in the final heat. Jan Andersen top scored although he was beaten by Mark Courtney in his first ride and by Les Collins in his last ride.
Blair Scott had a hit and miss meeting with a heat 1 fall, a slip from second to last in heat 6 but with excellent rides in heats 8 and 10. Ben Shields had a useful looking first ride before he was forced to quit through injury.
Christian Henry had a mixed meeting with a superb heat 7 win followed by three last places. Derek Sneddon was perhaps the star of the show with a brilliant heat 2 win and some gutsy riding. A heat 8 tape offence and a heat 14 exclusion prevented him from scoring more points.
The Glasgow heat leaders again failed to win many races although Les Collins was good value as ever. James Grieves looked even worse than last year posing no threat apart from holding back Carr for a while in heat 4. Stuart Swales, normally a useful Armadale performer was dreadful and possibly suffered from his heat 3 fall. Mark Courtney was excellent.
Aidan Collins again looked the part with a paid nine points but Scott Courtney looked very down on confidence.
Man of the match: Jan Andersen/Derek Sneddon
John Lowe