Edinburgh Monarchs 44: Hull Vikings 46
Premier National Trophy
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 11th April 2001
Matches between Edinburgh and Hull are always hard fought and generally very close. Hull finally achieved the win they have threatened at Armadale ever since they threw away victory in the opening competitive match at Armadale in 1997. On that occasion, Lee Dicken and Peter Scully were on their way to a match clinching heat 14 5-1 when both came off on the last bend. The heat was re-run and Monarchs took a 5-1 and secured a win in heat 15. Hull have gone close a few times since then providing Edinburgh with arguably their two toughest matches last year.
Monarchs once more revealed their vulnerability to strength in depth teams and found it difficult to impose themselves on the match despite providing the majority of heat winners. The strength of the Hull team surprised many with Paul Thorp at second string and Ross Brady at reserve. There were comments about how Garry Stead and Paul Thorp came to acquire averages of well below seven points, leaving the space to bring in Bentley and Brady.
It did appear that Monarchs' heat leaders would see them through to a narrow win with Carr once more in a class by himself. Despite a heat 5 engine failure by Carr and Jan Andersen dropping a couple of points, Monarchs went into heat 13 with a two points lead. Jan Andersen secured a hard fought last bend win in heat 13 but with Robert Eriksson surprisingly running last the lead looked vulnerable. Heat 14 with Paul Thorp and Ross Brady in always looked a 5-1 for Hull and so it worked out. That put Hull in the lead for only the second time. Peter Carr won heat 15 but Robert Eriksson was again last and Hull's two point lead was preserved.
The match had moments of controversy with Justin Elkins pulling out after a single ride. He completed four laps in heat 2, a rare enough event in itself and even picked up a points after Derek Sneddon slipped up. He was withdrawn for an undisclosed medical reason conveniently allowing the in-form Ross Brady to take most of his remaining rides. It this was a ploy it didn't quite work out as David Walsh was excluded for tape touching in heat 1 and Brady was brought in as a replacement. This meant that Brady could not cover all of Elkins's rides and they had to go with one rider in heat 12.
The other point at issue was the blatant 'flyer' that David Walsh got away with in the last heat decider helping him to keep Robert Eriksson at the back. Overall Monarchs can have few complaints about the result. Hull were much sharper out of the gate and only Peter Carr seemed able to pass consistently on the slick track.
Edinburgh were at full strength while Hull replaced the injured Mike Smith with Justin Elkins.
Gate position B was used with Hull off 1 and 3 in heat one
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Blair Scott, Jamie Smith [59.1]
David Walsh went through the tapes and was penalized. Hull wisely decided not to keep him in on the 15 metre mark and Ross Brady was introduced. Brady was first away from gate 1 but Eriksson powered past off the second bend with Blair Scott also threatening. Brady got into problems hitting the fourth bend fence and was excluded. The third attempt at the heat saw Robert Eriksson and Blair Scott gate to keep Jamie Smith at the back. Robert didn't look that comfortable and appeared to be holding up Blair and keeping Smith in contention.
(5-1) (5-1)
Heat 2: Ross Brady, Christian Henry, Justin Elkins, Derek Sneddon [58.7]
Ross Brady surged ahead from the gate and was never in danger despite the best efforts of Christian Henry. Derek Sneddon made a good start and had the momentum to surge past Justin Elkins on the back straight. Sneddon held third place for a couple of laps before he went too wide on the second bend and allowed Elkins to move ahead on the tight inside line. Sneddon came cut and cut inside Elkins on the third band only to make the same mistake on the second bend of the last lap. Elkins held off Sneddon to take third but was not seen on the track after that.
(2-4) (7-5)
Heat 3: Peter Carr, Paul Thorp, Garry Stead, René Aas [58.1]
Thorp and Stead gated. Peter Carr took his time to thread his way through passing Thorp on the second band of lap two. René Aas was well adrift at the back.
(3-3) (10-8)
Heat 4: Jan Andersen, Ross Brady, Derek Sneddon [59.1]
Ross Brady gated as Andersen looked to be about to pass off the second bend when Brady moved across to block him. Paul Bentley fell on the second bend and was unable to clear his bike away to allow Brady to capitalize on his good start. Jan Andersen made no mistake in the re-run.
(4-2) (14-10)
Heat 5: David Walsh, Jamie Smith, René Aas [59.5]
Peter Carr was running away with the heat with René Aas having a dismal time unable to stay with Jamie Smith when Carr stopped with engine problems to gift a 5-1 to Hull.
(1-5) (15-15)
Heat 6: Robert Eriksson, Ross Brady, Paul Bentley, Blair Scott [58.8]
Ross Brady replaced Justin Elkins as a reserve change. Robert Eriksson cut across from gate 4 and left his opponents for dead. Blair Scott was last but dived between Brady and Bentley on the third and fourth bend only to slip back to last again by the first bend of the second lap.
(3-3) (18-18)
Heat 7: Garry Stead, Jan Andersen, Christian Henry, Paul Thorp [59.1]
Garry Stead won without problems from Jan Andersen. Christian Henry held third ahead of Paul Thorp but was passed. Christian came back to repass.
(3-3) (21-21)
Heat 8: Ross Brady, Blair Scott, Jamie Smith, Christian Henry [59.1]
Christian Henry replaced Derek Sneddon as a reserve change. Brady gated from Scott with Henry third well ahead of Smith. Christian Henry fell and restarted to gift the lead to Hull for the first time.
(2-4) (23-25)
Heat 9: Peter Carr, Ross Brady, René Aas, Paul Bentley [58.8]
Ross Brady came in for Elkins as a reserve change. Peter Carr won from the back while René Aas won out on a passing duel with Paul Bentley to level the match.
(4-2) (23-24)
Heat 10: Robert Eriksson, Paul Thorp, Garry Stead, Blair Scott [58.9]
Eriksson and Scott gated and led the race. Scott Robson never gave up pressing Scott. Blair seemed capable of holding his position until he fell on the last bend.
(3-3) (27-27)
Heat 11: David Walsh, Christian Henry, Jan Andersen, Jamie Smith [59.7]
David Walsh outgated Jan Andersen. Christian Henry took over and chased Walsh. Christian tried everything to pass Walsh eventually just failing on the line.
(3-3) (33-33)
Heat 12: Peter Carr, Garry Stead, Derek Sneddon [58.6]
With Ross Brady running out of rides, Hull went with one rider. Peter Carr won easily from Stead and Sneddon.
(4-2) (37-35)
Heat 13: Jan Andersen, David Walsh, Paul Bentley, Robert Eriksson [59.5]
David Walsh gated from Jan Andersen and Robert Eriksson. Paul Bentley soon went past Robert Eriksson who looked uncomfortable. Jan Andersen continued to press Walsh and was rewarded when the Hull number one made a mistake on the last bend. Jan surged past to win while Walsh did well to regain control to take second place.
(3-3) (40-38)
Heat 14: Paul Thorp, Ross Brady, Christian Henry, René Aas [59.3]
Thorp and Brady gated and secured a 5-1 to put Hull ahead again. Christian chased but René was well behind.
(1-5) (41-43)
Heat 15: Peter Carr, Garry Stead, David Walsh, Robert Eriksson [57.6]
Carr and Eriksson were on the inside gates in the last heat decider. David Walsh had a real 'flyer' from gate 2 but was not called back. Carr had no problems in moving into the lead but Eriksson was stuck at the back and couldn't find a way past Walsh.
(3-3) (44-46)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
9 |
|
Blair Scott |
2* |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
|
4+1 |
|
Peter Carr |
3 |
E |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
12 |
|
René Aas |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
2 |
|
Jan Andersen |
3 |
2 |
1* |
3 |
|
|
9+1 |
|
|
Christian Henry |
2 |
1* |
0 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
8+1 |
|
Derek Sneddon |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hull Vikings |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
David Walsh |
T |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1* |
|
|
9+1 |
|
Jamie Smith |
1 |
2* |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
4+1 |
|
Garry Stead |
1* |
3 |
1* |
2 |
2 |
|
|
9+2 |
|
Paul Thorp |
2 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
7 |
|
|
Paul Bentley |
X |
1* |
0 |
1* |
|
|
|
2+2 |
|
Justin Elkins |
1 |
N |
N |
|
1 |
|||
|
Ross Brady |
X |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
2* |
14+1 |
Peter Carr was reputedly trying out his new big track engine and said that he might struggle. No-one would have noticed given the way he won from the back or from the front. He did suffer one engine failure when way ahead. Robert Eriksson won three heats but then finished last in heats 13 and 15. Jan Andersen had a fair meeting dropping only two points.
The Edinburgh reserves predictably found the going a bit tough especially with Ross Brady able to take extra rides following the withdrawal of Elkins. Christian Henry did a good job but found it hard to pass on his favourite outside line.
It is hard to blame the defeat on odd points dropped by Monarchs' heat leaders. The fundamental problem is the lack of points from second string particularly number four. René Aas was very slow in three of his rides but did well to beat Paul Bentley from the back in heat 9.
The Hull team scored steadily across the board with Ross Brady proving to be the key rider. Ross is likely to be very useful during his brief spell at reserve as he is able to appear in heats 2, 8 and 14, all of which he won. He gated well and rode smoothly apart from a heat 1 fall. Paul Thorp did not score as well as might have been expected but Garry Stead and David Walsh did very well. Paul Bentley, never a strong Armadale performer, was very quiet.
With Newcastle due to visit Armadale next week things are not going to get any easier.
Man of the match: Ross Brady
John Lowe