Edinburgh Monarchs 59: Stoke Potters 31
Premier League
Lothian Arena, Armadale
Friday 29th June 2001
Edinburgh produced a brilliant all-round team performance to beat Stoke by 28 points despite losing Peter Carr after he had scored only two points. The injuries sustained by Carr and also by Dalle Andersson certainly took the gloss off the win. The injuries could hardly have come at a worse time with Monarchs on a big southern tour due to start with the return at Stoke on Saturday.
Edinburgh riders won 13 of the 15 heats and only three home rides failed to produce a score. Two of the non-scoring rides stemmed from the exclusions of Carr and Andersson in heats 5 and 11. The third was when Ben Shields fell and restarted on the first bend on his final ride. Monarchs racked up four 5-1 maximums, seven 4-2 advantages, three 3-3 tied heats and only a single 2-4 reverse.
Edinburgh took an early grip that wasn't dented even when Carr withdrew after two rides. Dalle Andersson stepped in to take Carr's rides before he had to withdraw from the meeting. Ben Shields was then thrust into the breech and responded with his best ever score for Monarchs and his first two Armadale heat victories.
Edinburgh were at full strength with the return of Jan Andersen. Stoke were without Jan Stæchmann and Scott Robson came in as a guest.
Peter Carr lost the toss and gate position B was in used with Edinburgh off 2 and 4 for the first heat.
Heat 1: Robert Eriksson, Paul Pickering, Christian Henry, Mark Burrows [58.6]
Robert Eriksson blasted out of gate two and was never threatened. Christian Henry was away well but lost ground on the second bend and had to come from the back. He chased Mark Burrows all the way threatening to pass on the outside on a number of occasions before trying the inside. He finally edged a decision on the line after a big blast off the last bend.
(4-2) (4-2)
Heat 2: Ben Shields, Dalle Andersson, Jon Armstrong, Dean Felton [59.4]
Dalle Andersson gated and was joined up front by Ben Shields. With Jon Armstrong in pursuit, Dalle Andersson dropped back to protect Shield's back. Ben had no problems in securing his first heat win at Armadale.
(5-1) (9-3)
Heat 3: Blair Scott, Peter Carr, Tony Atkin [60.1]
Blair Scott gated and once Peter Carr tucked in behind him another 5-1 became inevitable. Grant MacDonald stopped with engine problems on the first lap.
(5-1) (14-4)
Heat 4: Jan Andersen, Ben Shields, Jon Armstrong [59.6]
Jan Andersen gated and led from Robson. Ben Shields made a poor start but did a great second bend cutback to get past Armstrong. Robson continued to press Andersen and made a final attempt on the last bend and fell. Ben Shields was in close attendance and had to lay down smartly to avoid hitting Robson. Ben was awarded second place.
(5-1) (19-5)
Heat 5: Paul Pickering, Blair Scott, Mark Burrows [58.3]
Peter Carr tangled with Mark Burrows on the approach to the second bend. In a bizarre refereeing decision by Will Hunter, Carr was excluded when 'all-four-back' seemed the obvious decision. Carr was down for some time and withdrew from the meeting with suspected ligament damage. Blair Scott gated in the re-run but was passed by Pickering off the second bend.
(2-4) (21-9)
Heat 6: Robert Eriksson, Scott Robson, Christian Henry, Dean Felton [59.9]
Eriksson secured his second straight win ahead of Robson and Henry.
(4-2) (25-11)
Heat 7: Jan Andersen, Dalle Andersson, Tony Atkin [60.2]
Grant MacDonald came to grief on the second bend but cleared his bike from the track just in time to avoid the race being stopped. Tony Atkin could do nothing to stop Andersen and Andersson collecting another heat maximum.
(5-1) (30-12)
Heat 8: Mark Burros, Christian Henry, Ben Shields [59.9]
Paul Pickering came in as a tactical substitute for Armstrong. Pickering and Henry were involved in a second bend incident that left Christian on the deck. The race was stopped and Pickering somewhat harshly excluded. Christian made the start in the re-run but Burrows found some grip off the second bend to surge into the lead and held on.
(3-3) (33-15)
Heat 9: Dalle Andersson, Scott Robson, Blair Scott, Dean Felton [59.7]
Dalle Andersson came in for Peter Carr. Blair Scott made the start but was passed by Robson. Dalle Andersson looked very classy coming from the back to pass Scott and Robson and win.
(4-2) (37-17)
Heat 10: Robert Eriksson, Tony Atkin, Christian Henry, Grant MacDonald [59.2]
Eriksson made it three out of three with Atkin getting the better of Christian Henry and MacDonald at the back.
(4-2) (41-19)
Heat 11: Jan Andersen, Paul Pickering, Mark Burrows [Awarded]
Jan Andersen gated and stayed ahead. Dalle Andersson came from the back passing first Burrows and then Pickering. Dalle looked good for an 18-point or even a 21-point paid maximum at this stage. Unfortunately he found a slick patch on the second bend of the last lap and fell collecting Pickering. Dalle was down for some time before walking away.
(3-3) (44-22)
Heat 12: Ben Shields, Scott Robson, Dalle Andersson, Tony Atkin [59.2]
Scott Robson came in as a tactical substitute for Felton. With Peter Carr out and Ben Shields programmed to ride there was no option but to bring in the injured Dalle Andersson. Ben Shields made a great start leaving the two Stoke heat leaders for dead. Dalle Andersson was second but was clearly struggling and Robson passed to take second place but could get nowhere near the flying Shields.
(4-2) (48-24)
Heat 13: Robert Eriksson, Scott Robson, Jan Andersen, Paul Pickering [59.1]
Robert Eriksson gated and took Robson wide on the second bend hoping to bring Andersen through. Robson did hold onto second place and Jan was unable to sustain a challenge.
(4-2) (52-26)
Heat 14: Blair Scott, Mark Burrows, Ben Shields, Jon Armstrong [61.2]
Mark Burrows came in for MacDonald as a tactical substitute. Blair Scott gated and won as he pleased. Behind him there was a great battle for second place involving Burrows and Shields won by the Stoke rider.
(4-2) (56-38)
Heat 15: Robert Eriksson, Scott Robson, Paul Pickering, Ben Shields [59.6]
With injuries ruling out Peter Carr and Dalle Andersson and Jan Andersen not being risked, Ben Shields got the nod to partner Eriksson. With the Stoke riders in the inside gate positions, Eriksson surged from the tapes to win. Shields fell on the first bend and remounted to finish.
(3-3) (59-31)
|
Edinburgh Monarchs |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Robert Eriksson |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
|
15 |
|
Christian Henry |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
|
|
5 |
|
Peter Carr |
2* |
X |
|
|
|
|
|
2+1 |
|
Blair Scott |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
|
|
9 |
|
Jan Andersen |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
|
|
|
10 |
|
Dalle Andersson |
2* |
2* |
3 |
X |
1 |
|
|
8+2 |
|
Ben Shields |
3 |
2* |
1* |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
10+2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stoke Potters |
|
|
|
|
||||
|
Paul Pickering |
2 |
3 |
X |
2 |
0 |
1* |
|
8+1 |
|
Mark Burrows |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1* |
2 |
|
|
7+1 |
|
Tony Atkin |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
|
4 |
|
|
Grant MacDonald |
E |
F |
0 |
|
0 |
|||
|
Scott Robson |
X |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
10 |
|
Dean Felton |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
Jon Armstrong |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
Monarchs proved they could win big without Peter Carr in a solid show of strength in depth. Robert Eriksson had an untroubled full maximum. Jan Andersen made a decent comeback and won tree heats before fading slightly in his last ride. Dalle Andersson looked to be heading for a maximum despite having to take two of Carr's rides as well as his own.
Dalle Andersson repeatedly came from the back with some stylish inside line riding. He seemed set to get a fourth paid in heat 11 and was expected to ride in heats 12, 14 and probably in heat 15. That could have given him the first paid-21 Armadale score since Barry Campbell in 1998.The heat 11 fall and exclusion put paid to that.
Christian Henry and Blair Scott both looked rock-solid in their second string positions. The star of the show was Ben Shields with excellent wins in heat 2 and 12 and good riding throughout that earned him a heat 15 outing.
Only Scott Robson really looked the part for Stoke although Burrows and Pickering did so intermittently. Tony Atkin was probably worth slightly more than his four points. The remaining three riders never looked like beating a home rider. Grant MacDonald seems totally down on confidence.
Man of the match: Ben Shields
Most exciting rider: Dalle Andersson
John Lowe