West Lothian-based Scotwaste Monarchs pip Glasgow to Spring Trophy glory

Apr 1 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THE West Lothian-based Scotwaste Monarchs clinched the Spring Trophy in dramatic fashion this weekend, snatching the silverware from the jaws of defeat.

The Monarchs took a dozen points from the final two heats to leave traditional rivals the Glasgow Tigers tamed at Ashfield on Sunday.

A 12-3 advantage in heats 14 and 15 neatly turned the tables after what had happened at the end of the home leg two days earlier.

At one stage the Monarchs looked to be down and out when they lost a heat 13 5-1 to go 33-45 down and six behind on aggregate.

However heat 14 brought with it the breeze of hope when the superb Kalle Katajisto flew to the front round the first turn and with ace team man Matthew protecting, the eight-points was in the bag barring disasters.

That edged the Monarchs a point ahead again on aggregate, who had Ryan Fisher and Matthew Wethers against the brilliant James Grieves and the formidable McGowan.

But they pulled out a glorious final heat with Ryan leading all the way and Matthew securing a third off the very unfavourable gate one for an aggregate win of 96-93.

On another day the absence of Kevin Wolbert and the eight points thrown away in the first-leg at the Armadale Stadium could have denied the Monarchs the silverware but not this day.

On Saturday night, the Monarchs looked to be well in the driving seat after establishing a 14-point advantage with just two heats to go.

But the Tigers bit back hard and manoeuvred themselves into pole position to win the season’s first silverware after they won the final two races 10-2 at Armadale.

The cause of the late Monarchs first-leg collapse was a bike problem for Matthew Wethers at the start of heat 14 which effectively ruled him out of the race, and there was another surprise prior to the final heat when Ryan Fisher was not announced in the lineup.

He was unbeaten from four rides but had a machine problem which caused him to miss out on the race but in the end the Monarchs finished what they started at Ashfield, much to the delight of John Campbell.

He said: “I was always confident. I knew we were strong in heat 14, and Ryan Fisher said ‘Give me gate three or four in the last one and I will definitely win it’ - and he did.”

In the final two heats of the dramatic race Fisher was tremendous though even he could not do much off gate one in heat 13. Wethers beat Grieves, shepherded Kalle and kept McGowan at the back, and Kalle won three heats, and also fell while on a paid win.

Aaron had one fall when attempting an extravagant outside pass, but came back for a crucial heat 12 win.

Andrew had one very good team ride with Max but will be disappointed with his day, and Max did reasonably well to take some early points.

For Jozsef there were no points to be had and he will need to speed up a bit as he settles to his UK career - but it is mostly plus points for the Monarchs, as they look forward to welcoming Kevin back for his first UK points of the season on Friday.