Monarchs on cloud nine as gap at table top increases

Jul 8 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THE Scotwaste Monarchs are sitting pretty on cloud nine as the West Lothian-based speedway stars lead the way at the top of the Premier League table with a nine-point advantage.

And second-placed Birmingham are the next visitors to Armadale, a week on Friday, in what promises to be a blockbuster meeting.

The week started superbly for the Monarchs with a 52-38 victory over Newport after another top-class display at the Armadale Stadium.

Five of the team had non-finishes during the evening — two for Andrew Tully — but they had enough scoring power to have the result sewn up with a couple of heats to go.

For the second home match running, there was a 0-5 heat result, this time in the final heat in which both Ryan Fisher and Tully fell.

Turning to the Wasps, they gave a lively display and contributed plenty to the entertainment.

Craig Watson had his best Armadale meeting for years, looking like his old self, and Leigh Lanham has rarely had a bad outing at the West Lothian track.

All of the home riders had something to be happy about but something to regret also.

Fisher started with a fast win (54.2) and looked likely to go through the card till he missed the gate and fell trying a big dive on the pits corner.

Tully was excellent in four of his heats, pulled out of heat seven with a front wheel puncture, and fell while trailing the Wasps in heat 15, causing a second rerun.

Matthew Wethers turned in some exceptionally clever racing and also looked likely to finish unbeaten until he was headed by Watson in heat 14, and excluded for bringing down Lanham in the final race.

Cal McDade disappointingly fell while looking sure to record a paid win in heat two, then picked up very useful third places in his other rides.

Kalle Katajisto was erratic in his first three rides, crashing in one but then came good with some of his spectacular heat wins.

And finally Tobias Busch started with two disappointing last places before looking impressive in second behind Kalle in heat eight.

They travelled on to Newport for the return against the Wasps, and made a great start, then lost the lead before bouncing back to take a 39-33 victory.

The match was abandoned due to rain after 12 heats but the result stands.

There is no match at Armadale this week because of the Premier League Pairs at Somerset.

Monarchs will be represented by Fisher and Kevin Wolbert, who will be among the favourites to win.

The following day, many of the Monarchs’ supporters will be at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff for the British Speedway Grand Prix.