It perhaps wasn't a classic meeting but it was a close encounter with the lead changing hands a few times throughout the night making it a good derby encounter and another handful of diabolical refereeing decisions thrown in for good measure.
Joe Screen gated well in the opening heat but the home side number 1 Kevin Wolbert went round the outside on the opening bends and came through the small gap Joe fairly left him to take the lead down the back straight. The heat was quickly well spread with Michal unfortunately at the back.
Nick Morris gated well in heat 2 with Theo joining him round the outside out of bend 2 and the Tigers pair recorded a pretty easy heat maximum, the only incident being lap 3 bend 1/2 when Webster came off on his own.
Edinburgh hit back in equal style in heat 3 however with the partnership of Tully and Wethers again doing damage against the Tigers. Tully won by a country mile and whilst Theo never gave up trying to catch Wethers, in reality it was an easy 5-1 for the home pairing.
Then came the farce that was heat 4, starring Mr Dishington.
First running, Summers on the opening bends elbowed rather over enthusiastically Craig Cook who came down. being objective, I would have expected the red lights to come on and Aaron to be lucky to get an all 4 back decision, some referees would have excluded him. However, the race was allowed to continue with Cook standing on track gesticulating. the red lights only came on after the riders reached the second bend on lap 2. As if the failure to put the red lights on earlier and Cook's safety being severely compromised was not a big enough shocker, the referee then decided to call all four back despite more than a lap of the race having been run. For the record, Nick Morris had been leading at that point with Aaron Summers in third.
Second running, it was Aaron Summers who made the gate and rode the wide line to lead down the back straight. Nick had gated poorly but cut up the inside of Craig Cook off bend 2 into 3rd place. On the third bend, Howarth failed to cope with the track and came off on his own, throwing a tantrum, kicking his machinery and making no attempt to clear the track. There is a fine line between passion/effort and bad sportsmanship and Kyle crossed onto the wrong side of it but he is young and will learn. However, the upshot of it was the referee had to put the red lights on again, this time with Tigers well clear on a heat maximum.
You just felt that the next time it was going to be sole Monarch Craig Cook that would gate but although he made a decent start, Aaron Summers was the man who came out the opening bends ahead. Nick tried coming across Cook on the opening bend but it took him wide, something Cook took full advantage off, driving up the inside line into second spot. Whilst Summers pulled comfortably ahead, Nick tracked Cook for a lap before cleverly cutting inside on the tightest line out of bend 2, driving past him down the backstraight to take over second spot. The Glasgow pairing had pulled well clear, even before Cook had a major wobble on the third lap.
We were back to just speedway action in heat 5, Joe Screen making a good start although again Michal was left at the rear. unusually, Joe was caught out by the track and went far too wide on bend 4. Tully and Wethers both capitalised on it, coming through the inside and pulling clear for another 5-1.
Nick Morris did well out of the gate to block Kalle Katajisto in heat 6 but there was to be no stopping Kevin Wolbert who rode good opening bends to lead out of bend 2 and never looked remotely like being caught, winning by a country mile. Despite a couple of occasions where Summers and Morris seemed to want to ride the same line, the Tigers settled into the minor placing's, Summers settling in behind and easily holding off the last gasp challenge of Katajisto off the final bend.
Craig Cook gated in heat 7 only for Sweetman to go round the outside of him with Pijper cutting up the inside on bend 2. Richard led the way but Theo was unable to hold off Cook who went back round the outside of him lap 1 bend 4 into second spot. Theo tried very hard to hit back, coming very close on the inside line lap 2 bend 3 before getting the better of him a lap and a bit later as he came up the inside of him crossing the start finish line. It was short lived however as Cook hit back on bend 2, cutting up the inside and held on to split the Tigers pair. Again, Webster had fallen and remounted in this race whilst at the rear.
More bad refereeing ensued the initial running of heat 8 when Kyle Howarth high sided and took what looked a really nasty tumble on the apex of the opening bends. Again, despite the youngster clearly being in trouble, the race was allowed to carry on until the riders were back round almost on top of the stricken youngster. Howarth was able to walk into the ambulance but was to take no further part in the meeting. he re run, with Howarth excluded, saw Katajisto gate with Nick and Theo getting in each others way a little on the opening bends. once sorted out, they gave chase, Nick getting close to Katajisto on bend 3. He tracked him for a lap before driving off the final bend of lap 2 to pass inside Katajisto going into lap 3. Theo then closed down Katajisto, coming very close at the end of the third lap before taking that inside line on lap 4 bend 2 to power through into second place, giving the Tigers another heat maximum.
Andrew Tully, who was outstanding for the Monarchs, got the better of Aaron Summers on the opening bends of heat 9 and went on to win the race by a good margin. Summers was almost caught by the 4th bend at the end of lap 2 but was well ahead of Wethers and able to recover to hold on to second spot although Theo brought up the rear.
The home side hit back in style in heat 10. they had gated but Michal Rajkowski kept it wound on round the outside to pass outside Katajisto down the back straight. however as they entered lap 2, Katajisto cut inside Michal and although the Raj tried to hit back on the inside bend 2 lap 2, Katajisto had no problem holding. At the end of the lap Michal tried an outside drive but again the Fin held and the Monarchs went back into the lead on the night.
It was not to last for long. Nick Morris came in as a reserve replacement for Rajkowski in heat 11 but was to be relegated to the rear after being clattered by Cook on the opening bends. Nick showed great maturity in taking it as a pure speedway incident, no tantrums but just got on with trying to work his way back into the mix, switching onto the inside line to cut through into second place behind his captain Joe Screen as they went down the back straight. Nick rode an intelligent line and blocked any half hearted efforts from Cook to hit back and with Joe winning easily, Tigers were back in the lead by 2 points.
Heat 12 saw Monarchs lose their second reserve of the evening after Tim Webster fell twice, once on the opening bends, remounting only to come off again lap3 bend 1, the red lights coming on with Tully well clear out front. Webster had made a good effort to clear the track but Tully had to face doing it all over again for the home side, something he did with apparent ease, winning a well spread heat by a considerable distance.
An excellent gate from Joe Screen in heat 13 took care of Kevin Wolbert with Aaron Summers going round the outside to join him up front. Cook had a look up the inside of Joe lap 1 bend 3 but our captain quickly shut the door on that move whilst Wolbert at the rear was the latest rider to have problems with the 4th bend. unfortunately for Glasgow Joe was caught out by bend 4 on the 3rd lap, Cook coming through the inside to split the Tigers pairing.
With Monarchs having lost both reserves, heat 14 came to tapes with 3 riders only and there were a few raised eyebrows amongst the Tigers fans at Stewart Dickson's decision to replace Theo Pijper with Nick Morris, many expected Nick to replace Richard Sweetman. However when the tapes went up, Stewart's tactical awareness was proven as Richard made an excellent gate, powering round the outside of the opening bends. Nick muscled past the experienced Matthew Wethers on the opening bends to slot in to second spot and followed that up with an impressive display to hold off Wethers in the early stages, before the Tigers settled down to team ride and in the end it was all too easy with Wethers dropping off the pace.
More farce was to follow prior to heat 15 when there doubt as to the rules and a 'can he can't he' argument ensued as to whether Theo Pijper - Glasgow's rider of choice - was eligible to ride in heat 15. After a delay, Theo took his place alongside Aaron Summers to face Andrew Tully and Kevin Wolbert with Tigers needing a 3-3 to claim the four points that would take them back to the top of the table. With most expecting Tully to be the fly in the ointment, it was Kevin Wolbert who shot from the gate when the tapes went up with Aaron following. The heat was mundane and quickly spread but with Andrew Tully comfortable in third spot the Tigers had to settled for *just* three points.
Meetings between rival teams in any sport always have that little added extra edge and this meeting was no different. What was pleasing was the way that the Tigers again just pulled together and did their talking on track. Whilst Michal struggled on his first meeting in the main body of the team on the heavy track, everyone else rallied round to cover, something that has been evident in the Tigers camp all season. Aaron Summers deserves special mention as he was an excellent guest and rode with tenacity whilst Nick was immense. Joe was clearly not 100% fit but in addition to his own points tally was responsible for Aaron's heat 13 win with his clever move off the gate that ensured Wolbert suffered his only race defeat of the night. Theo settled in well to his new slot in the reserve berth and quietly racked up points. Richard Sweetman is definitely an enigma but fair play to Stewart Dickson for having the foresight to see his gating would make all the difference in heat 14 and using the reserve replacement ride cleverly.
A great night to be a Tigers fan!
