Awful
at Armadale
Posted
01/04/05
A very poor display by the Tigers at Armadale
saw the Monarchs comfortably win the second leg of the Spring Trophy
by a score which quite frankly flattered Glasgow.
The meeting started with two controversial decisions
in the first two heats. Nermark tried to anticipate the tapes for
heat one but failed and was rolling back when they went up, allowing
Stancl to power clear. Despite the culprit being the only one disadvantaged,
the referee called an unsatisfactory start and a poor gate by the
Tigers in the re-run led to a 5-1. In the first running of heat two
Ksiezak came off on the first bend and it was all four back. The second
start was almost a carbon copy but this time it was Leverington who
hit the deck and amazingly the referee chose to exclude him in a decision
that had even Monarchs fans baffled. Third running saw an easy 5-1
to the home team.
Wethers and Harrison produced some good close racing
in heat 3, passing and re-passing, with Harrison coming out the victor.
An uncharacteristic poor gate from Shane in heat four saw him at the
back coming out of the second bend but he soon passed Ksiezak and
Leverington before executing a perfect hard but fair pass on Brady
on the backstraight. Stancl was sent out as a TR in heat 5 but Harrison
gated and it was race over. Heats 6 and 7 were also from the gate,
both heats being shared thanks to Matt being a TR in heat 7.
Heat 8 was also relatively uneventful, the only pass
coming when Ksiezak passed Birkinshaw on lap 2 bend 2 and the field
finishing well strung out.
With Harrison and Parker out in heat 9 it was inevitable
it would be a good race with the Glasgow man doing well to thwart
all Harrison's attempts to pass. Two engine failures decided heat
10, Matt Wethers bike giving up on him with a bang on the second bend
whilst Pijper suffered the same fate on the final bend of the third
lap. He coasted for nearly half a lap before having to push home for
the point.
After Lawson's engine failed on the start line in
heat 11, sole Monarch Brady wobbled on the apex of the first/second
bend. He regained control but it seemed to have thrown Stancl off
his stride and Brady was able to take an easy victory. A shared heat
12 followed with Ksiezak giving Wethers a momentary fright by passing
him before Matt returned the compliment seconds later. Despite Stancl
gating, Nermark was to win the shared heat 13.
As expected Parker was brought in as a GDTS in heat
14. He was able to pass Woodward on the second lap but seemed to be
temporarily held up by his partner before Trent allowed him through
by which time Lawson had taken full advantage ensuring that the Spring
Trophy would return to Edinburgh.
Shane finished off an impressive personal display
with a sweep round the outside of Nermark on the first two bends of
heat 15 to claim the race win whilst the main race was really between
Stancl and Harrison for third, a battle the Edinburgh man won.
Glasgow were always going to be up against it in
this meeting but it was made all too easy for Monarchs with once again
too many Tigers failing to produce the form expected of them. Whether
it is a case of taking a lot longer than other teams to settle or
whether it is a case of just not being good enough is a topic being
debated on the terraces but things have to change one way or another
soon.
On the parade lap tonight, captain Shane Parker showed
just why he is so widely liked in speedway by coming out with a nappy
over his kevlars in response to comments on the internet by rival
fans accusing him of 'spitting the dummy' at the last clash. Although
Shane discarded the nappy before getting on his bike, some of his
team mates tonight rode as if they were wearing one.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
** |
Possibly harsh but more expected of him |
| Matthew Wethers |
** |
Tried hard |
| Jamie Birkinshaw |
* |
Being generous |
| Paul Bentley |
* |
As above |
| Shane Parker |
**** |
Had to do it more or less on his own |
| Gary Beaton |
* |
Still well out of his depth |
| Trent Leverington |
*** |
Possibly trying a bit too hard again |
