Points Shared in Entertaining Derby
Posted 02/09/06

A large crowd, with Glasgow fans attending in large numbers, were treated to a close entertaining speedway meeting at Armadale with the points eventually shared following a last heat decider.

The meeting was close throughout with no fewer than nine 3-3's in the meeting starting with the opening heat when Theo Pijper shot from the tapes, David McAllan passing round the outside of Edinburgh's Danielle Tessari on the second bend to slot in behind rider replacement Robert Ksiezak in what was to finish a well spread out heat. The time was announced as a new track record much to the surprise of many of the Edinburgh fans although Pijper did win the heat in style.

The second heat was to take two attempts to run. It initially looked good for the Tigers when Cockle and Ksiezak hit the front out of the gate but Stoddart quickly went round the outside of Cockle on bend 2. He tracked down Ksiezak and found some good grip on the fourth bend allowing him to make a superb inside pass on the Glasgow reserve into first place. On the opening bend of the second lap, Ksiezak locked up and fell whilst being pursued by Sneddon who was unable to avoid the fallen tiger. Most expected the re-run to be a formality but James Cockle had other ideas. He made a decent start and refused to give in a tough opening bend with Derek Sneddon, coming out ahead and staying there. He was perhaps helped by a coming together between the Edinburgh reserves on the back straight of the second lap which meant Cockle was able to open up a bit of a security gap.

Kauko made a good start in the third heat and rode the wide line on the opening bends to hit the front with the Monarchs pairing behind him. Dicken pressed Wethers for the opening lap and a half before dropping off the pace at the back. Heat 4 was to result in another re-run heat, this time some seeing the 'all four back' decision as contentious. Derek Sneddon did appear to take James Cockle to the fence but as it was on the opening bend in most cases the all four back decision is given so it seemed a fair call. Cockle took a very hefty knock though to his upper body and head but was able to take his place in the re-run although was clearly affected by it. Shane Parker made the gate in the re-run and pulled clear using the outside line and it was effectively over as a contest by the third bend. Cockle did hold Lawson up for the opening lap but the Monarch pulled well clear of him once he got through and then strangely went on to pass his partner on the final bend of the race.

The first heat of the night not to be shared went Edinburgh's way in heat five with Moller winning comfortably from the gate and team mate Matthew Wethers taking full advantage of David and rider replacement Kauko getting in each others road at the end of the opening lap to pass inside both riders to claim second place. It was back to a shared heat in heat 6 however with Shane winning comfortably from the gate Although Robert finished at the back.

The Glasgow pairing gated in heat 7 but Lee reared coming out of the second bend allowing both Monarchs through. Dicken challenged Lawson for the remainder of the lap but made an error on the opening bend of lap two which saw Lawson pull clear and Lee doing well to stay on his bike. Sneddon went through the tapes at the start of heat 7 and was replaced by Stoddart who was undoubtedly the better of the two Monarchs reserves at this stage. Although Cockle gated, Stoddart continued his excellent form on the night with another excellent pass at the end of the first lap up the inside of Cockle who then slipped from first to last, before falling and remounting at the start of the final lap. With Stoddart the deserved winner, Monarchs had a heat advantage and opened up a six point gap.

Glasgow reacted instantly with what was to be their only 5-1 of the night courtesy of Parker and Ksiezak. Shane gated and pulled well clear with Robert coming through into second coming out of the opening bends. Intelligent riding saw Robert fend of the challenge of particularly Matthew Wethers in the opening two laps, Robert pulling clear on the third lap to go on to claim the paid win. Pijper won heat 10 comfortably from the gate for the home side. Kauko reared off the start but quickly past Tessari on the second bend to sit in behind Lee Dicken who was in second, protecting him in the early stages before passing him for second on the finish line, Tessari by this time well of the pace at the back.

Shane then won heat 11 from the gate, although Lawson offered some challenge in the opening stages this time. David McAllan was able to secure third place, Stoddart falling whilst at the back, and Glasgow were back level.

The initial running of heat 12 saw Edinburgh get a very lucky break when, despite Sneddon clearly taking Lee Dicken's front wheel from him forcing him into the fence, the referee remarkably called all four back. Justice appeared to be done in the re-run when Sneddon's bike packed up coming out of the second bend. Matthew Wethers however had gated well ahead of the rest of the field and the heat was shared.

Theo Pijper was having a great meeting for the Monarchs and unfortunately for Tigers he came out in heat 13 and continued his form winning comfortably from the gate. David McAllan, in as rider replacement, tailed off at the back and Monarchs once again had a two point advantage in the meeting. That was pulled back in heat 14 with Kauko Nieminen once again making the heat his own from the tapes, Moller suffering what looked like an expensive blown engine on the start line. Monarchs had surprisingly elected to replace the inform Stoddart with Sneddon in this race but the Scot held on to second place despite Robert Ksiezak's close attentions.

Scores tied, we had a last heat decider and what a superb race it was to be. Pijper gated but was slightly behind Parker into bend 2. Pijper found grip and went ahead coming out of the second bend before Shane came through the inside at the end of the first lap. Pijper then took the inside line driving slightly ahead of Shane coming out of bend two, taking him wide on bend three. Parker then tried the inside line coming into bend four put Pijper held on and was able to take the best racing line. Shane pressured trying inside and out of Pijper for the remainder of the race but Pijper held firm on the racing line and went on to claim the victory with Nieminen claiming an untroubled third place at the back. An excellent race to finish a good nights speedway although obviously some Tigers fans would be disappointed not to collect both points.

The events leading up to the meeting aside, this was a good advert for speedway. Edinburgh were mostly a two man side, Pijper being superb and Sean Stoddart punching well above his weight. Glasgow put in another team performance with a special mention for Kauko who scored well on a track he has previously picked up two bad injuries on and rode like a second heat leader. James Cockle was clearly badly affected by his fall but still got the important win in heat 2 whilst Robert also took a little while to recover from his encounter with the dirt but came good. Overall though once again the Tigers pulled together as a team and all six riders played their part.

Sunday is set up to be another close meeting in the tradition of Derby meetings with Monarchs fielding a few Ashfield experts in their side and it seems unlikely that Lawson and Sneddon will be as off form as they were on Friday night.