Edinburgh vs Newcastle 06/04/2007

Edinburgh Monarchs 47	6 April 2007 Premier Trophy Armadale
Newcastle Diamonds 42
Edinburgh 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T B 1. Ronnie Correy (c) 3 3 3 3 2 14 2. Henrik Møller 2' 1 3 2' 0 8 2 3. William Lawson f 2 2 3 7 4. Daniele Tessari 2 0 1' 2' 5 2 5. Matthew Wethers f f f 0 6 Derek Sneddon 2 3 1 2' 1 3 12 1 7. Andrew Tully 0 1 fx 1 2 Newcastle 1. Josef Franc ef 1 2' 0 1 4 1 2. Ross Brady 1 3 2 3 9 3. Jonas Raun 3 2 1 ex 6 4. Carl Wilkinson 1 1' f 0 2 1 5. Christian Henry 3 2 3 2 3 13 6 Ashley Johnston 1 0 0 1 7. Sean Stoddart 3 2' 0 1 1 7 1
Heat 01 Correy, Møller, Brady, Franc EF Heat 02 Stoddart,Sneddon,Johnson,Tully Heat 03 Raun,Tessari,Wilkinson,Lawson EF Heat 04 Henry,Stoddart,Tully,Wethers F Heat 05 Brady,Lawson,Franc,Tessari Heat 06 Correy,Henry,Møller,Johnson Heat 07 Sneddon,Raun,Wilkinson,Wethers Heat 08 Møller,Brady,Sneddon,Stoddart Heat 09 Henry,Lawson,Tessari,Johnson Heat 10 Correy,Møller,Raun,Wilkinson F Heat 11 Brady,Franc,Wethers F, Tully Heat 12 Lawson,Sneddon,Stoddart,Raun X Heat 13 Correy,Henry,Sneddon,Franc Heat 14 Sneddon,Tessari,Stoddart,Wilkinson Heat 15 Henry,Correy,Franc,Møller
report from The Scotsman EDINBURGH Scotwaste Monarchs took a leaf out of Harry Houdini's book and pulled off a brazen act of escapology against Newcastle Diamonds at Armadale last night. Monarchs defeated the Tynesiders 47-42 to pick up their first Premier Trophy speedway win but, rather like the legendary Houdini, no one quite knows how they did it. Harsh though it may sound, the Armadale outfit's victory was far from meritorious. Newcastle are one of the weakest sides in the league yet Monarchs made them look good. Indeed if Newcastle possessed a pairing to resemble Redcar duo James Grieves and Gary Havelock, the Diamonds would easily have replicated Redcar's Lothian Arena success of a week ago. Had fire-eaters and jugglers made an appearance during the first half no one would have batted an eyelid, because in all honesty the first few heats resembled a circus and Monarchs, make no bones about it, rode like clowns. And no amount of smoke and mirrors can conceal the fact that major surgery is likely to be required before Monarchs commence their league campaign later this month. Newcastle must wonder how they left Armadale pointless. They will rue the engine failure Josef Franc suffered after leading the opening heat which gifted a 5-1 to skipper Ronnie Correy and Henrik Moller. Despite this setback, Newcastle led 18-12 after five races with Monarchs looking ever so shambolic. William Lawson made a real mess of the third bend in heat three and shed a chain, handing a 4-2 to the visitors. And teammate Matthew Wethers fell three times and failed to score. Even Andrew Tully, who has been steady at reserve so far, saw his bubble burst and will be deeply unhappy with his single-point return. Moller, who didn't look as if he had the speed to pass a hearse, suddenly found some and defeated former Monarch Ross Brady to win heat eight. The Dane then combined with Correy for a 5-1 in heat ten which proved a psychological boost as Monarchs edged in front 31-29. A calamitous exclusion and a fall by Tully and Wethers respectively in the next race, though, handed Newcastle a 5-0 which put them three in front at 34-31. Fortunately for the Monarchs, the Diamonds ran out of fire and couldn't find a race winner over the next three heats which allowed the home team to crawl over the winning line with maximum points from Daniele Tessari and in-form tail-ender Derek Sneddon in heat 14. The Diamonds did have one last sting in the tail as top scorer Christian Henry ruined Correy's maximum hopes when he headed the Californian in the heat 15 finale. Correy, under pressure to sort his engine problems out following a public rebuke from boss John Campbell, was in bullish mood after topping Monarchs scorechart with 14 from five starts. He said: "I didn't have any bike problems which made a change. I've suffered a few mechanical headaches so far, hopefully they are all behind me now and I can concentrate solely on my racing. I know John expects more from me-but everybody does. It's no big deal. "It was disappointing to lose out on my maximum in the last heat. I gave Christian a good run for his money". Correy added that Newcastle were on top early on. "They gated very well and outran us from the gate over the first six races. We could do nothing. But it's not the way to start a match. It's supposed to be the other way round on your home track. But the boys pulled back and came good at the end." Aussie ace Henry was the Diamonds' top sparkler with 13 points from five outings, but confessed his side tossed success away. "We let things get away from us. A few of our team had bike problems," said Henry. "But I think we have done enough to get the bonus points. I was pleased with my own score. It was a thrill to beat Ronnie in heat 15 because he is such a good rider. It was my best race of the season so far." Monarchs' directors are monitoring the performance of their side on a weekly basis. Thankful to have broken their Premier Trophy duck the manner, however, of their triumph, will do little to assuage the growing feeling among fans that currently the Capital outfit are far from the finished article. Monarchs: Correy 14, Sneddon 12, Moller 8, Lawson 7,Tessari 5, Tully 1, Wethers 0. Newcastle: Henry 13, Brady 9, Stoddart 7, Raun 6, Franc 4, Wilkinson 2, Johnson 1.