Berwick vs Edinburgh 31/03/2012

Berwick Bandits 50 31 March 2012
Cock O The North
Shielfield Park
Edinburgh Monarchs 39
Berwick 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 T B
1. David Howe 3 2 2 3 2' 12 1
2. David Bellego 0 f 2 0 2
3. Lee Complin 3 3 3 3 3 15
4. Filip Sitera 0 2' 2' 2 6 2
5. Sebastian Alden 3 3 2 2' 10 1
6. Alexander Edberg f 0 1' 1 1' 3 2
7. Adam McKinna 1 0 1' 2 1
Edinburgh
1. Andrew Tully 2 0 3 fx 5
2. Derek Sneddon 1' 1 3 f 5 1
3. Theo Pijper 2 1' 3 2 0 8 1
4. Matthew Wethers 1' 2 1 3 1 8 1
5. Craig Cook 2 3 fx 1 6
6. Michael Dyer 2' 1 f 0 3 1
7. Charles Wright 3 1' r fx 4 1
Heat 01: Howe, Tully, Sneddon, Bellego 3-3 66.1
Heat 02: Wright, Dyer, McKinna, Edberg 1-5 4-8 69.3
Heat 03: Complin, Pijper, Wethers, Sitera 3-3 7-11 66.2
Heat 04: Alden, Cook, Wright, McKinna 3-3 10-14 67.5
Heat 05: Complin, Sitera, Sneddon, Tully 5-1 15-15 66.5
Heat 06: Cook, Howe, Dyer, Bellego (f) 2-4 17-19 66.7
Heat 07: Alden, Wethers, Pijper, Edberg 3-3 20-22 66.5
Heat 08: Sneddon, Bellego, Mckinna, Wright (r) 3-3 23-25 67.5
Heat 09: Complin, Sitera, Dyer (f), Cook (fx) 5-0 28-25 68
Heat 10: Pijper, Howe, Wethers, Bellego 2-4 30-29 66.9
Heat 11: Tully, Alden, Edberg, Sneddon (f). 3-3 33-32 67.5
Heat 12: Complin, Pijper, Edberg, Dyer 4-2 37-34 66.3
Heat 13: Howe, Alden, Cook, Tully (fx) 5-1 42-35 66.4
Heat 14: Wethers, Sitera, Edberg, Wright (fx) 3-3 45-38 67.5
Heat 15: Complin, Howe, Wethers, Pijper 5-1 50-39 66.6
report from The Scotsman
EDINBURGH MONARCHS were ambushed by Berwick Bandits in the first leg of their Cock O’ the North speedway challenge match at Shielfield Park on Saturday despite leading by two points after eight races.
The home side eventually ran out comfortable 50-39 winners and will defend this lead in the deciding leg at Armadale in July.
For Monarchs it all started to go wrong in the second half, notably in the ninth heat when Craig Cook fell off and was excluded from the rerun. Teammate Micky Dyer then tumbled off and although he remounted he couldn’t get his bike to start. This handed the Bandits a gift 5-0 advantage putting them into the lead 28-25.
However a 4-2 from skipper Matthew Wethers and Dutchman Theo Pijper, who continues to impress, in heat ten allowed Monarchs to close the gap to just a single point and victory seemed a possibility.
But No. 1 Andrew Tully slithered off in heat 13 and this proved costly as the Bandits cashed in with a 5-1 success to open up an eight point advantage.
Monarchs’ rash of fallers continued in the penultimate race when reserve Charles Wright came to grief and although Wethers won the rerun it came too late as their hosts chalked up the half ton with a decisive 5-1 from guest David Howe and Lee Complin in the heat 15 finale. Howe and Complin were Berwick’s top performers with 13 and 14 respectively.
Monarchs scored solidly but once again couldn’t find enough race winners and this could be their Achilles heel away from home when the league programme begins.
Berwick: Complin 14, Howe 13, Alden 10, Setera 6, Edberg 3, McKinna 2, Bellego 2.
Monarchs: Pijper 8, Wethers 8, Cook 6, Tully 5, Sneddon 5, Wright 4, Dyer 3.