Speedway: Monarchs are a knockout

Published on Friday 20 August 2010 13:13

Edinburgh Monarchs eased into the Premier League Knockout Cup semi-finals last night by eclipsing King's Lynn Stars 58-31 in their quarter final second-leg tie at Armadale, sweeping through on aggregate (114-65).

Monarchs' superiority over the defending league champions was evident and, despite the fact that King's Lynn culled five of their squad last week in a bid to boost their flagging fortunes, the wielding of the axe appears to have made little difference.

Monarchs main priority was to turn in a satisfying home display and to curb the vast number of points they have frittered away so far this season.

And, to a degree they succeeded, although, when Kalle Katajisto and Andrew Tully failed to score from their opening rides, worries did begin to surface.

Tully was justified in feeling aggrieved when he was brought down on the second bend in heat four by Stars skipper Tomas Topinka.

The referee disqualified Tully from the rerun but it was revealed later that the Monarchs star should not have been penalised. Monarchs team manager Alex Harkess explained: "Tomas is a fair rider but his foot rest got caught in Andrew's front wheel and it was a bit harsh that Andrew got disqualified because he contributed nothing to that fall.

"But Tomas was the first person to apologise and that's only what I would have expected from him."

Tully bounced back to win his next two outings but Lady Luck proved a cruel mistress in heat 13 when he was pushed into the fence by his own teammate Ryan Fisher.

Topinka had fallen himself at the first time of asking before Fisher was then disqualified for bringing down Tully.

In the second rerun, Tully was then shown a clean pair of heels by Stars new signing Oliver Allen, who always looked lively and was the only visitor to hit double figures.

Fisher admitted: "I didn't know it was Andrew on my outside, I thought it was Oliver so I went wide to the fence to make sure he didn't get round me, and of course I got excluded."

Monarchs top scorer was Kevin Wolbert with 14 points from his five outings, he was beaten just once by Allen in heat 5. Wolbert was on board a Peter Carr-tuned engine lent to him by Katajisto, and gained revenge over Allen when he brilliantly passed him to win heat 15.

Wolbert said: "I felt very good and I must thank Kalle for lending me his engine, I scored well on it."

Katajisto said: "I was happy but not such a good score from me. I was glad that Kevin did so well on the engine I gave him, but he is not getting to keep it!"

Monarchs opened up with 5-1 from Fisher and captain Matthew Wethers in the first race and this laid the foundations for a comfortable triumph.

Wethers picked up 11 points and is riding very well at the moment and holding the team together.

He was fairly satisfied with the final result, saying: "It was a better score for us, but a few points were still dropped that should not have been.

"However it was a good performance and we need to keep it going until the end of the season."

William Lawson, after toiling with a below-par engine last week, was more on the pace this time and finished up on eight points.

His reserve partner Arlo Bugeja, however, still hasn't stamped his mark at the tail-end and wasn't entirely pleased with his three-point return.

Bugeja said: "I'm trying to find the right set-up and I used my other bike which was a lot better.

"I just want to try and enjoy the rest of the season."

By their own admission King's Lynn were faced with a hopeless task having lost their home leg by such a wide margin and they looked a bit deflated even before the meeting began.

Monarchs visit Workington Comets tonight on league business and, if they win and Newcastle lose at Berwick, the Capital side could clinch the league at Somerset next Wednesday.

Monarchs: Wolbert 14, Wethers 11, Fisher 8, Tully 8, Lawson 8, Katajisto 6, Bugeja 3.

King's Lynn: Allen 10, Bjerre 7, Topinka 5, McDade 6, Roynon 2, McBain 1, Courtney 0.

"I was glad that Kevin [Wolbert] did so well on the engine I gave him, but he is not getting to keep it!" kalle katajisto