Speedway: Monarchs bring down Stars to stand just one point shy

Published on Wednesday 1 September 2010 13:34

It Is now not a question of if Edinburgh Monarchs win the British Premier League speedway crown, but when.

The champions elect require just a single point at Stoke Potters on Saturday to make sure after they demolished defending champions King's Lynn Stars at the Norfolk Arena last night.

Monarchs brushed aside the Stars for an easy 53-42 triumph picking up all four points which were at stake.

And, without question the night belonged to flying Finn Kalle Katajisto, who stormed to an impeccable 15 point maximum, which doesn't happen too often at King's Lynn.

Katajisto could easily have protected his unbeaten four-ride score but had no hesitation in volunteering to come out for the heat 15 top scorers' race.

He won in style and with Ryan Fisher following him home Monarchs grabbed the 5-1 advantage they needed to bag the full quota of match points.

Katajisto revealed he readjusted his clutch this week and it certainly paid dividends for him. He said: "I feel so good, I feel great, my bike worked so well for me and the team got the result we badly wanted.

"I was confident I could win the last race and had no worries about going out, a very good meeting for me!"

Monarchs boss John Campbell paid tribute to Katajisto for his efforts saying: "There won't be many riders who go to King's Lynn and score a 15 point maximum.

"Kalle was absolutely outstanding, nobody got anywhere near him.

"His form has been a bit patchy since he moved into the team from reserve, and he's had some bad luck, but he always gives 100 per cent. This time everything worked beautifully for him, everything was perfect and I'm thrilled for him."

King's Lynn may have revamped their squad recently but they had no answer to Monarchs' scoring power, with the Capital outfit providing no fewer than 13 out of 15 race winners.

It was only tactical outing wins for Stars' top duo Oliver Allen and Tomas Topinka which gave the final scoreline an artificial closeness.

Monarchs led 39-32 after 11 races and, with the next three heats all shared, the Stars could still have denied Monarchs all four points, except they failed to factor in Katajisto's magic in the last race.

Fisher for once had to bow to his younger team-mate but still racked up 13 points, his only defeat coming at the hands of Topinka in heat 11.

However, the Californian gained revenge two heats later when, despite failing to make the gate, he made a breathtaking pass to get between Topinka and Allen and even had the audacity to wave to the crowd as he came off the last bend on his way over the winning line!

Despite his elation Campbell conceded things did get slightly jittery towards the end of the match.

He said: "We are now at the stage where we want to clinch the league and get it over and done with.

"And there was a doubt we might not get the four points we wanted, I had made it clear we needed to get all four, and in the end it was quite easy for us. We were miles ahead of King's Lynn who only had two race winners."

King's Lynn: Topinka 13, Allen 11, Smith 5, Bjerre 4, Mills 4, Roynon 4, McDade 1.

Monarchs: Katajisto 15, Fisher 13, Tully 7, Wolbert 6, Wethers 5, Lawson 5, Morris 2.