Speedway: Tigers take Spring Trophy after roaring to win over Monarchs

Published on Monday 27 June 2011 12:05

Glasgow TIGERS are in top form right now and could be on course to relieve Edinburgh Monarchs of their Premier League championship crown this season.

And, while last night's Spring Trophy second-leg contest at Ashfield may not have been considered that big a deal, the Tigers nonetheless overturned their great rivals for the second time in a fortnight, winning 49-41 to capture the silverware by six points on aggregate to add to their SuperCup success which was much more of a romp for the rampant Tigers.

Monarchs went into the match without Craig Cook, who injured his wrist in a crash during the Welsh Open at Newport on Sunday, and Finn Kalle Katajisto was also missing and he was replaced by guest and former Monarchs skipper Derek Sneddon, who scored eight points in a battling performance.

Monarchs, who were swamped in that SuperCup meeting, ran the Tigers a lot closer this time and were actually still level on aggregate after 12 heats before losing a couple of costly 5-1 advantages which swung the match in Tigers' favour.

Monarchs started with maximum points in the first race which was won by captain Matthew Wethers and a further 5-1 in heat seven put Monarchs four points in front which few would have expected. Monarchs director Mike Hunter said: "It was a decent display from us and had we had Kalle and Craig, the outcome might have been different. We scored six points from rider replacement, which we used for Craig and Derek, and got eight in place of Kalle. You wouldn't have bet that Craig or Kalle would have done better." But once again the spotlight dwelled on Monarchs' reserve berths where they were outscored 19-2 by their Glasgow counterparts. Kyle Howarth scored two points on his return from injury, but partner Lee Dicken, back at his former track, failed to score and time almost certainly will be called on his short career with Monarchs. Although Dicken said he felt better aboard a new engine, his zero return may be his swansong.

Monarchs promoter John Campbell said: "I agreed with Lee last night that I will phone him today for a chat about what his future prospects are. I want to be absolutely clear in my mind about what he is trying to do to make things better. There was no doubt he had made changes to his bike and was on the new engine he had spoken about. But Lee didn't score anything.

"Glasgow, it must be said, is the toughest place to go for any reserve rider. Even a reserve who has confidence would have struggled."

Campbell continued: "But at the end of the day, Lee is not scoring for us and once Kyle regains his confidence, we are still in danger of struggling at reserve. The problem is if you chop Lee you have to find another candidate to replace him, and there are no obvious candidates out there."

Dicken's torment aside, Campbell said he was more satisfied with his side's showing on this occasion which went some way to erasing their 58-35 SuperCup drubbing. "Glasgow are the best team in the league at the moment," said Campbell, "But at least it was nice to be in a competitive match, it was just a shame that it slipped away from us at the end.

"I think our team were a bit more clued up this time and they rode the track a lot better, and perhaps because it was an evening meeting the track didn't dry out so quickly.

"It stayed quite damp and that helped the racing."

Tigers team boss Alan Dick praised Monarchs for their fight saying: "It was a much more even contest and Monarchs actually started stronger than ourselves and took an early lead in the first few races. But we pegged them back and stormed to the front in the second half to lift the cup by six points on aggregate.

"I'm extremely pleased at how we rode, but Edinburgh looked more like themselves than they did in the Supercup.

"All our boys are on a high and Ashfield is a tough place for all visiting teams because we have a bit of a home advantage. We are top of the league and we want to keep our noses in front, that's the big thing for us."

Cook remains a doubt for Monarchs' clash against Newcastle Diamonds on Friday but will make a final decision later in the week.

Glasgow: Grieves 13, Rajkowski 13, Screen 9, Morris 6, Pijper 5, Complin 3.

Monarchs: Wethers 12, Wolbert 11, Tully 8, Sneddon 8, Howarth 2, Dicken 0.