Speedway: Wolbert tames the Tigers to thwart mauling in Sheffield

Published on Thursday 7 July 2011 11:43

Kevin WOLBERT has attracted praise and criticism in almost equal measure so far this season. But no-one could complain about his performance for Edinburgh Monarchs at Sheffield Tigers last night.

The Monarchs No.1 raked in 15 points from five rides and almost certainly prevented the Capital speedway side suffering a real mauling at the hands of their Yorskhire hosts. Admittedly, Monarchs still went down 56-40 in their Premier League tussle which keeps Sheffield at the top of the championship table, but many feared the scoreline could have been a lot worse, bearing in mind the dominance the Tigers enjoy round their fast Owlerton home.

Yet Wolbert started off slowly with a third place in his first ride, but then won heat five against Josh Auty, who returned from injury for the home side after being sidelined for six weeks with a broken ankle.

Monarchs gave Wolbert a double-pointer tactical outing in heat 11 and despite being passed by Tigers favourite Shane Parker, Wolbert retook the lead and the chequered flag for a notable win, and he handed out another defeat to Parker in the heat 15 finale.

Wolbert exclaimed joy over his display and Monarchs director Mike Hunter added his own salute, saying: "Kevin was absolutely outstanding and had some tremendous jousts with Parker and Tigers captain Rickey Ashworth, getting the better of them. Kevin was swooping round the outside and cutting up the inside and showed just what is possible round a track like Sheffield when you are riding well."

Although a few of the races were shared, Monarchs didn't have solid enough firepower and were hanging on to the Tigers tails for most of the meeting. Wolbert's best support came from Monarchs skipper Matthew Wethers, who scored ten points, which included a six point tactical victory.

Craig Cook had a bit of a disaster, scoring just four points despite stating he liked the Sheffield circuit, but perhaps the biggest disappointment was the single point return from Andrew Tully, who apologised for his poor showing to promoter John Campbell afterwards, stating: "I'm sorry that I missed the gate so much."

Although Monarchs reserves Kyle Howarth and Tim Webster were predictably outscored, it wasn't by much. Howarth picked up five and Webster gained a good third place point, finishing ahead of Ashley Birks in the second race.

Meanwhile, Monarchs entertain Somerset Rebels at Armadale tonight and feel they have enough in hand to defeat them. "While you can never write anyone off and Somerset are near the top of the league, I think we'll take care of them," added Hunter.

Sheffield: Parker 13, Auty 11, Ashworth 10, Lambert 8, Sanchez 8, Skidmore 6, Birks 0.

Monarchs: Wolbert 15, Wethers 10, Howarth 5, Cook 4, Katajisto 4, Tully 1, Webster 1.