1  Shane Parker.............3  3  2  3  R  -  - : = 11
2  Lee Dicken...............2' 2' 0  1' -  -  - : =  5+3
3  Peter Juul...............F  1  2' 1  -  -  - : =  4+1
4  Robert Ksiezak...........2  0  3  3  X  -  - : =  8
5  Trent Leverington (C)....0  1  1  2' -  -  - : =  4+1
6  Mitchell Davey...........3  3  0  F  -  -  - : =  6
7  Anders Andersen..........R  3  3  0  -  -  - : =  6
 

1  William Lawson...........Rider Replacement   : = 
2  Tomas Piszcz (G).........1  2' 2  X  -  -  - : =  5+1
3  Ryan Fisher..............3  3  2' 3  3  3  - : = 17+1
4  Andrew Tully.............1  3  0  2  1' 2' - : =  9+2
5  Matthew Wethers..........1' X  1  1  -  -  - : =  3+1
6  Derek Sneddon (C)........0  2  1  0  2' 2  - : =  7+1
7  Aaron Summers............1' 2  1' 0  -  -  - : =  4+2


An unusually sunny and warm day greeted the Ashfield faithful as the new
Premier League champions came to town on Scottish Cup business. Tigers
gave Peter Juul, following his track debut in last week's Ashfield Classic, his
first team outing and had to rearrange the riding order since his average
dictated he came in as second heatleader. Edinburgh were chasing three
Ashfield wins in a row, but this time they had to do it without William Lawson,
away at the World Under 21 Final, so operated Rider Replacement for him.
The Monarchs appeared to have pulled off a coup by enlisting Birmingham's
late season signing Tomas Piszcz, 21 point scorer in his last visit, as a guest
for the injured Thomas Jonasson. With Michael Max away, the promotion
drafted in the Monarchs' mike man, but they must have wondered what they
had done when he introduced the visitors' Ryan Fisher as 'our American', one
of several identity crises for him in the day!
Gate pattern B in operation.

Heat 1 
Derek Sneddon came in for the first Rider Replacement ride. Shane Parker
gated well to hit the front and Tomas Piszcz tucked inside for second. The Pole
made a complete hash of turn 3 and Lee Dicken was only too happy to accept
the invitation to power through inside for second. Piszcz tried to recover the
situation on the next turn by pushing Lee wide, but the big man held his
ground to give the home team the start they wanted.

Parker, Dicken, Piszcz, Sneddon   (5-1) (5-1) - 59.2   

Heat 2  
Anders Andersen and Aaron Summers both twitched at the start and the
trainee ref called all four back. 
Second time around it was a more even start but Mitchell Davey emerged
and, showing how he has matured later in the season, snuffed out Sneddon's
outside move on turn 2 to take a well controlled win. Anders retired with bike
problems on lap 3.

Davey, Sneddon, Summers, Andersen(Ret)   (3-3) (8-4) - 61.8  

Heat 3 
Robert Ksiezak moved on the start so they were called back.
Ryan Fisher mastered the turn and, with Peter Juul spinning round, it was left
to Robert to limit the damage.

Fisher, Ksiezak, Tully, Juul(Fell)   (2-4) (10-8) - 61.0

Heat 4 
With Anders bike problems not being sorted out in time, Mitchell came in to
replace him. Mitchell's fast gate gave him a great line in the turn but Trent
Leverington got stuck at the back. The Aussie youngster defended his lead
well without coming under much pressure, but skipper Trent's failure to come
through was a disappointment.
 
Davey, Summers, Wethers, Leverington   (3-3) (13-11) - 62.2

Heat 5 
Fisher came in as Rider Replacement. He and Piszcz emerged from the turn
ahead and raced to an untroubled maximum to take his team ahead.

Fisher, Piszcz, Juul, Ksiezak   (1-5) (14-16) - 61.3 

Heat 6
Shane had dashed for the turn, but Matthew Wethers slid off on the outside.
The referee judged no-one else to blame, so the former Tiger was excluded.
Shane again got the best start but Sneddon nipped ahead of Lee. These two
had a terrific battle with Sneddon riding the wide line and Lee cutting inside
with the Monarchs' skip seeming to have the edge until lap 3 when the home
hero cut inside on turn 3 to get the run off 4 to take the maximum and move
the Tigers back in front.

(Rerun) Parker, Dicken, Sneddon, Wethers(F.Exc)   (5-1) (19-17) -
62.5  

Heat 7 
Trent and Fisher clashed on the run to the turn and this pushed everyone out,
with the unfortunate Andrew Tully being the end of the chain and he piled into
the fence. All four were asked to restart and the young Scot dusted himself
down. Whatever he dusted himself down with needs to be patented because
he came out with Fisher, took advantage of poor starts from the Tigers and
headed off to the win that took the visitors back in front.

(Rerun) Tully, Fisher, Leverington, Davey   (1-5) (20-22) - 61.5

Heat 8 
Anders made a good start but Piszcz powered round the young Dane. The
Pole again struggled on the third turn and Anders pounced inside and headed
off to an untroubled win. Lee tried to put as much pressure on Summers as he
could but his cutback off the last turn failed.

Andersen, Piszcz, Summers, Dicken   (3-3) (23-25) - 61.9  

Heat 9 
Robert fought to the front and Peter nipped inside to join him' as
Sneddon slid off, staying down and making no effort to get up. The Monarchs'
skip clearly thought he had been dumped but the referee obviously saw
nothing wrong and, to his credit, Sneddon did remount and give chase. Robert
and Peter showed a good team riding understanding although Wethers was
not in contention. Nevertheless, the Buildbase Tigers had edged ahead again.

Ksiezak, Juul, Wethers, Sneddon(F.Rmtd)   (5-1) (28-26) - 63.9

Heat 10 
Fisher jumped at the start and it was ruled unsatisfactory.
This time Fisher started clear and Shane could make no real impression on
the American.

Fisher, Parker, Dicken, Tully   (3-3) (31-29) - 61.2  

Heat 11 
Anders came in to replace Mitchell and Tully came in as Rider Replacement.
As the riders hit the first turn, Piszcz seemed to straighten up and ran into the
fence. The referee considered it was his own fault and excluded him.
Tully gated sharp, but Anders powered round him on the turn although Trent
seemed out of sorts and made no impression on second.

(Rerun) Andersen, Tully, Leverington, Piszcz(F.Exc)   (4-2) (35-31) - 60.5  

Heat 12 
The Monarchs sewed this one up from the start against our young Danish
hopefuls, and this match was back in the melting pot as the Monarchs drew
level.

Fisher, Sneddon, Juul, Andersen   (1-5) (36-36) - 61.8   

Heat 13 
Summers came in for the final Rider Replacement ride. Shane made it from
the start and Trent kept tight on turn 2 to hold off the Monarchs' challenge and
join Tigers' main man for the maximum to take Tigers back again into the
lead.

Parker, Leverington, Wethers, Summers   (5-1) (41-37) - 61.6

Heat 14 
Sneddon came in to replace Summers. It was tight on the turn but Robert
swept round and Mitchell came through inside, but Sneddon's outside run took
him fast down the back straight and, as he passed Mitchell, the Tigers' rookie
came down. His gestures to the referee showed he thought there had been
contact, but the referee was not convinced. The Tigers still managed to
preserve their four point lead and, but for a complete disaster in the final
heat, had halted the Monarchs' hold over them this season. 

Ksiezak, Sneddon, Tully, Davey(Fell)   (3-3) (44-40) - 62.2 
 
Heat 15 
Shane got away and the home support were elated when Robert cut inside
Fisher on turn 2. Fisher muscled his way past Robert on turn 3, but Robert cut
inside again on turn 2 next time around to regain his position. The Aussie,
however, hit a rut on turn 3 and this threw him wide and he struggled to
correct it, eventually hitting the fence on the home straight, with his bike
getting tangled and throwing him off, landing heavily and possibly breaking his
collarbone. With his exclusion and the referee ordering a rerun when Shane
was well ahead, complete disaster (part one) was done.
In the rerun, Shane showed a clean pair of wheels to the Monarchs and it
seemed the win was sealed, but complete disaster (part two) was just around
the corner. Corner 3 lap 2 to be exact, when Shane's bike failed, handing the
race and the match to the visitors.

(Rerun) Fisher, Tully, Parker(EF), Ksiezak(F.Exc)   (1-5) (44-45) - 62.9

 
If ever a match lived up to the 'snatching defeat from the jaws of victory'
cliche, this was it. Having managed to get some daylight between the teams in
heat 13, it was a cruel way to finish what had been a well balanced match.
Tigers had been solid apart from a subdued Trent Leverington, and the
Monarchs, Fisher apart, had not given a champions performance, but all points
count and it now leaves Tigers with problems in covering for Robert in the two
remaining matches against the Monarchs.

Report by : John Sloss

 
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