Exceptional Josh Pickering can't prevent Edinburgh Monarchs slipping to derby defeat

Josh Pickering was in sublime form for the Monarchs despite defeat at Ashfield. Picture: Jack Cupido.Josh Pickering was in sublime form for the Monarchs despite defeat at Ashfield. Picture: Jack Cupido.
Josh Pickering was in sublime form for the Monarchs despite defeat at Ashfield. Picture: Jack Cupido.
Although it was the Glasgow Tigers who earned the Scottish bragging rights at Ashfield tonight, it was Edinburgh Monarchs' No.1 Josh Pickering who grabbed all the headlines.

The 27-year-old racked up an astonishing 20 points from his energy-zapping seven outings - scoring half of his side's tally as the Armadale men went down 50-40.

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The Australian was simply sensational, winning all but his final heat as Tigers No.1 Chris Harris prevented Pickering from going through the racecard unbeaten.

Monarchs have already been eliminated from Championship play-off contention, although having Pickering in this devastating from will give the Capital side the perfect boost ahead of their BSN Series semi-final first-leg clash with the Scunthorpe Scorpions next Friday.

Glasgow reserve James Pearson, who top scored for the home side with 12, came close to ending Pickering's winning streak in heat 11 after a blistering first lap, but the Aussie switched to the outside to round his compatriot on the second bend of lap three to secure the chequered flag after a fine move.

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And then in the final race of the evening, Pickering, who hadn't made the gate and saw Leon Flint and Harris motoring towards a 5-1, sized up the former before performing a wonderful cut back on the fourth bend of lap three to secure a well-earned second behind ex-Grand Prix star Harris.

Monarchs will fancy their chances of picking up the aggregate bonus point when the sides meet in the return fixture at Armadale, although that date is still to be determined following last Friday's postponement due to the rain. They will hope to have Justin Sedgmen back in the saddle as the 32-year-old continues his recovery from concussion and a knee injury. Monarchs were forced to operate rider replacement despite scouring the country for a replacement and boss Alex Harkess felt that played a key role in the defeat against their biggest rivals.

He said: "It's a shame really. But the bottom line is we cannot carry rider replacement away from home because we're not doing the job away from home. Unfortunatley we had a rider booked (Drew Kemp), who then called off and gave us no time to find a replacement and we paid the penalty for that. I believe, with a reasonable guest, the score would have been a lot closer. Josh was exceptional, as he tends to be and carried the team so full marks to him."

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