Monarchs 65, Comets 25: Another dominant performance raises play-off hopes

Edinburgh Monarchs soared into third place in the Championship table and took another step towards their goal of reaching the play-offs with a resounding 65-25 victory over Workington Comets at Armadale tonight, a result nobody had predicted.
Monarchs No.1 Richie Worrall takes the chequred flag after being unbeaten all night. Pictures: Ron MacNeillMonarchs No.1 Richie Worrall takes the chequred flag after being unbeaten all night. Pictures: Ron MacNeill
Monarchs No.1 Richie Worrall takes the chequred flag after being unbeaten all night. Pictures: Ron MacNeill

The Comets, who defeated Monarchs in a Championship Shield encounter back in June, never looked remotely like repeating that triumph and the match was over as a contest by the end of the first half.

The teams meet again in the return fixture at Derwent Park tomorrow night and Monarchs must be hopeful of picking up a match point at least after this stunning performance.

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Workington were without Dan Bewley who was injured in a horror smash last weekend and operated the rider replacement facility to cover his absence. Bewley, a former Monarch, smashed his leg when riding against Lakeside at home and was taken to hospital. He is recovering in Cumbria.

Heat  2: William Lawson forces through the gap between Kyle Bickley and Rene BachHeat  2: William Lawson forces through the gap between Kyle Bickley and Rene Bach
Heat 2: William Lawson forces through the gap between Kyle Bickley and Rene Bach

Monarchs, who have been scoring points for fun in recent weeks, set down an impressive marker in the first two heats winning them both 5-1 and the Comets must have known they faced an uphill task to unseat Monarchs.

And another 5-1 from Monarchs pair Richie Worrall and Josh Pickering followed in heat three, the home side stretching their lead to 15-3 against a team considered to be one of the form squads in the league.

Monarchs piled on the agony for their visitors as skipper Erik Riss and Joel Andersson recorded Monarchs’ fourth 5-1 in a row in the fourth heat to lead 20-4.

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Recent signing William Lawson, who partnered Andersson to a maximum advantage in the second race, said: “It’s great to be back racing for Monarchs once again. I was expecting a hard match, but so far so good. I’m still getting used to the track again but every week I’m gaining in experience.”

Despite a shared heat in the fifth race, Monarchs were back on the 5-1 trail once again in heat six courtesy of No.1 Ricky Wells and Victor Palovaara, and with heat seven also shared, Monarchs still led comfortably 31-11. A further two 5-1s followed for Monarchs who were now on easy street leading 41-13, the Comets already brought down to earth.

There was no stopping this Monarchs juggernaut as Palovaara and Wells scooped another 5-1 in heat ten to increase their advantage to 46-14 and Monarchs went on to lead 
62-22 with one race left,which was shared 3-3.

Wells said: “A great strong team performance, no one is going to come to Armadale now and beat us.”

Monarchs: Palovaara 13, Worrall 12, Riss 12, Wells 10, Andersson 9, Pickering 7, Lawson 2.

Workington: Klindt 9, Campton 6, Jensen 4, Bach 4, Proctor 2, Bickley 0.