Edinburgh Monarchs fire Workington Comets into oblivion
The Edinburgh Monarchs put in a devastating display to swat aside a hopeless Workington Comets in their KO Cup quarter-final first-leg clash.
The Capital outfit emerged 65-24 winners at Armadale to all but secure a last-four showdown with arch-rivals the Glasgow Tigers.
The second leg takes place this afternoon in Cumbria, but it would take something extraordinary to see anything other than Monarchs progress.
Having been on the wrong side of some pretty tight affairs so far this season, the Monarchs can take huge comfort that this one was all but wrapped up by the midway point.
Three of the home boys obliterated the scoring charts - Victor Palovaara bagging 20 with six heat wins from seven outings, but middle pairing Jonatan Grahn and Kye Thomson didn't put a wheel wrong all night - both scoring paid maximums and a deserved heat 15 outing.
The hosts registered eight 5-1s, not to mention a heat six 5-0, and produced 13 race winners in this completely one-sided affair.
In truth, the Comets offered little resistance, if any. Troy Batchelor and former Monarch Jacob Hook could at least leave West Lothian with their heads held high. As for the rest of the team, well, they simply weren't at the races.
Monarchs were again running rider replacment after newcomer Oskar Polis sensationally quit the team last Friday citing an inability to get to grips with tracks here in the UK. The search for his replacement continues.
However, Scandinavian Grahn has settled well in what is his maiden season in British speedway.
The 24-year-old said afterwards: "It was an amazing night and I'm so happy for this performance from all the guys in the team and also for myself. It feels like things are going to click for me now. I had a goal before the season to score 10 points or more in a meeting so I'm happy. Speedway is all about what's in your head. We want to win every meeting and score as many points so we're going to Workington to win that too."
Monarchs: Palovaara 20, Thomson 16, Grahn 13, Sedgmen 8, Castagna 7, Parker 1.
Comets: Batchelor 9, Hook 8, Zischke 3, Bowes 2, Vuolas 1, Foord 1, Etheridge 0.