Speedway: Monarchs blitz dishevelled Tigers in one-sided derby

Monarchs, boosted by their excellent win over Workington Comets last week, carried on from where they left off and simply gave their arch rivals a lesson in speedway superiority.

The Tigers were a two-man team with No .1 Joe Screen and James Grieves scoring all but ten of their final tally. Both men were given tactical ride outings in a bid to stem their hosts points tide, but it was to no avail as the Tigers pair failed to win their respective races.

For Monarchs, this was as easy as it gets as Andrew Tully roared to a thirteen point paid maximum and team-mate Craig Cook copped the full five ride fifteen point haul.

Monarchs were in cruise control and led 32-18 after Derek Sneddon and Charles Wright scored a 5-1 in heat eight. Sneddon also combined with Tully for a trio of 4-2 advantages which began in the opening heat when the latter defeated Screen.

Any hopes Glasgow harboured of a Houdini style escape act were shattered in the second half as Monarchs grabbed maximum 5-1 successes in the last three races to leave their visitors shell-shocked and wary about their ability to win Sunday’s return tie at Ashfield.

While Monarchs top guns basked in the limelight, the capital side’s reserve duo Micky Dyer and Wright both enjoyed a productive evening. Dyer scored five points, but Wright, who hasn’t had the best of luck recently, picked up seven points which included a fine win in heat two.

And the young Englishman said afterwards he was glad he steered clear of trouble which has befallen him recently. “I’ve had a few knocks lately and my head is still a bit sore, but I felt a lot better before the start of this meeting. It was good to win my first race because normally I muck up the first corner, but I was more aggressive on this occasion,” he said.

Wright added that the margin of victory did not come as a complete surprise. “I think we are all fired up since we beat Workington and since then we have all just clicked together.

“I don’t see why we cannot win through at Glasgow tomorrow because we are all growing in confidence. Glasgow do have some good riders in their team but we just outrode them.”

Only Josh Grajczonek, who picked up six points, gave Grieves and Screen any semblance of support which underlines the long tail Tigers have in their squad.

Monarchs: Cook 15, Tully 13, Pijper 8, Wethers 7, Wright 7, Sneddon 6, Dyer 5.

Glasgow: Grieves 13, Screen 10, Grajczonek 6, Ksiezak 2, Campton 1, Mudgway 1, O’Malley 0.