Home comforts as Monarchs beat Bandits
Edinburgh Stellar Monarchs bagged a deserved three points with a top display against Berwick Bandits in their first home outing of the season.
Monarchs never looked like missing out on either the match points or the aggregate bonus, taking 11 race wins on the night.
That included the first five, by which stage they had established an eight-point advantage.
Edinburgh team manager Alex Harkess said:“That was just what we were looking for, they were really fighting for everything – so determined.
“They were just never going to give up, and I never doubted they would take the points.
“Everyone did their bit.
“Young Max James was having engine trouble towards the end, but I wanted to keep him in the rides, because he deserved the encouragement.”
Berwick were dealt a set-back when they lost both Jye Etheridge and Drew Kemp when they piled into the fence together in heat 7, and Danyon Hume failed to leave the start in heats 1 and 5, but won two of his other races.
There were some terrific tussles, and the home reserves and the Kye Thomson-Paco Castagna pair both added 4-2 victories, putting Monarchs ahead on aggregate, a position they never lost.
Justin Sedgmen led Rory Schlein all the way in heat 4, and Bandits brought in guest rider Kyle Howarth alongside Schlein in heat 9, but a storming ride by Thomson ensured there was no gain for the visitors.
Heat 10 was also hugely significant, with Josh Pickering storming off ahead, while Lasse Friedriksen fought a thrilling battle with the Bandits, before securing the paid win.
Thomson won heat 12 and it was almost all over, followed by a 5-2 for Sedgmen and Pickering over Schlein and Howarth.
Castagna won heat 14, with Bandits taking the final heat with Schlein fiercely passing Pickering and storming inside Sedgmen.