Lawson and Sedgmen star in last heat thriller as Edinburgh Monarchs move into KO final four

It took until the last lap of the last heat but after 30 races of enthralling Scottish derby speedway What the Fork Monarchs progress to the semi-final of the Knockout Cup 91-89 on aggregate despite going down 52-38 against Glasgow Tigers at Ashfield in the second-leg.

Monarchs held a 16-point lead but minus four of their usual septet but Glasgow whittled that down ahead of Heat 15, Monarchs requiring at worst a 3-3 to clinch the tie.

Guest Richard Lawson made a great start to take the lead but was quickly swallowed up by Tigers No 1 Craig Cook. With Cook’s partner Tom Brennan in third it looked like an aggregate draw was on the cards and golden heats to come.

But Justin Sedgmen had other ideas. Sticking to a tight inside line, he finally drove under Tom Brennan on bend two of the final lap and held the young Englishman off on the final corner to send Monarchs fans into raptures.

Alex Harkess (pictured), Monarchs’ team manager, said: “The aim was to progress and we did it. I don’t like a heat 15 like that. With 4 races to go we needed 8 points and I would have liked to have gotten 7 of them before heat 15 but we didn’t.

“We lost a few 5-1’s including in Heat 13 and that made it more difficult for the riders to come forward knowing they needed to do something in Heat 15. Richard Lawson did what was required and Sedgy (Justin Sedgmen) did something I wouldn’t have put any money on at all. He is just a hero.”

Harkess added: “Golden heats obviously would have made them the favourites as the home team, but we got the 3-3 that won us the tie and you may be able to tell I’m quite pleased.”

Glasgow 52 (89): Cook 6, Bailey 7, Ostergaard 8+2, Basso 6, Brennan 10+2, Hume 6, Nicol 9+3

Edinburgh 38 (91): Lawson 10, Fredriksen rider replacement, Thomson 7, Castagna 5+1, Sedgmen 7+1, Hook 2+1, Ruml 7+2