Under-strength Stellar Monarchs skidded to a 55-35 defeat to Poole Pirates in the Cab Direct Championship play-off and they entertain the Dorset side at Armadale on Friday.
Gordon Campbell, Monarchs’ team manager, commented: “Poole is always a difficult place to go but the team were determined to give our fans as good a performance as possible.
“Circumstances dictated that we were racing without a No 1 which added significantly to the difficulty of the task.
“Paco (Castagne) and Josh (Pickering) led the charge but Poole were always comfortable. Castagne did particularly well considering he had a heavy crash on Monday but completed seven rides.
“There is still spirit in the team and they have a huge desire to finish the season on a high on Friday.”
The prospective guest at No 1 pulled out the day before the event and rider replacement only yielded three points but Pickering and Castagna won five heats between them and others showed flashes of ability.
Poole Pirates (55): Richard Lawson 13+0, Anders Rowe 0+0, Ben Cook 9+0, Zach Cook 11+2, Steve Worrall 11+2, Kyle Newman 7+2, Joe Thompson 4+2
Edinburgh Monarchs (35): Rider Replacement 0+0, Lasse Fredriksen 3+0, Kye Thomson 4+1, Paco Castagna 8+1, Josh Pickering 14+0, Dayle Wood 4+1, Bastian Borke 2+0
PICTURE: Josh Pickering
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