Berwick Jewson Bandits arrived at Armadale with confidence after a fine start to the season, but left in disappointment as Edinburgh Stellar Monarchs swept the Borders septet aside in their first home match of the season.
The Borders club’s team manager, Stewart Dickson, had hoped to catch Monarchs cold as they could not ride in their Press and Practice Day, but his hopes were dashed.
The home side’s No 1, Josh Pickering, oozed class, the 27-year-old picking up where the left off last season, and his top score of 12 points was equalled by his experienced Aussie countryman, Justin Sedgmen, now 32 and a man who was part of the all-conquering Edinburgh teams in 2014 and 2015.
They were backed-up by solid riding by rider from another recruit from Down Under, Queensland-born Kye Thomson, who totalled ten points.
The 53-37 final scoreline could have been worse as Monarchs led 47-31 going into the penultimate race but 3-3 scorelines in the final two heats put a more acceptable gloss on the night.
Monarchs boss Alex Harkess was confident his men could earn the aggregate bonus point as well as the welcome win against the Borders outfit if they produced what they are capable of. They did.
Bandits, who won in West Lothian in the BSN Series 12 months ago but, traditionally, find Armadale a tough track and could not repeat that feat.
A nasty collision between Bandits’ team-mates Drew Kemp and Jye Etheridge going into the third bend of Heat Seven did not help their cause.
They both clattered into the air fence, their bikes somersaulting over the track, and needed attention from the trackside medics, Etheridge being placed on a stretcher complaining of upper back pain.
Kemp “gingerly”, as the commentator called it, walking back to the pits, but Ethridge withdrawn from the meeting but, thankfully, reported later to be “up and walking”.
Former Monarchs racer, Rory Schlein, a 39-year-old Aussie, a four-time Scottish Open winner at Armadale along with a number of honours, including a World Cup silver and bronze, and the British Championship in 2020, used his track knowledge to top score with 11 points for the visitors who won only four of the 15 heats on the night, their first success coming in the sixth race.
Bastian Borke, a 21-year-old Danish racer who switched to Bandits after a season with Edinburgh, provided nine of Berwick’s points, and stand-in, Kyle Howarth, the Scunthorpe Scorpions racer deputising for broken ankle victim, Lewis Kerr, Berwick’s No 1, and Danyon Hume from Buckinghamshire, who, like Schlein won two heats, provided six points each.
Monarchs’ skipper, Paco Castagna, who scored seven points, including two heat wins, said that there is good spirit in Monarchs team and he added: “We have good guys here. They want to win and the boys are doing well. There are a lot of positives vibes.”
The Armadale outfit will need a massive doze of those positive vibes when they entertain Poole Pirates in the second-leg of the Championship KO Cup on Friday, May 3 and go into the match nine points down after a 49-40 scoreline in the first-leg at Poole Stadium in midweek.
PICTURE: A Berwick rider takes a tumble early in the meeting. Picture by Nigel Duncan
All pictures by Nigel Duncan trackside at Armadale
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