Josh Pickering used his extensive track knowledge to the full, the former Edinburgh Monarchs star powering to a 14 points to top score for Scunthorpe Scorpions on a wintry night at Armadale.
The Aussie racer’s haul of 14 was matched by Monarchs’ impressive guest Nick Morris and the sides finished level at 45-45, the home side clawing their way back after a disastrous start.
The tight match ended with four drawn races, including a nail-biting heat 15 and Edinburgh rider, Kye Thomson, said: “Conditions certainly made it difficult. We had a good guest in Nick Morris who did an awesome job.
“Dan Thompson was very hard done by with the exclusion in Heat 6, it’s probably the worst decision I’ve seen in my time in speedway, but we’ve got Dan back now and we can kick on from this.”
Heavy rain on Friday afternoon made the track difficult it was 42-42 going into the final race.
Pickering was soon at the front with Michael Palm Toft closely following. Morris got himself into second and spent the rest of the race trying to assist his partner to come in to third, which he eventually succeeded with.
Home reserve pair Cluff and Loftus have been improving recently but they didn’t cope well with the conditions and were outscored 13-1 by the visiting reserves.
Overall, that made life hard for the home top five, but no-one would begrudge Scunthorpe their draw.
Edinburgh Monarchs (45): Dan Thompson 4+2, Jonatan Grahn 8+0, Justin Sedgmen 7+1, Nick Morris 14+2, Kye Thomson 11+1, Mitch Cluff 1+0, Jordy Loftus 0+0
Scunthorpe Scorpions (45): Josh Pickering 14+0, Connor Mountain 7+3, Luke Harrison 2+0, Dan Gilkes 0+0, Michael Palm Toft 8+0, Dayle Wood 5+2, Nathan Ablitt 9+2
FLASHBACK: Pickering in action for Monarchs
