Edinburgh Monarchs took full Cab Direct Championship points with a 52-38 win over Plymouth Gladiators minus skipper Paco Castagna.
Mitch Cluff and Jordy Loftus stepped up with 15 points, plus five bonus points, between them.

Loftus said: “Very happy with the team’s performance, we all scored points and we got very few lasts. I’m quite happy with myself because I was paid for double figures and I’ve scored well in the last couple of home meetings.”

The Blast From the Past enthusiasts closed the show just before the anticipated rain and former Bandit Jason Straughan rescued a 12-12 draw for Scotland when he passed Keith Cornell in the final race.

Edinburgh Monarchs (52): Dan Thompson 10+0, Paco Castagna 0+0, Justin Sedgmen 8+1, Jonatan Grahn 7+2, Kye Thomson 12+0, Mitch Cluff 7+2, Jordy Loftus 8+3
Plymouth Gladiators (38): Danny King 11+1, Joe Thompson 4+1, Daniel Klima 3+0, Ben Barker 6+0, Scott Nicholls 12+0, Anze Grmek 1+0, Ben Whalley 1+0

Berwick Bandits hung on, despite being beaten 53-38, to claim their first aggregate bonus point of the season, but it took a determined last heat ride from Peter Kildemand to deny Oxford Cheetahs a Super Heat run-off.

Jye Etheridge inflicted a rare defeat – and the only one of night – on ex-Edinburgh star Sam Masters in Heat One but, otherwise, only Nick Morris, twice, managed to win for the visitors who were forced to use a tactical substitution as early as Heat Seven.

With Mitch McDiarmid, Luke Killeen and Edward Kennett backing Masters up, while reserves Dayle Wood and Darryl Ritchings outscored their counterparts heavily, Oxford began to believe they could claw back the 16-point advantage from the first meeting.

However, a nerve-jangling Heat 15 made the difference. Masters ran his own race but, behind him, Kildemand took advantage of a mistake and Berwick held on to claim the bonus.

Bandits are due on home shale on Saturday (tapes up 7pm) when Plymouth are the visitors to Shielfield Park and Steve Edmunds picture shows action from their match at Oxford.

Cheetahs: Sam Masters 17, Luke Killeen 7, Edward Kennett 7, Mitch McDiarmid 11, R/R Anders Rowe, Dayle Wood 4+2, Darryl Ritchings 6+1
Bandits: Peter Kildemand 9+2, Jye Etheridge 8+2, Victor Palovaara 5+1, R/R Jordan Jenkins, Nick Morris 12, Jack Smith 2, Reid Battye 2
 

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