DavyH

Great effort from the Monarchs to remain unbeaten in their toughest test yet. Seems a bit of a lottery when only three heat winners came from gate 4 with none from gate 2. It's the same for both teams but is this normal for the Ippo track or just how it happened last night?

apart from Ashfield obviously!!! Sorry Paulco, couldn't resist!

Looked tough tonight after two heats but we have so many match winners! Well done on 11 in a row Mighty Monarchs!

My view of things tonight from a balmy Dale that ended up freezing! Close meeting for 5 heats as Monarchs old boys rode like Monarchs! Despite the Tigers providing 4/5 heat winners from the start they never looked like having enough back up to cause an upset. Only 2 heat avantages, one with the aid of a joker. Most of the excitement and talking points came later on with heats 13/15 being great races - incredible from Cookie in 15! I can't understand why Worrall was excluded in ht 12. I was on the hill above bend one and what I saw was Rusty trying to turn hard inside Stevie and just clipping his back wheel. Thankfully both were up quickly and Max got the win in the re-run. For the unbeatables, Cookie looked slower out of the gate but that certainly made his races exciting! Aaron scored a great 7+1, ok mostly against the reserves and Berge but he was beating Lemon comfortably in heat 10 before Mark sat down for a rest. Max looked a bit slower early on but still scored 7, that's fine. Derek made a fine return from injury with a good win in ht 14. Sam only dropped points to Theo and Kevin for a solid 7. Justin and Stevie only scored paid 19 I think - they are slipping lol. For Glasgow, Kevin and Theo were excellent, their fans will hope that is repeated weekly. Berge - first time I've saw him, tidy enough but was usually off the pace. Rusty and Lemon got a few points, but Glasgow will want more from them. The reserves weren't really on the pace, thought McBain might have been a bit closer. With Monarchs having 2 heat leaders and the rest with a starting average under 6, I thought this was the type of match where we might struggle against a team more evenly balanced, the absence of the Danes made it easier, but the Monarchs dug in deep and all seven riders combined for a good win. So Monarchs fans will be delighted with a record breaking start to the season, Tigers fans will be happy with Theo and especially Kevin. My big disappointment of the night though was not getting an Easter egg from Ed the Monarch - would I be a bad Grandad if I ate Abby's while she sleeps?

I duunno Paulco, you lot can't even cheat properly eh?

Very good start, but a long way to go and as we all know you never can tell when injuries, loss of form, machine problems can strike..

Cookie, he dropped points tonight OK then must be Stevie Worrall on a 3 average though Max Fricke is going very well too.

Fantastic result for the Mighty Monarchs and one that I didn't expect even after such a comfortable (in the end) win last night. We've got riders that seem capable of winning every race with only Aaron still to get up to speed and Sam to get to grips with the Armadale bends. Great start to the season, only have to keep this up to end October now!

lol, a 4 point win for Monarchs is a hammering, a 20 point defeat is a narrow loss

But the home straight terracing is the grandstand???? Off to hide now before B4e batters me Is that not a scandalous slur on my friend? There again nope, so Paulco won't sue, enjoy your racing guys Only if they announce a free bar at all Berwick meetings

Of course! as in his previous Armadale meetings

My ramblings from the Chatzone..... This was a big test tonight and we passed with flying colours. The turning point was heat 7 when just 2 points ahead Howarth went haywire on the last 2 bends to allow both Monarchs through for a 3-3 rather than a 1-5. Both teams had some bad luck/bad calls from the ref - Derek was elbowed off by Scrabbleman in heat 5 I felt, could have been all 4 back, Aaron came off when Campton parked his bike 1 yard in front of him in ht 8 after slowing to a crawl on every corner then Bach went down in heat 9 as Worrall lifted on bend 2. Surely if a rider falls due to one in front mucking it up the one in front should go? Cookie was rubbish, never got a full max, never got the track record lol. Aaron showed he can gate, a few more meetings and he'll be doing fine. Max was superb, just beaten once in his 2nd ride when outnumbered in the re-run. Derek ran out of room in heat 3, then was unlucky in 5. Sam still has to Master the bends but his speed is there for all to see. The reserves were great, maybe Stevie tired a bit in his last two. For Worky, I thought they looked solid but they couldn't win enough heats - only one apart from the Joker ride. Grajczonek won two, Wells one and Bach is still not back to his pre-injury form. Campton is much improved and had a good night, Howarth had a good second in 14 after spinning out on a paid win in 7, Morris scored a few thirds with Mills earning a 100 lines for arriving late! So a meeting where I predicted a 10 point win ended up as a 20 point one excluding the stupid 3 extra joker points. We hammered Berwick home and away last week, this team look very strong, but there's a long way to go. Luckily, r/r for Derek tomorrow doesn't really weaken us, hopefully he'll get his back sorted for next week.

My musings from the Chatzone..... First meeting of the season for me and I was very impressed by the Monarchs. I expected Berwick with three ex-Monarchs to be much more competitive but a mere three heat wins and four riders I think failing to beat a Monarch tells it's own story. Cookie was his usual self with track conditions and good riding from Claus costing him his maximum. Aaron settled in well and I can see him hitting his average of 5 over the season. Max was our star man I thought he was unlucky to spin out in heat 15 going for his paid max. Derek looked much improved on last season, much faster and a great points return. Sam looked a bit ill at ease at times but with his ability will do well. Both reserves scored heavily and it's a toss-up which one will move into the top 5 first. For Berwick only Matthew and Claus were on form with Doolan unlucky when on the joker. Nowt worth saying about the rest. So onto a much tougher test tonight at Berwick.

Unless of course they almost hit 40 on Sunday too MD Think both teams will be happy tonight blowing away the cobwebs.

Yes Sidney, Derek rode for the Dale Devils around 2000 before joining Monarchs. So ironic that he missed our PL winning year in 2003 after a bad crash at Worky.

I'm sure my Tiger friends are after Frede Schott, just the right age and an ex-Monarch too

Only half MD? I estimated about 78% Being serious though, looking for Glasgow have a much stronger line up next year - we need good rivalry!

Sorry Young 51 - can't agree, Somerset won the PL over the year, for Monarchs or any other team to win a League over 1 hour in October would be wrong. I know the Play offs encourage crowds, but a team that wins the league is always the best over a season, not just lucky over 1 hour! Having said that, I would have taken another league win just to annoy Paulco lol

Here's my thoughts from the totally unbiased ever Monarchs Chatzone First of all, Well Done to Somerset on becoming Champions although in many eyes they were already champs! Well Done too to the depleted Monarchs on a brave performance. What a season it's been for us - The pleasure of watching Cookie being top PL man again, Captain Deek being so inspirational at times, watching the emergence of not only a great rider but such a friendly respectable young Aussie that is Max. Great rides from Theo despite his injuries and illness at times, Claus for coming in at the last minute and battling like hell and Joe for so many entertaining moments, get well soon! Thanks too for all the guys at reserve who contributed so well, Marcel, it didn't work out, Mitchell, love to see him back, Josh, injury robbed us of a star and Liam for some great performances. As others have said, there was a real improvement on friday nights at the Dale, the promorion deserve thanks too. Back to Somerset - I've been fortunate enough to visit the OTA many times since they came into CL/NL leagues as I have family near the track, they thoroughly deserve this success for all the hard work they have put in both on and off track.

Ignoring the OP lol - here's my thoughts from the totally unbiased ever Monarchs Chatzone First of all, Well Done to Somerset on becoming Champions although in many eyes they were already champs! Well Done too to the depleted Monarchs on a brave performance. What a season it's been for us - The pleasure of watching Cookie being top PL man again, Captain Deek being so inspirational at times, watching the emergence of not only a great rider but such a friendly respectable young Aussie that is Max. Great rides from Theo despite his injuries and illness at times, Claus for coming in at the last minute and battling like hell and Joe for so many entertaining moments, get well soon! Thanks too for all the guys at reserve who contributed so well, Marcel, it didn't work out, Mitchell, love to see him back, Josh, injury robbed us of a star and Liam for some great performances. As others have said, there was a real improvement on friday nights at the Dale, the promorion deserve thanks too. Back to Somerset - I've been fortunate enough to visit the OTA many times since they came into CL/NL leagues as I have family near the track, they thoroughly deserve this success for all the hard work they have put in both on and off track. I was there when Monarchs won on aggregate a few years back to qualify for the EL/PL play-offs - the genuine good wishes from the Rebels fans that night in their bar remain with me and I congratulate them, their team and promoters tonight. Enjoy it, because next year, it's our turn - yet again

If the ref is as bad as Friday's seems to have have been then the ref's box could well be firewood the morning after the meeting - burnt firewood!! Hopefully the weather relents and the meeting goes ahead.

We need photos!!!

Calm doon George!!

Don't be silly Boobs - it never rains at Armadale

My Chatzone ramblings... It was of course Nick Morris who won ht 15 with Josh in 3rd. My mistake, forgot to correct it. These dark nights with washed out helmet colours don't go down well with a blind bat like me First of all well done to Somerset. This was a low key meeting in view of Wednesday's score. Cookie looked unbeatable in his first three races before Morris did well to hold him off in ht 13. Derek did better after a poor heat 1, Theo had a good win over a disinterested Doyle, but otherwise was poor. Jozsef was back to his best with some good gating and determined riding - others please copy!. Claus was missing, very poor, James Serjeant did as expected while Max had a good night apart from missing the gate in an easier looking ht 12. This takes nothing away from a very good Rebels team who look odds-on to clean up this year, even with Doyle and Grajczoneck only winning one each, they never really looked troubled, grabbing a couple of 5-1's when we looked to be getting a decent lead. Morris was impressive again and Davies was much better with Josh chipping in with a decent score too.I don't think we lose the last five heats by 6 points very often! We need a few of the team to improve tomorrow to try and get a point at least at Worky.