eide67

Like many, I don't get too excited these days about the Scottish Open and really only go along to support my club. This year's line-up was not particularly inspiring with only Ulrich Ostergaard as something a bit different in the list of Monarchs, ex-Monarchs & usual visitors. The crowd, while not exactly poor, did look down on recent weeks on what should have been one of the biggest nights of the year. However, I was very glad I made the effort as we were treated to an excellent hard-fought meeting with probably the best racing of the year. Stand-out for me was heat 19 with Cookie, after 2 second places and a tapes exclusion, looking like he might not even make the semi when he was stone last going into bend 3 on lap 1 against Grajczonek, Ostergaard & Summers. But with some brilliant round-the-air fence riding he stormed to the front to book his place in the semi-final. He then did something similar in the first lap of the semi to book his place in the final - special mention to Justin Sedgmen who was unlucky here and had a great night. The first running of the final, as described by Mr B above, was epic. I was sure Max was going to win as he swapped the lead with Sam over the first 2 laps, then, as he tried to recover from a mistake after a hard corner by Sam, I feared the worst as he ploughed into Craig's back wheel and the two came down spectacularly. The re-run was a bit of an anti-climax with Ulrich coming down on bend 2 and then Cookie getting too close to the air fence as he chased the dirt to try to pass Sam. Congratulations to Sam on a very well-deserved win and thanks to all the riders for a very entertaining night.

Congratulations to the Panthers on a well deserved victory. They have been the best visitors to Armadale this season, so it was always likely the winning run would end here, particularly as some of our riders had never ridden the track before and others not often. Looking forward to what should be a cracking League Cup final. Thanks to all of the Magnificent 7 Monarchs for what has been a fantastic achievement - truly Incredible! Now, which t-shirt to wear for the start of the next run at Berwick on Wednesday? Mighty Max, I think

Fantastic meeting, brilliant track - looked great on tv. Heat 20 was epic Anti-climactic at the end sure, but the right decision. The Monarchs pair just got better and better as the meeting went on and were in a winning position when Morris fell in the final. Congratulations Sam & Max - you were superb!

A good tense closely fought speedway meeting today - highly enjoyable. The hot sunny conditions meant the track wasn't as good as last week, but there was still plenty of close racing and passing from both sides. Edinburgh were never behind and didn't ever really look like losing, but when the Tigers gated in heat 15 a draw was on the cards. Step up a man who wasn't having the best of afternoons to make up a huge amount of ground and pass the meeting's top rider and clinch victory for the blue & gold - well done Cookie! Craig's missing points were covered by some sensational scoring by Sedgy & Steve. Paid 11 & 10 from 4 - away from home - is just fantastic from our early season reserves. Young Max continued his fine run of form and his heat 12 pass of Theo was the race of the meeting. Can't believe this mature, intelligent rider is just 18. Sam was steady but, like Cookie, was not making good starts. On the 2 occasions he made half-decent starts and burst into the lead, the races were stopped - unlucky. Derek was in the thick of it all afternoon and picked up important points, particularly winning heat 2 and fighting hard to stay in 3rd for a 4-2 in heat 12. Aaron started well in heat 2 but could not withstand a hard second bend challenge and went to the back and didn't really get into the meeting after that. For Glasgow Rusty Harrison was magnificent with some great outside passes (someone should tell him though, when he wins a race - particularly from the back - he should go round and take the plaudits from the fans. The fans are desperate to get involved and show their appreciation when they've just seen a great ride and if they get up for it and create a great atmosphere it surely can only help the team). Kevin provided great back-up and had one excellent pass on Steve Worrall in heat 10. Riding much more like a no. 1 but can get even better. The others all had their moments but their gating kept their scores down. When Henry & Berge return I think it will be a very solid team who will dominate most home meetings and be capable of springing a few surprises away (even at the Dale!).

It's debatable whether Peterborough would be better off bringing in a guest for Fisher or Dryml - depends on who's available. However they were the best visiting team to Armadale so far this season - and that was without Ales and, effectively, Ryan. I reckon Sedgy will score more than the 3+1 R/R got last night and R/R for Ryan will bring in a lot more than the zero his rides produced at the Dale. Think this could be close.

And Peterborough ran out of Fish about the same time

Really looking forward to this match. Peterborough look to have a strong team and have had a good victory tonight. As long as they come through tomorrow's match at Redcar with no injuries I think we might be in for a close match for a change.

Another good night for the Monarchs - that's 19 not out! And through to the final Also good night for all other clubs (except Glasgow) as they won't have to worry about clashes with England World Cup games for much longer

What will be the re-staging date when it is rained off on Monday?

Brilliant! You have a way with words Mr Paulco. My first visit to Ashfield in a while was very enjoyable. Lots of great action and plenty of positives from both sides. Well done to all the riders for putting on two great shows this weekend, especially as they weren't getting paid. I think once the Kaiser gets dialled in to the Ashfield track, Glasgow will have a very entertaining team who will prove very difficult to beat at home. I'm a big fan of his and may even be tempted west a few times even when Embra are not the visitors. Rusty and the two reserves were particularly exciting to watch today, and I think young Dimitri could become a firm fans favourite. For the victorious ones Cookie was sublime - it was a pleasure to watch him close up round bends one and two. Sam, Max & Stevie were also very good. Only worry we have is with Aaron, but he looks to have a decent style and was not far off the pace in either meeting, so hopefully once he gets confidence from scoring a few points he'll become a very useful member of the team.

I would say Birks is the best out of that bunch around Armadale with the possible exception of Ricky Wells who scored 14 from 5 recently (including a 6-pointer) for Sheffield, the week after a good 9 points in the Scottish Open. Rene Bach & Josh Auty both used to be great round here, but haven't been so good recently. Ashley is always great value at Armadale with generally good scoring and spectacular riding - often from the back. Looking forward to seeing him and the Witches in what I'm sure will be a good close match.

Hope Theo helps you to a win today - you deserve it after the season you've had to endure. However, looking at the revised Sheffield line-up, it won't be easy. I think it could be down to the reserves who at last seem to be coming good for Glasgow.

Well done to the Lions...and well done Cookie!

Epic cup tie! Two great teams battling all the way. Horrific heat 8 crash from which Max and Kyle were very lucky to walk away - best wishes to both. Monarchs looked down and out after heat 11 but, as ever this season, would not give up and a fantastic Tabaka ride in heat 14 gave us our only 5-1 of the evening and made the tie all square with one heat to go. Heart-in-the-mouth stuff in heat 15, shown here - http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/emtv/player.asp?id=100071. You can't hear it on the video, but the Dale just about erupted when Theo got inside Doyle. Can't wait for the replay!

Well done to both teams on providing fantastic entertainment last night. This match had it all - good weather, big noisy crowd, well-prepared track, two evenly matched teams, lots of close racing and passing and a complete surprise hero in young Josh. A great team performance from the Monarchs, with all riders contributing, while Somerset relied mostly on their top three. Always a pleasure to watch Nick Morris at Armadale and I was particularly pleased to see Jozsef coming back to form after a slight dip recently. His efforts in heats 3 & 14 were outstanding. This was proper speedway. Speedway out of the top drawer.....I'll say!

Horrible crash tonight at Armadale - probably the worst I've seen at the track. Claus and Robert seemed to lock together from the start and accelerate straight through the fence, demolishing a huge section. Ironically this came just after the riders had been round collecting for the Ben Fund. Great to hear they were both conscious and talking - really hoping their injuries are not too bad. The meeting had been pretty good up to that point with young Max catching the eye for the home side and Ricky Wells impressing for the second week running. Facundo Albin was very competitive also. There had, however, already been a number of falls. The worst also involving Robert Branford, when he was very unlucky to be excluded in heat 2 when he appeared to be taken off by Derek Sneddon exiting bend 4 and he and his bike were sent hurtling down the home straight.

Belated congratulations to the Monarchs on a fine win - superbly led by Mr Cook.

Craig Cook is a far better rider than he showed on Monday night. He wasn't out of his depth as far as rider quality is concerned - he's beaten many of the other riders involved this season, including Bjerre & Harris, as well as all the other Brits with a chance of getting in the squad. What he doesn't have is experience in this type of meeting and he did look nervous and perhaps froze a bit - didn't look his usual self on the bike. I think if he'd made the pass on Ljung stick in his first race he would have had a completely different night and probably got around 8 or 9. He's generally got the better of Jason Doyle this season, beating him on Doyle's home track in both leagues - pretty spectacularly from the back at Somerset in the Sky match - and I'm sure no-one is suggesting Jason was out of his depth in Event 1. He probably could do with some media advice (although he may well not have said everything quoted in the Scotsman article - that particular journalist has got previous), but he strikes me as his own man and there's a lot to be said for raw honesty sometimes rather than banal media babble. A trip to Prague would have been great experience for him and helped his development. A missed opportunity by Team GB I think. Good luck to the four who are representing GB and the silver lining for me is that Cookie will be at Redcar on Thursday and Armadale on Friday.

From the 3rd bend it looked like Joe had just got past Ludvig on the outside with Max charging hard on the inside and about level as they entered the bend. There appeared to be contact between Max and Ludvig which sent him flying into Joe and both into the fence. Difficult to say if it was Max barging Ludvig or Ludvig turning into Max but definitely not Joe's fault in my opinion. If I'm being honest my first reaction was that I thought Max would be excluded. Overall I thought the match was fiercely contested by two excellent sides on a track on which it was difficult, but not impossible, to pass.

Came in from being taken out for Father's Day to find Monarchs only 4 down after heat 9. After going 6 down (7 on agg.) after the next heat I thought that was just too much for this patched-up team. Incredibly exciting to watch online as the results came in for the last 5 heats - it must have been absolutely fantastic to be watching it live at the track. Brilliant result for the boys in blue & gold - they just don't know when they're beaten. Commiserations to the Diamonds after an epic cup tie. These are two great teams this year who, unbelievably, have not won either of their last two home meetings!

Fantastic meeting between two good evenly matched teams on a superb track. I though there was just enough dirt to provide great racing with passing inside, outside or, in Jozsef Tabaka's case, right through the middle. Heats 7, 12, 13 & 14 were the pick of the bunch for me, then the cookstar rounded it off in an epic final heat. Looked great in HD - I'm away to watch it again!