Birmingham Monarchs Cycle Speedway team earned a last grasp final heat draw at Coventry last Saturday after a titanic clash.

They salvaged an 88 points all draw after leading for most of the match, only to surrender their advantage as Coventry staged a remarkable grandstand finish in the 1st leg of the Midland Shield.

After the first two heats were shared, Birmingham moved in front in the third race after a Paul Heard/Chris Timms heat success on the steeply banked and pacy Godiva city track.

The brilliant Marcus Wadhams ensured the Monarchs remained in front with polished race wins in heats 4 and 8. By the interval, heat 9, the Monarchs were one point to the good, 44-43, as they withstood a spirited Coventry challenge.

The Heard/Timms pairing took heat 11 by the maximum 7-3 margin as the Monarchs moved further in front. This was consolidated by Wadhams teaming up with veteran reserve Phil Widdas to take heat 13 as Birmingham moved into a comfortable seven point lead with just five heats to go.

However, it all went wrong for the Perry Barr men in the closing stages as the home side took full points from both heats 15 and 17 to surge ahead and set-up a grandstand finish.

Birmingham fielded the in-form Heard and veteran reserve Paul Timms in the crucial final heat. They both rode a fine tactical race to combine superbly to net the required first and third placings to secure a share of the spoils.

The Monarchs fantastic two-pronged attack of Wadhams and Heard both returned 19 point scores to head the Birmingham scorecard, each dropping just a single point to the opposition. Nathan Groves again showed his liking for the speedy Coventry track to net 15 points, whilst Widdas deserved more than his 7 point tally.

Birmingham point scorers: 1 Marcus Wadhams 19, 2 Rider Replacement 3 Nathan Groves 15, 4 Bob Prince 9, 5 Paul Heard 19, 6 Chris Timms 9, 7 Phil Widdas 7, 8 Paul Timms 10

Birmingham take a break from domestic action this weekend, with three of their riders involved in the 2008 European Championship Finals in Rawicz in central-western Poland this weekend.

Monarchs star man Marcus Wadhams will be amongst the favorites to land the European Senior crown over three grueling days of competition. He will face a hectic schedule as he is sure to figure strongly for England in the European Team Final.

Teenage whizz-kid Chris Timms will line-up in the European Junior Individual at Ostrów, also in central-western Poland. Timms has been seeded directly to the semi finals. Monarchs stalwart Phil Widdas will also feature in the East European action, lining up for Ireland in both the individual and team events.