The much awaited top of the table clash, between the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels, and the Edinburgh ‘Scotwaste’ Monarchs took place at the Oak Tree Arena in front of a good crowd on Wednesday evening.
The Rebels fresh from their qualification for a third straight Premier League knock Out Cup Final, were looking to maintain their push for the league title, against a strong looking Edinburgh side that has kept up the pressure all season long. The Rebels had seen first hand just what they could expect from one of the Monarchs number, when witnessing Ryan Fishers superb guest appearance for Stole in the first part of Monday’s double header at Rye House.
The home side jumped out to an early lead in the opening two heats, as Jason Doyle, who had been the Rebels top man on Monday, started the way he left off at Rye House. He bolted from the gate, with Matthias Kröger close up to record an all-the-way win in Heat 1. The Monarchs pair, led by guest Mark Lemon, never got in a blow as the home side stormed to a quick win, and took maximum points in the process.
On paper the Monarchs reserve pairing are a match for the Rebels reserves, with Aaron Summers, and Andrew Tully, both putting around 2-points on their respective averages since the start of the season. That is on paper, but on the Highbridge circuit, the reality was a little different. In Heat 2, whose original running had been called back for an unsatisfactory start, Stephan Katt made a very swift getaway, with Andrew Tully close behind. Katt cleverly clamped Tully to the kerb, allowing Brent Werner to make a sweeping run on the wide outside to lead coming off the second turn. The Rebels pair pulled out a comfortable lead that they never lost, despite Tully closing in on Katt on the final turns. Katt held his second place with ease, once he realised Tully had almost bridged the gap.
Matthew Wethers has proved over the last couple of seasons that he can beat anyone, and often has. In Heat 3 he came from third place on the opening turn, with a good run to overhaul the fast starting pair of Matthias Kröger, and Tomas H Jonasson. Emil Kramer made a poor start by his standards, and also had to move passed the other two before he could challenge Wethers. It took him until the fourth bend before he moved into second place, and by that time Wethers was long gone. Matthias Kröger was making progress on Tomas H Jonasson, and came with a big run on an unfamiliar outside line, when he fell on the third turn of the final lap, as he was about to deliver what looked like a telling challenge.
Ryan Fisher underlined the fact that his Bank Holiday Monday performance was no fluke, when he flashed from the tapes in Heat 4 to take an early lead, passing Jordan Frampton before the opening turn. Brent Werner also passed Frampton with a fast run up the inside, but as he ran onto the back straight Frampton was soon in full flow, and passed Derek Sneddon, who had just eased in front of him running into the second bend. Frampton then eased passed Werner, and set off after Fisher. He was soon on his back wheel, and harried him for all four laps. Coming into the first bend on the final lap, he made a strong challenge up the inside of Fisher, but the young Californian had him covered all the way. Frampton redoubled his efforts, switching to the outside and coming with another big run over the final two bend, but he could not make it stick as Fisher held him off.
Emil Kramer’s gating skills deserted him again in Heat 5, but he needn’t have worried as the flashing start of Matthias Kröger saw him take an early lead over Mark Lemon, and Derek Sneddon. Kröger made up for his earlier fall with an almost faultless ride to hold off a strong challenge from Lemon on the back straight of the third lap. By this time Kramer was crawling all over Sneddon, looking for an opening. Sneddon frustrated the Swede with some erratic riding, but Kramer summoned up one last big blast to thwart Sneddon’s variable lines, passing him as the chequered flag fell.
Heat 6 was shared as Ryan Fisher did what not too many people have achieved this season, especially at home. He took the scalp of Jason Doyle, and after the flying Australian had lead. Doyle led from the tapes, and headed for the dirt. Fisher dived underneath him on the second bend, and shot out to the fence to cut of any possibility of Doyle riding round his outside. Fisher pulled clear, and was flying round the Oak Tree Arena at a very high speed. Doyle plugged away in the chase on Fisher, but could not make any headway. As Fisher crossed the line the clock stopped at a very respectable 56.90 seconds. Stephan Katt took third place to leave the heat even.
The Rebels came roaring back in Heat 7, with a maximum win to pull 12-points clear. The race had to be started a second time, after Matthew Wethers had come to grief in a hard first bend battle with Jordan Frampton, which referee Dave Robinson saw as a unsatisfactory start. As the tapes rose on the re-run, Tomas H Jonasson flashed away with Stephan Katt close by. Katt took to the wide line, and powered to the lead off the second turn. Jordan Frampton ran off the fourth bend to grab second place on the home straight at the end of the first lap. Once in front the Rebels pair took an easy victory, winning almost unchallenged.
Heat 8 saw the Rebels extend their lead by another two points, but not before Derek Sneddon had lead almost every yard of the way. Breaking quickly Sneddon took up the running after a very tight second bend that saw Jordan Frampton’s outside run blocked at the vital time. Brent Werner was never very far away from the action, and took up the chase. He was all over the back of Sneddon’s machine, like the proverbial rash. For four laps he explored every line on the track to find a way passed, and just when it looked as though Sneddon had done enough, Werner conjured up a run up the inside that carried him to the front in the shadows of the posts. Jordan Frampton took third place to give the Rebels a 4-2 advantage.
It was a victory that prompted an immediate response from John Campbell. He wasted no time in Heat 9, in sending out Ryan Fisher in the ‘magic hat’, in an effort to stem the flow of points that had seen the Rebels pull 14-points clear. Fisher broke level with Emil Kramer, but the super cool Swede showed superior pace to outstrip Fisher in the opening turns, as he led going on to the back straight. Matthias Kröger held a comfortable third place, until he imperceptibly slowed, allowing Andrew Tully to close him down, and eventually pass him. Shortly afterwards the reason became apparent as the normally reliable German retired. The 3-5 Monarchs advantage closed the gap to 12-points.
Heat 10 was shared; when Jason Doyle took another trap to line win. He was never troubled as he flew around the widest of line to take an easy win. Brent Werner made a great start to hold second spot, but he was quickly passed by, first Matthew Wethers, and then Tomas Jonasson in quick succession. He battled away at the back, and put in some sterling work, but could never quite get in a blow on the Monarchs pair.
The Monarchs took another two points out of the Rebels lead in Heat 11, when Mark Lemon blasted off the line to take an early lead over his team mate, Derek Sneddon. Jordan Frampton and Stephan Katt both came with big runs around the first couple of turns, but Katt’s cause was not helped as they both went for the same patch of shale, and his progress was halted when things got tight. Frampton gave chase, but could get nowhere near the flying Lemon.
The Monarchs repeated the dose in Heat 12, as Tomas H Jonasson finally sparked into life after three fairly disappointing outings. He came from behind a fast starting Emil Kramer to lead off the second bend. Kramer fought back, and re-took the lead with a neat cut back on the next turn. For the next three laps they went at it ‘hammer and tongs’, swapping and re-swapping the lead as they went, until Jonasson just eased out a slight lead. Kramer came storming back again, and at the line he had just failed by half a wheel to complete the move, leaving the Monarchs just 8-points down, as Andrew Tully took third place.
Heat 13 was shared, with Jason Doyle taking the win from the Monarchs pair of Lemon and Fisher. It might have been a whole lot different had Doyle not inadvertently blocked the run of his team mate, Jordan Frampton, as he headed for the dirt at the very moment that Frampton, who was on a big run around the outside, was about to join him at the front.
With the point’s difference at just eight, almost everyone in the arena was expecting John Campbell to make a tactical substitution, and put Mark Lemon of 15 meters in Heat 14. When the announcement came, it was a shock to find that the only change was a switch of reserves, Tully in for Summers. With Wethers in the race, it was tailor made for the use of a tactical substitute, but for reasons known only to himself, John Campbell declined the opportunity to win the match, a decision that may come back to haunt him. For the record, Wethers trapped out and led all the way from Matthias Kröger and Stephan Katt, with Tully always struggling at the rear. The resulting shared heat gave the victory on the night to the Rebels, with no possibility of a Monarchs come back.
The result of Heat 15 was academic, and with the Monarchs already beaten, the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels took the opportunity to give Jason Doyle a rest. They sent out Jordan Frampton and Emil Kramer to represent them, with Matthew Wethers and Ryan Fisher in for the visitors. Kramer broke first, just in front of Wethers. Frampton and Fisher came storming through to lead on the second bend. The pair raced side by side in an absorbing four laps of speedway. There was never any more than inches between them, and Frampton was in the throes of delivering a big challenge when he suffered an equipment failure that cost him the race, and left Wethers to pick up a full house behind the flying Fisher. Frampton performed miracles to stay on board as the bike straightened up at an extremely high speed.
For the visitors Matthew Wethers was in fine form, and gave his usual ‘value for money’ display at the Oak Tree Arena, as he backed up a good performance for the bang in form Ryan Fisher. Mark Lemon gave another good performance at his old track, but the Monarchs must have been disappointed with the performance of Tomas H Jonasson, who despite winning one heat did not show the kind of form he has been doing on his travels. The scoring from the reserves was another let down, especially after the strides made by both riders thus season. Derek Sneddon looked erratic, and his three points were probably more than he should have had.
The final reckoning saw the Rebels prevail by 48-44, a score line that probably flattered the visitors a little, as the Rebels suffered a couple of retirements whilst in points scoring position, and chose to ‘rest’ Jason Doyle in Heat 15. Doyle was superb, only dropping 1-point to a clever Ryan Fisher move in Heat 6. Emil Kramer returned a steady 9-points, but was probably disappointed with his nights work, as he is capable of better. The remainder all scored 7-points each, with various bonus points, but the pick of the bunch was Jordan Frampton, whose combative riding earned him the ‘Rider of the Night’ award from the meeting sponsors, the ‘Tarnock Garage’. In his post meeting interview he was clearly disappointed with the way things had gone for him, in terms of the mechanical problems he has suffered of late, but he’s a 110% man, and he will be back on top soon, of that there is no doubt.
The Rebels now travel to the ‘Scotwaste Arena’, Armadale with the intention of inflicting a home defeat on the Monarchs in their quest for the league title. Historically it has not been a happy hunting ground for the Rebels, but as they have already proved more than once this season, they are no respecters of that kind of history. Will they do it? Well only time will tell, but one thing’s for sure, it won’t be for the want of trying.
Somerset Rebels - 48
1. Jason Doyle - 3, 2, 3, 3 = 11
2. Simon Walker - Rider Replacement
3. Emil Kramer - 2, 1, 3, 2, 1 = 9
4. Matthias Kröger - 2*, fl, 3, ret, 2 = 7+1
5. Jordan Frampton - 2, 2*, 1, 2, 0, ret = 7+1
6. Stephan Katt - 2*, 1*, 3, 0, 1* = 7+3
7. Brent Werner - 3, 1*, 3, 0, 0 = 7+1
8.Kyle Newman - DNS
Edinburgh Monarchs - 44
1. Mark Lemon (G) - 1, 2, 3, 2 = 8
2. Derek Sneddon - 0, 0, 2, 1 = 3
3. Tomas H. Jonasson - 1, 1, 1*, 3 = 6+1
4. Matthew Wethers - 3, 0, 2, 3, 2* = 10+1
5. Ryan Fisher - 3, 3, 4^, 1*, 3 = 14+1
6. Andrew Tully - 1, 0, 1*, 1, 0 = 3+1
7. Aaron Summers - 0, 0, 0 = 0
