Devils have the luck as Monarchs suffer
Broken chain compounds tough night
A depleted Edinburgh Monarchs outfit slumped to a 52-41 defeat away at the Plymouth Devils.
That loss came just 24 hours after the scheduled clash between the same teams at Armadale Stadium was postponed due to adverse weather.
Edinburgh were forced to ride two guests in Devon with Erik Riss taking part in the first leg of the World Under-21 final at King’s Lynn. Max Clegg was also a reserve for that meeting.
In their place, Edinburgh manager John Campbell brought in Michael Palm Toft and Luke Chessell.
However, the pair combined for only three points from seven rides as the Monarchs slumped to an 11 point loss.
Away captain Sam Masters scored a first heat win to make it 3-3 and that was as close as Edinburgh were able to get. A 4-2 for the hosts in heat two was the first of seven heat advantages as they opened up a commanding 31-17 lead after heat eight.
Kevin Wolbert, who top-scored with 16 points, then won his tactical ride to reduce the gap to single figures, but they were unable to build on that and ultimately slumped to a disappointing defeat.
There was a scary moment in the final heat when Masters was thrown from his bike after losing a chain.
Fortunately, he was able to walk away with a slightly sore head and arm but he was able to score a paid 15 points the following day when riding for his Polish First Division team, Krakow; although he did suffer yet another snapped chain in the final heat.
Manager Campbell lamented the loss of the younger Riss brother, but refused to put any blame for the defeat on his two guest riders.
He commented: “We probably should have got a point out of it. Unfortunately we replaced two missing riders who scored 15 between them last time there with two guests who got three.
“Palm Toft was upset with his performance, I’m not blaming him but we missed our own guys.
“Even on the night we had no luck. We have a 5-1 tied up in the last race till Sam’s chain came off, and back in heat five, I felt the referee had got things wrong.
“Simota came off under a challenge from Mark Riss, but Sam had passed Todd Kurtz before it was stopped. We should have had a 4-2 but it became a 2-4.”
He added: “But we can’t do it with just two riders against a solid team.
“Ryan was using an engine just back from the tuners, and he didn’t even get off the start in his first race. He had to change engines and did OK after that.
“Kevin was determined to improve on his last meeting here and he was really outstanding, and Sam should really have had a maximum but for the heat five ref’s error – and that lost chain.
“Mark Riss did well too, on the pace and I’m sure he will be scoring points soon.”
Meanwhile, in the under-21 final, Erik performed admirably as he scored 10 points.
He finished fourth in the final and sits sixth in the points list. The event was won by Krystian Pieszczek from Poland, with former Monarch Max Fricke finishing fifth.
The second of three legs takes place in Pardubice, Czech Republic in September, with the final event in Poland in early October.
We had no luck on the night and I felt the referee got things wrong