Monarchs fall short in Pairs bid
Masters and Fisher overtaken by Somerset
Edinburgh Monarchs’ gate position went against them as they battled to take the Premier League Pairs title against Somerset.
Sam Masters and Ryan Fisher were in top form throughout the evening, winning their group before edging a nail-biting semifinal against rivals Glasgow Tigers.
However, the Monarchs pair lost the toss in the final against Somerset and had to settle for gates two and four, which had failed to produce results all evening.
Rebels’ Rohan Tungate and Josh Grajczonek led from the front to grab the trophy in front of their home crowd. For Tungate, it was a second successive Pairs triumph, having been part of the Ipswich side that defeated Somerset last year.
Drawn in the same group as the Sheffield Tigers, Plymouth Devils, Ipswich Witches and Rye House Rockets, and boasting arguably the best rider in the Premier League in Masters and an in-form Fisher, Edinburgh went into the event at Oaktree Arena full of confidence.
Things didn’t get off to the best of starts when Masters was excluded in their first race against Sheffield, but his American team-mate rose to the challenge to grab the win.
That victory was followed by a 7-2 victory against Plymouth before a pair of 6-3 triumphs over Ipswich and Rye House booked their berth in the semi-final as group winners.
The battle against the Witches was particularly fierce with Masters and Nico Covatti passing each other on a number of occasions for second spot, with the latter just pipping the Monarchs captain.
That set up a clash with Glasgow for a spot in the final, and it looked like the Tigers would be the ones celebrating but Fisher was able to squeeze past Richard Lawson on the final bend of lap three and hold firm for a 5-4 win.
The final, though, was something of an anti- climax as the Rebels pair flew out of the gates and immediately held a comfortable lead, soaking in the cheers and applause of the home crowd on the way to the finish line.
Despite the disappointment, team manger Alex Harkess hailed his duo, saying: “Our boys did very well indeed and have absolutely nothing to be ashamed of losing to Somerset.
“We really needed to win the toss for the final because gates one and three were a lot better, but we lost it.
“But I certainly have no quarrels with Somerset winning, they looked the strongest all night.
“Sam and Ryan worked hard for each other all night and I was very happy with them. It was a good night.”