Monarchs suffer away day collapse
Edinburgh crash out of cup after loss at Comets
The Edinburgh Staggs Bar Monarchs snatched defeat from the jaws over victory in the KO Cup semi-final after a second leg collapse against the Workington Comets.
The Monarchs raced out to a commanding 59-31 advantage after the first leg at Armadale Stadium, but were swept aside the following day, losing 61-29 to be edged out by four points on aggregate.
All the signs were positive that the Monarchs would be booking their place in the final after a stunning home victory capped off by a perfect 15 score from captain Erik Riss, while there was a paid maximum (14+1) from five rides for Richie Worrall.
A delighted co-promoter Alex Harkess said: “I would not like to think we could lose the tie after a result like that. We got our last home match out of our system and rode as we would normally expect.”
The match was still very much in the balance after heat eight, with the Monarchs holding a slender 28-20 lead before grabbing the heat advantage in all seven remaining heats, including a trio of 5-1 wins that appeared to tilt the tie firmly in their favour.
Mason Campton and Rasmus Jensen, who tallied all three of the Comets’ heat winners, were the only visiting riders to offer any real resistance as they combined for 16 points.
As impressive as Edinburgh were on Friday, they were as bad on the Saturday as they were brushed aside with ease.
It was heat 11 before the Monarchs grabbed a heat winner, through Ricky Wells, at which point the Comets comeback was very much on, with Workington holding a 45- 21 lead on the night, and trailing 80- 76 on aggregate.
A Josh Pickering win in the following heat kept his side narrowly in front, only for the scores to be tied heading into the final two heats as Nicolai Klindt and Ty Proctor sealed a 5-1 for the Comets.
And the pair were at it again in the final heat, comfortably getting the better of Worrall and William Lawson to complete Edinburgh’s remarkable collapse.
The Monarchs have just one fixture remaining this season, as they host the Glasgow Tigers in the second leg of the Scottish Cup clash at Armadale tomorrow (Friday).
The first leg, a 50-40 win for the Tigers in Glasgow, was the first fixture in what be an inconsistent campaign for Edinburgh, but they will be hoping to sign off in style.
The action gets underway at 7.30pm.