West Cumbrian Craig Cook helped Edinburgh Monarchs move into the Cab Direct Championship play-off places with a last-gasp 46-44 win at Berwick last night.
The scores were level with one race remaining but the Monarchs saw Cook penalised 15 metres for movement at the start, putting more pressure on skipper Josh Pickering.
The Australian duly led the race with the match seemingly heading for a Super Heat – but as Cook attempted to come from the back against Jye Etheridge, Berwick captain Leon Flint suffered a puncture on the last lap handing Cook the vital third place.
Cook (12) and Pickering (11+2) were backed up by an impressive show from recent signing Bastian Borke, who scored 9+2, whilst Etheridge racked up 14 from six rides for the Bandits.
Cook said: “It’s a result that we need to use to kick-start our season. I thought we could come and dominate with Berwick missing riders, but a win is a win and it will give us confidence.
“We have a busy period coming up now, so we need to take the confidence from that and move forward.”
Berwick boss Scott Courtney said: “You’re never happy with a home defeat, and the manner in which Heat 15 ended makes it an even more bitter pill to swallow.
“Edinburgh led after Heat 1 and Heat 15, for the rest of the night there was nothing to choose between two very competitive sides.
“We worked hard to open up that four-point gap but just couldn’t get it across the line.”
