Depleted Workington Comets put up a superb effort to clinch the aggregate point after a 55-35 defeat at Edinburgh Monarchs.
The Comets had to go into the meeting with both Claus Vissing and Celina Liebmann missing as the global IT outage meant they couldn’t catch their flights from Denmark and Germany because they had been cancelled.
It meant that the Comets, already missing injured number two Tate Zischke were operating rider replacement for him so it was a patched-up team that did battle at Armadale.
Mason Watson, who rides for the Edinburgh National Development side was drafted in and was paired at reserve with Leylan Richardson a member of the Workington Meteors team.
The fact that the Comets lost was no surprise then, especially when one of their leading scorers Troy Batchelor had to retire from the meeting, feeling the effects of an early fall in which all four riders ended on the floor.
Star of the show, leading from the front was the Comets captain Craig Cook with 17 points from his six rides, on;ly beaten once in heat 13 by Josh Pickering the home number one. Cook, of course, was Edinburgh’s top rider for a number of years and knows the track better than most.
He got his revenge on Pickering in the final heat of the night when he burst clear from the gate and although there was a moment when the Australian looked like getting level Cook held on to win well.
With such a depleted side and heat advantages were going to be scarce but it was heat wins to share the points which were going to earn the aggregate point.
In fact they won eight races – Cook (5), Batchelor (2) and Antti Vuolas (1) when he finally got to grips with the Armadale track. Those wins were all vital as the Comets, on the back foot from the start hung on for the aggregate point.
Young Richardson was thrown in at the deep end riding at four but he did manage to pick up a point albeit in a three-man re-run after Vuolas had fallen while challenging for the lead.
Sam McGurk, at reserve, had taken third in the second race of the night, but his moment came in heat 14 when his best start propelled him into second and he held off Max James to claim two more points.
The big crash had come in heat four when all the riders went own after a domino effect at the first bend. Edinburgh guest Justin Sedgmen, in his first ride came off worst and was taken to ambulance for treatment and investigation on what seemed to be a back injury. Batchelor was also treated for a while before he resumed, but pulled out after the aggregate point had been secured.
That point might have been turned into three with a full team but it keeps the Comets fourth in the table as they battle to make the play-offs.
Edinburgh Monarchs 55
Josh Pickering 13, Kye Thompson 8 + 2; Lasse Frederiksen 11 + 1; Paco Castagna 12 + 3; Justin Sedgmen 0; Max James 4 + 2; Connor Coles 7 + 3.
Workington Comets 35
Craig Cook 17; rider replacement for Tate Zischke; Antti Vuolas 5; Laylen Richardson 1; Troy Batchelor 9; Mason Watson 0; Sam McGurk 3.
