Middlesbrough miss out to Academy
The Middlesbrough “Heat Floors” Tigers narrowly missed out to the Edinburgh Monarchs Academy 44-46 in a last heat decider at the ECCO Arena. The Tigers looked to have secured a super heat as Ben Trigger and Danny Phillips led for much of heat 15 until Phillips suffered a puncture, allowing the Monarchs guest, Jacob Clouting through for 2nd to secure the win for Edinburgh. Ben Trigger top scored for the hosts with a faultless 15 point maximum whilst Jacob Clouting and Dayle Wood both struck 10 for Edinburgh.
The match started as Jake Mulford took a serene tapes to flag win, but with Kai Ward struggling out of the gate, the Tigers could not take an early lead. The reserves race saw Ben Rathbone take a comfortable win, but with Will Hocaniuk falling at the back, he was unable to reel in Edinburgh’s Mark Parker, Middlesbrough remained level on Teesside.
Edinburgh then broke the deadlock in heat three as the ever impressive third tier visitor Dayle Wood took the win, and with Sam McGurk in 3rd, the Academy had the early advantage. Trigger opened his account with a heat four success but despite Hocaniuk’s best efforts, he was unable to reel in Max Perry and it was another shared heat at the ECCO Arena.
Heat five saw Edinburgh extend their advantage as Freddy Hodder rounded both Tigers out of the second bend, and with Clouting third, the visitors were four ahead with the Tigers staring down the barrel of the wooden spoon. However, Middlesbrough immediately reduced the deficit to two points as Mulford took another comfortable win, and with Ward in an important third, the Tigers had their first heat advantage.
After Trigger took the chequered flag in a shared heat seven, the Academy struck a seismic blow in heat eight as Clouting and Kyran Lyden combined to take the first 5-1 of the match to stretch their lead to six points. Nevertheless, the Tigers kept battling as the impressive Danny Phillips took a heat win, and with the Middlesbrough guest Kieran Douglas bagging third, the hosts were within snapping distance of Edinburgh.
After a pair of shared heats won by Trigger and Mulford respectively, Middlesbrough hit another 4-2 in heat 12 as Phillips saw off McGurk for the win, and with Hocaniuk looking good in 3rd, the Tigers were within two of Edinburgh. However, ahead of heat 13 the Tigers were dealt a blow with Mulford unable to take his place in the race. The race saw Trigger take another superb win, but with Hocaniuk falling after a tangle with Perry, Edinburgh still had a slender advantage.
The penultimate race of the match saw Wood win, and with Lyden passing Douglas on the opening lap, the Monarchs had a four point advantage heading into heat 15. The final heat saw Trigger and Wood battle it out on the opening lap, but Wood then hit the deck and was excluded from the re-run. The re-run saw Trigger and Phillips both gate with the match seemingly set for a superheat, however, Phillips suffered terrible luck with a puncture at the end of lap three which gave Clouting second and the Monarchs the away win.
Middlesbrough = 44
1. Jake Mulford = 9
2. Kai Ward = 2
3. Danny Phillips = 11
4. Kieran Douglas (G) = 1
5. Ben Trigger = 15
6. Ben Rathbone = 5
7. William Hocaniuk = 1
Edinburgh = 46
1. Freddy Hodder (G) = 7+2
2. Jacob Clouting (G) = 10
3. Sam McGurk = 5+2
4. Dayle Wood = 10
5. Max Perry = 6+2
6. Mark Parker = 1+1
7. Kyran Lyden = 7+1
