Speedway: Edinburgh Monarchs 46 Somerset Rebels 46 (From Bridgwater Mercury)

Speedway: Edinburgh Monarchs 46 Somerset Rebels 46

5:00pm Tuesday 27th September 2011 in Speedway

SOMERSET Rebels came agonisingly close to claiming their first-ever win at Edinburgh Monarchs' Scotwaste Arena on Friday night.

The Rebels lead the meeting 45-41 going into the last heat, but a 5-1 defeat meant both teams had to settle with a 46-46 tie.

Former Edinburgh captain Derek Sneddon came in as a guest replacement for Christian Hefenbrock; Glasgow's Michal Rajkowski replaced the injured Dakota North, who suffered a broken collarbone in the reverse fixture last week, and Sheffield's Ashley Birks for James Holder, while the rider replacement facility was used in place of Cory Gathercole.

The Rebels took a 4-2 lead as Sneddon won the opening heat, and in heat two Birks and Alex Davies helped their team move to an early 9-3 lead.

James Wright won heats four, six and seven with support from Birks and Sneddon as the Rebels moved into a strong position at 31-19.

But the Monarchs responded to claim 4-2 wins in heats nine and ten, and then maximum wins in heats 13 and 15 with both teams sharing the spoils at the end of the night.