MATCH REPORT: Monarchs home comforts

Birmingham 91 – 80 Coventry, Midland League 1, Sunday 13th April 2014

Birmingham made it two wins out of two in the Midland League as they took on Coventry in a incident packed meeting at Perry Hall Playing Fields.

The Monarchs welcomed Chris Timms back to the side after his ban and also Scott Millward was available to make the 1-8. Coventry had familiar faces in the lineup to the Monarchs as Konrad Pietak and Myke Grimes were in the Warwickshire side.

The first couple of heats saw honours shared as Grimes and Timms took wins for the two sides. Heat three though saw Birmingham take a 7-3 advantage as Carl Winwood took the flag ahead of Millward with Roberts and Pietak taking the minor places for Coventry. The Monarchs then claimed another 7-3 as Bob Prince and Mark Winwood beat Williams and Marsh to put Birmingham into a 24-16 lead.

Heat five saw Myke Grimes take his second win as the visitors made a 6-4 to help claw back towards the Perry Barr side. Heat six saw Dave Frith excluded for the use of the leg as he went up the inside of Scott Millward. In the re-run Millward took the flag and a 6-4 for Birmingham as Carl Winwood picked up third place. Heat eight saw Andy James get his marching orders from the referee as he was judged not to give enough racing room which in the re-start Coventry took a 5-4 to make the score 43-35.

Heat nine then saw a third exclusion, this time Josh Marsh as he was judged to have moved at the start line. Carl Winwood got his second win and help the Monarchs to a 6-3 as Carl is making his comeback season. After the interval Birmingham got a 7-2 as Mclaughlin failed to finish as Steve Hodgkinson claimed the win ahead of Scott Millward.

Shared heats then followed until Heat fourteen when Coventry got a 7-3 maximum for themselves as Mclaughlin finished just behind Pietak as Prince and Hodgkinson finished in the minor places. Heat fifteen though saw Birmingham repay the favour as Hodgkinson from being last in the heat before took the win with Chris Timms getting second to give the Monarchs a 82-63 lead. Heat seventeen saw Coventry take a 7-0 as Mark Winwood was excluded for movement at the tapes as Andy James was also excluded as he battled with Kyle Roberts and the pair went down on the first bend.

Heat eighteen saw Timms take the win as Millward was excluded but Birmingham held on and took the win 91-80.

Birmingham Monarchs 91:  M. Winwood 12, N. Groves 11, C. Timms 19, A. James 3, C. Winwood 12, S. Millward 13, B. Prince 9, S. Hodgkinson 12

Coventry 80:  K. Williams 9, M. Grimes 18, D. Frith 11, D. Drewett 13, K. Pietak 8, K. Roberts 14, J. Marsh 2, J. McLaughlin 5

In the combination fixture Coventry took the honours as Ollie Morris took three wins and Kyle Roberts took a maximum with two wins with two heats. For Birmingham Chris Callow impressed with two wins as Mark Phipps also carried on showing his ever improvement in the sport showing he has a tactical head on as well with some fine team riding.

Birmingham Monarchs 56:  N. Timms 4, M. Phipps 9, C. Callow 10, Ry. Winwood 4, B. Winwood 8, R. Stevenson 5, E. Hancox 16

Coventry 73:  J. Marsh 16, O. Morris 14, C. Barnett 16, B. Bloor 6, H. Webb 4, S. Marsh 9, K. Roberts 8

Match report by Birmingham CSC