Dismal Diamonds rocked by the Scots.

Byline: By Barry Wallace

Lee dicken celebrated his return to the Newcastle side last night by topping the Diamonds' score chart at Edinburgh - but he was unable to prevent a 63-29 Monarchs victory in the Premier Trophy clash.

On a night when waterlogged tracks prevented racing elsewhere in Britain, both sides agreed to race on a very wet and heavy Armadale Stadium circuit and Edinburgh's superior gating took them to win after win in a one-sided contest.

Dicken was Newcastle's only race winner, when in heat 12 he rode a tremendous four laps to keep Rory Schlein at bay, and with Lee Smethills relegating the otherwise unbeaten Cameron Woodward to last place, the Diamonds also took their only heat advantage 4-2.

The Newcastle new boy received most support from ex-Monarch Kevin Little, who almost pulled off a double-points win in heat 11. Having led for three laps, Little was overtaken on the last by veteran Peter Carr, who somehow squeezed through a gap on the inside.

Little was unlucky again in the final race when he shed a chain on the third lap while battling up front with Monarchs' full-maximum man Frede Schott.

After sharing the points in the opening heat through Scott Smith and Little, the Diamonds felt the might of the league champions over the next six races, which produced four 5-1s together with two 4-2s to put Edinburgh in front 31-11 and effectively end the contest.

Team boss George English said: "The conditions proved too sticky for many of our riders, who normally go well here. Strangely enough, Lee Dicken seldom has a good meeting at Armadale but found the wet track right up his street and rode really well."

Tomorrow at Brough Park (5.30pm), the Diamonds face Workington Comets, who include former Grand Prix rider Carl Stonehewer in their line-up, in another Premier Trophy match.

That will be followed by Newcastle Ultrafast Gems' first home Conference League match against Newport Mavericks, making a total of 30 heats of action for supporters to enjoy.

Gems skipper Jamie Robertson and William Lawson both ride in the British Under-21 final at Rye House tonight and will be back on Tyneside for tomorrow's matches. Last night's scorers:

EDINBURGH: Frede Schott 15; Cameron Woodward 12; Peter Carr 11; Rory Schlein 10; Theo Pijper 8; Matthew Wethers 6; Gary Phelps 1.

NEWCASTLE: Lee Dicken 9; Kevin Little 7; Kristian Lund 5; Scott Smith 4; Richard Juul 2; Lee Smethills 2; Danny Hughes 0.