7:00am Thursday 25th September 2008
By Phil Chard
PIRATES boss Matt Ford believes they should get their £250 protest fee back after lodging an official complaint against Coventry using Jesper B Monberg as a guest in the Knockout Cup.
Monberg scored two paid three for Bees in a controversial semi-final clash at Brandon on Thursday won 54-38 by Poole Castle over.
The Wolves rider - who had just ridden for his own side at Coventry in the first meeting of a double header - was called up by Bees as a replacement for Oliver Allen.
Allen sustained an injury in the first match.
Ford said: "I fully expect to get my protest money back and if things are done properly the final result should be adjusted to 54-36.
"Whether we won or not, using Jesper was against the rules.
"We're not going to make a song and dance about it though, because at times things are a bit crazy in speedway and it's clearly one of these cases.
"I even said to Chris Van Straaten am I going mad?' "He and his Wolves mate Peter Adams, one of the wisest men with rules, said before you kick-off can we leave the stadium first?' because they knew I was right.
"We weren't pleased Coventry were threatening not to ride, that they were going to abandon the meeting, and I know Peter Oakes said we were so desperate to win, but excuse me, this is a cup semi-final.
"Anyone who knows me knows I'm desperate to win, but we do it using the rulebook.
"We all make mistakes. I made one with Craig Watson at the beginning of this season over his average.
"The rulebook didn't allow us to use him but we didn't make a song and dance about it. We just get on, as we did then.
"Effectively, it's been a song and dance about nothing because we've won the meeting and gone through to the cup final.
"The boys were extremely pumped before this whole drama happened, and if anything it fuelled their determination to do even better in the actual match."
Ford added: "We rode under protest because clearly the rulebook states Jesper shouldn't have ridden.
"On page 41, section 18.3.d, it says a guest rider in a double header shall count as one meeting only'.
"Ryan Fisher was a guest rider for both Coventry's meetings against Wolves and us, so there's not an eight-day ruling.
"Monberg wasn't a guest rider, he rode against Coventry, so wasn't eligible to guest for them against us.
"I phoned the BSPA the following day and they fully supported what I thought.
"The fact is it's in black and white. The rule says a guest rider will count as one meeting only, and Jesper was clearly not a guest rider.
"Coventry could've had a guest against us because they had Simon Stead and Oliver out, but it couldn't have been from Wolves, whose match had finished eight minutes earlier.
"Jesper had only ridden at Coventry eight minutes, not eight days, before they wanted to use him, so was ineligible.
"When teams have only six riders, many will ask an acting eighth man to come along in case the worst happens and in this case it did for Coventry, they lost another rider."
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