Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

In spite of more atrocious Friday weather we saw some excellent speedway and plenty of incident as the Scotwaste Monarchs established a 16-point lead in the KO Cup tie.

The efforts of the riders deserve great praise. They put everything into it and some of the heats involving Makovsky and Bager against Fisher, Grieves and Wethers were remarkable for the conditions.

For the first 9 heats everything went smoothly for Monarchs who established a 20-point lead. Had they built on that the tie would probably have been over.

But that didn?t happen ? the Bandits staged a fightback and along with a couple of vital errors by Edinburgh, we were looking at a much closer match. When Makovsky and Bager were on a 5-1 in the final heat it did seem that the final margin would be 7.

Fortunately Ryan Fisher wasn?t settling for that and fought past Bager, who then brought him down and suffered an exclusion. The heat was rerun and after two first bend incidents in which Makovsky moved aggressively into Fisher, he was ruled out too.

Monarchs gratefully took the gift 5-0 even though James Grieves had to push home for almost a lap, finishing with a highly impressive somersault!

Fisher passed Magosi to give Monarchs a 4-2 start, and we had the same result in heat 2 (won by Lee Dicken) though Aaron Summers was at one point on a paid win. Aarnio neatly passed him using the second bend inside line, a useful one all night.

Grieves and Jonasson took a third 4-2 in heat 3 in spite of an impressive ride by Bager.

Makovsky impressed too with an inside line ride to win heat 4 in a style which would have been beyond him a year or two back.

Thomas Jonasson had his best home ride so far backing Grieves to a 5-1 in heat 5, and when we took another in heat 6 from Fisher and Sneddon (Makovsky falling), it looked like Monarchs were going to take a very easy win. The score was 25-11 at this point.

Matthew Wethers did brilliantly to pass Bager for a heat 7 win, with Dicken taking a point, and we took a fifth 4-2 from heat 8, quickly followed by a sixth from Grieves (who won a great battle with Makovsky) and Jonasson in heat 9. Score now 37-17.

The Monarchs? march now started to stutter. Bager slipped past Fisher and Sneddon in heat 10, and the race when stopped when Derek fell. 4-2 to Berwick.

Then Makovsky won heat 11 with brilliant use of the inside line, and Bager gave Grieves his first defeat in an outstanding heat 12. Even though the rain was falling and track getting ever wetter, the riders put everything into this heat.

It was quite surprising that Berwick hadn?t used their TR two heats earlier but Makovsky successfully took 6 from heat 13, and the gap was now down to 15.

Heat 14 looked favourable to us, but it didn?t turn out that way. Thomas flew round the outside to lead with Lee Dicken also gating well, but Lee spun off on the first corner and brought down Franchetti.

Worse still, Thomas missed the gate in the rerun and fell towards the end of the heat with Bandits on a 5-1. Gap down to 11!

Bandits were on a roll now, and then came the drama of heat 15. They really should have had a 4-2 at least but riding which was over-enthusiastic at best cost them points.

The Berwick leg promises to be very interesting indeed.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Ryan Fisher

Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

It?s KO Cup time this weekend as Monarchs and the Berwick Bandits go head to head in this first round clash.

In what is a repeat of the 1981 Final (yes, I am old enough to remember that one!), Monarchs will host the first leg at Armadale on Friday with the return in the Borders the following night.

As always with Cup ties, it?s somewhat essential (or at least useful!) to build a hefty lead on your home patch and Monarchs will be looking to capitalise on the absence of the Bandits? Czech regular Adrian Rymel, who is abroad on European Championship duty. The ever necessary rider replacement facility will operate. However, with each remaining member of the side eligible to take an extra outing, and taking into account Mr Rymel?s past record at the Lothian Arena, this may well work out in the visitors? favour.

Monarchs themselves have to cover for absentees in the shape of the outstanding William Lawson and star reserve Andrew Tully, who are both down South at Lakeside for the British Under 21 Final... good luck to both young men for that one!

Filling the gaps are two of the more familiar faces in these parts, namely James Grieves and Lee Dicken. Grieves, of course, needs no introduction, while Dicken will be looking to give another performance in a similar ?all action? ilk to both previous visits in 2008.

Replacements aside, there are a few cosmetic adjustments in the Monarchs? ranks, brought about by the issuing of the new interim averages. Skipper Derek Sneddon and Ryan Fisher swap places (indeed, it will be Sneddon?s first ever meeting in the number 1 berth) as do William Lawson (even if he won?t be there!) and Thomas H Jonasson.

For the Bandits, it remains to be seen whether they have, at long last, cracked their Armadale hoodoo. Time after time, their riders appear to turn up and head straight for the fence! On the latest visit, it was Italian newcomer Guglielmi Franchetti who was the unfortunate victim. Here?s hoping he performs a tad steadier on Friday!

On a more positive note, the likes of Norbert Magosi, Henning Bager, Michal Makovsky and Tero Aarnio have more than enough experience in speedway circles to suggest they?re more than capable of turning a bike, while Adam McKinna is no stranger to the circuit, having spent a couple of years with the Dale Devils. He also collected an excellent 8 points in the Premier Trophy meeting last month.

As far as the second leg at Shielfield goes, who really knows what lies in store? Monarchs have already won there this season (and made history in the process by becoming the first side in UK Speedway history to collect 3 points for an away win!) but the Bandits seem an altogether different prospect nowadays. Their team looks rather more solid than in years gone by and Makovsky and Rymel in particular have been posting huge scores. Of course, as previously stated, the latter won?t be in action on Saturday (not in Berwick at any rate!) but, again, with every rider available to cover for him, his loss should be tempered somewhat.

Monarchs, on the other hand, will be tracking their ?declared? side again, with Messrs Lawson and Tully having returned from their Individual adventures. Both rode excellently on their last visit and there?s no reason to suggest they shouldn?t be able to give a repeat performance at the weekend.

The other point of interest will be how young Swede Jonasson goes on his second look at the huge Shielfield circuit. Having seen him defeat none other than Kevin Doolan during our superb Premier League draw at Kings Lynn last week, the signs definitely appear favourable.

No matter what happens, I can only hope for better luck as last month?s trip to Berwick left me with a dodgy bout of the ?flu and led me to missing the ?freezing cold Friday? return! So, if I sniff (even once!) at Armadale this time, I?ll be hiring an Eskimo outfit for the second leg!

As always, may the best team win...

Line-ups:

First leg at Armadale:

Monarchs: Derek Sneddon, Ryan Fisher, James Grieves, Thomas H Jonasson, Matthew Wethers, Lee Dicken, Aaron Summers.

Bandits: r/r for Adrian Rymel, Norbert Magosi, Henning Bager, Guglielmi Franchetti, Michal Makovsky, Tero Aarnio, Adam McKinna.

Second leg at Shielfield:

Bandits: r/r for Adrian Rymel, Norbert Magosi, Henning Bager, Guglielmi Franchetti, Michal Makovsky, Tero Aarnio, Adam McKinna.

Monarchs: Derek Sneddon, Ryan Fisher, William Lawson, Thomas H Jonasson, Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers.