Edinburgh Monarchs v Birmingham Brummies

Rain once again hit Armadale hard but this time we managed to get the match in and score an admirable victory in a match abandoned after 12 heats.

Heat 13 had been started but stopped due to a crash, and while discussions were taking place the weather deteriorated to the point where a call-off was inevitable.

The recent enforced changes have left Monarchs with a team which is not strong and which lacks Armadale experience, so it was a good result and a deserved one. Considering the conditions there was a good level of entertainment on view.

The first rain came about 7, a heavy shower, and we knew that more was forecast.

Ryan Fisher is in good form at the moment and gives the team the solid foundation it needs. He won heat 1 comfortably from Rusty Harrison, with Tomasz Piszcz a long way at the back.

Heat 2 looked promising for us, with Aaron Summers sweeping to the front joined by Byron bekker off the second bend. Into the pits turn, Bekker swept too wide and hit the boards entering the home straight.

It was an opportunity lost even though Summers won the rerun.

Heat 3 was a remarkable race. Initially it was stopped with Dilger coming down in the first bend crush and perhaps fortunate to make the rerun. He showed determination to go ahead off the second bend in the rerun, chased by Sweetman with Matthew Wethers pressing from third.

Eventually Wethers squeezed through and then generously sat with his partner, team riding home for an excellent 5-1.

Heat 4 was our first sight of new boy Wolbert. He gated behind Lyons and Smart but immediately looked comfortable on the track, pressing Smart hard and cutting inside him at the end of lap two. A fine second spot and a very impressive debut ride.

Piszcz was away well in heat 5 but Monarchs held second and third with Rusty Harrison at the back. This time Matthew could not wait for Max and had to move into second with Rusty pressing on the outside. Rusty then took third and by the end of the heat Max was well behind.

These two 4-2 reversals cut the gap to 2 points but Ryan and Michal jetted off to lead heat 6. With Jason Lyons pressing it seemed Michal might be vulnerable, but in fact Jason made rather a mess of it and came down on the third lap.

Now we were six up but proceeded to lose that over the next two heats. This was especially disappointing as the usually reliable Aaron Summers was in both ? and took no points. In heat 7 Wolbert rode another good race to hold off a strong challenge from Lindgren as Sweetman won the heat.

Harrison led heat 8 and was using the outside impressively. Summers lay second but Smart was also riding a strong outside line and looked like passing. This he did with a powerful surge down the back straight, going inside Summers who fell on the final bend. It was a fair move and levelled the scores.

Even worse, we lost another 4-2 in heat 9 with Matthew slow away again but taking second behind Lyons, and Max trailing again.

We needed a big effort now. No problems for Fisher again as he led with Rajkowski going with him. Ryan decided against the team riding option. Sweetman fell on the first bend but Rajkowski proved vulnerable and was overtaken by Lindgren.

The scores were levelled again and Aaron Summers kept it that was by winning heat 11. Wolbert was at the back this time, trying to pass Piszcz on the outside. He clipped the boards on the pits corner and lost ground, but again it was a decent ride.

Heat 12 was a pleasant surprise for the home fans. Summers and Bekker made the start, Bekker possibly slightly on the move as the tapes rose, and this time the South African rode a steady race to clinch the paid win, absolutely vital in view of what happened next.

Lyons and Piszcz made the start in heat 13 but Fisher was far faster going into the pits turn. He swept through on the inside with Lyons coming down, quite similar to the Summers/Smart incident, and consistently the ref excluded the man on the outside.

In fact he got the wrong one, throwing out Piszcz when it should have been Lyons. This may have been corrected but it was irrelevant anyway as the rain came in buckets and the match was called off.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Matthew Wethers.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Birmingham Brummies

Make no mistake about it. Friday's visitors to Armadale are strong contenders for the Premier League Championship this season should King's Lynn falter.

Despite losing by two points at home to Glasgow recently, they have chalked up three away wins in the league at Scunthorpe, Newport (where they took all four points) and Rye House Have they timed their visit to the Dale with uncanny precision?

The Brummies have run into a rich vein of form and as recently as Wednesday night they hammered Rye House at home with paid maximums from Jason Lyons, Rusty Harrison and Mark Lemon (guesting for the injured Tomas Piszcz). Although Piszcz is listed in the Birmingham side there has been some speculation about whether or not he will actually ride.

Birmingham have never been comfortable at Armadale. In fact they've never really been comfortable riding against Edinburgh as a glance at the results since they entered the league show. Last season they suffered defeats home and away in the league and in the final of the Premier Trophy. Friday's match is the beginning of a spell of three matches in three days for them and four matches in four days for us! The Brummies go on to Berwick after Friday's match then to Ashfield on Sunday. They return home to face the Monarchs again this time at Perry Barr next Wednesday.

After much coming and going among the Birmingham riding personnel they finally seemed to have hit upon a settled side. They have two high scoring heat leaders in Jason Lyons and Tomasz Piszcz, both of whom are no strangers to Armadale having guested for the Monarchs there as well as riding for their own team. They haven't always been successful though so it's hard to make of what they might do in Friday's match ? run riot or under-perform?

Their support comes in the shape of Ludvig Lindgren, brother of Grand Prix star Fredrick Lindgren, Richard Sweetman who has made astonishing strides this year having launched himself out of the reserve berths and Rusty Harrison. Rusty may not have set the heather on fire at Glasgow but he is a very capable rider not to be underestimated as witnessed by his paid maximum against Rye House.

For much of the season the Brummies' Achilles heel has been at reserve but with Jay Herne and Lee Smart finally having ensconced themselves in the number six and seven berths they have at last found some scoring power there.

They probably couldn't have arrived at Armadale at a better time because, although the team is back up to strength in numbers, our two young Germans have yet to master the track. Kevin Woelbert makes his debut and how he performs in this his first match is likely to have a great bearing on how well we do. Kevin has some notable scalps and great performances in Poland but that doesn't necessarily translate to similar scores at Armadale. Max Dilger will be looking to build on his experience on the track two weeks ago against Sheffield with a much better idea of how to set his bike up.

If these two youngsters struggle then so will the team. Byron Bekker is another worry. Having had some terrible and expensive problems with his bikes we need him to pull his weight in the team particularly while the two newcomers settle in.

Once again Ryan Fisher, Matthew Wethers, Michal Rajkowski and Aaron Summers may be under a lot of pressure to shine as they did so brilliantly against Sheffield. They haven't let us down in the past but we can't reasonably expect them to have trouble free meetings in every match.

I don't see any way confidently to predict a home win and the match may be in the balance right up to the last heat. Now is the time for the fans to get behind the team and roar them on to victory.

This is the first of a spell of six matches in eight days. To kick off with a home win against one of the strongest visitors yet to visit Armadale would be an ideal way to start the programme. Of course the Brummies will see this as a good opportunity to get their northern tour off to a winning start to keep their challenge at the top going.

May the better team win provided it's the Monarchs!

The teams have been announced as follows: Edinburgh: Ryan Fisher, Michal Rajkowski, Max Dilger, Matthew Wethers, Kevin Woelbert, Aaron Summers and Byron Bekker.

Birmingham: Tomasz Piszcz, Rusty Harrison, Ludvig Lindgren, Richard Sweetman, Jason Lyons, Jay Herne, Lee Smart..