Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

This was Edinburgh’s fourth match in four days, against a team with plenty of knowledge of Armadale.

However the Scotwaste Monarchs have grown in stature to a remarkable extent over the last week, and inspired by Craig Cook and Jozsef Tabaka they simply took the Diamonds apart.

For the visitors, Mark Lemon struggled but the others appeared to be riding well enough. They just could not cope with the onslaught from the Monarchs, determined to complete the week in style.

The two maximum men were magnificent, in different ways. The astonishing Cook scored his third 15 point maximum in three days, something I doubt any Edinburgh rider has ever done, and he won all his heats by massive distances.

Tabaka’s gating was nothing special but he was so fast and smooth he simply sailed past the opposition. In heat 7 the Diamonds pair had gated, and while Andrew Tully was battling to get by, Tabaka glided inside everyone, one by one. In heat 11 he swept round the outside of Stuart Robson, then did it again in the rerun in spite of considerable efforts by the Newcastle no. 1 to force him off his line.

Once again in heat 14 a poor start was soon rectified and he was allowed to sit out the final race to celebrate his first maximum, a truly memorable one.

The rest of the side wasn’t far behind. Theo Pijper and Matthew Wethers were a rock-solid pair, and had actually gated on Robson in his TR outing in heat 5. The heat was stopped though and Robson won the rerun with Wethers suffering a machine problem.

Andrew Tully was involved in some of the most exciting racing (and there was quite a bit), especially two enthralling battles with Robson.

Derek Sneddon was as determined as ever, though he did lose the lead in heat 8 to a fine ride from Claes Nedermark, one of only two Diamonds’ race winners.

That leaves Marcel Helfer, and when your lowest scorer has started the night with two impressive paid wins then you know tour team is going well.

The only downside of the night was a heavy crash by Nedermark in heat 11, trying to make headway from the back on his TR ride.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

Monarchs will breathe a big sigh of relief if they can beat the league leaders, Newcastle at Armadale tonight (7.00 start) as they will have turned their season on it's head scorching from 13th to 7th place in the Premier League in the space of a week, still with matches in hand.

Leading that charge has been Craig Cook, who has magically put last season's struggles behind him to emerge as the league's most exciting rider. Tonight he pits his silky smooth style against another top performer, Stuart Robson, who has thrilled speedway fans everywhere over the years.

Derek Sneddon starred in one of the best races of the season last night and has shown he will be well up for the challenge of Newcastle's young Danish rider, Claes Nedermark, who is a very strong No.2 who is capable of getting a big score at Armadale.

Theo Pijper is another who is showing that he is at the top of his form just at the right time. He will need to ensure his machine problems are cured tonight though as he is up against another top rider who has a liking for the Scotwaste Arena, Newcastle's Australian skipper Mark Lemon.

Monarchs captain Matthew Wethers is another who looks back to his best but also had a bike problem that robbed him of a full maximum. He squares up to that other popular Australian, Christian Henry who struggled in the League Cup match in April but can score well when he's on his game.

Our Flying Scot at No.5, Andrew Tully, is frustrated with his form, but he's not far away and he will hope to show a clean pair of heels to his opposite number with the famous family name, Ludvig Lindgren who surprisingly failed to score on his last visit.

With the Worrall brothers both having suffered similar serious injuries, Newcastle have lost a couple of potent reserves. So Jozsef Tabaka should be looking to continue his good scoring since his recall when he faces Paul Starke, a young British rider with five National League seasons behind him.

Marcel Helfer is making steady improvement with each match but Newcastle may have pulled out a trump card at No.7 by tracking Mason Campton, Glasgow's best young signing for a number of years and one who has already shown he is a far better rider than his average suggests.

So this is one more big hurdle for Monarchs, after which they will be able to take stock of where they are and what they have to do to get into the play-offs. With everyone coming into form, they are starting to be a team to be feared, which makes a convincing win tonight a top priority.

This should be another cracking match with two sides really going at each other from the outset. Newcastle will have thoughts of at least coming away with a point to consolidate their position at the top of the tree and if things go their way they could even add to their away wins tally.

With the sun shining again, everything is set fair for another tense, fascinating, top-notch Premier League encounter. For a speedway fan, it doesn't get any better so make sure to be there to support your heroes – and remember it's an earlier than usual 7.00 start.

Likely line-ups.

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon, Theo Pijper, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Andrew Tully, Jozsef Tabaka, Marcel Helfer.

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: Stuart Robson, Claes Nedermark, Mark Lemon (capt.), Christian Henry, Ludvig Lindgren, Paul Starke, Mason Campton.