Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

Last year’s pattern of bad weather on Friday after a fine week reared its ugly head here, but nevertheless the two sides served up a decent evening’s entertainment.

In fact after losing to Edinburgh at home last weekend, the Bandits really got stuck in in the early stages with David Bellego outstanding. He took advantage of a heat 1 mix-up between Derek Sneddon and Craig Cook to pass the home number one, and later picked off Sneddon as well.

The Frenchman then headed Theo Pijper which gave him two notable Armadale scalps.

Robin Aspegren looked sound as well and when Kozza Smith and Monarchs’ old boy Matthew Wethers zoomed away from Claus Vissing in heat 7 the Bandits were just two points behind.

Heat 8 was a bit of a turning point though. The riders swept outwards round the first turn with Sneddon forced to come off against the fence, and rather harshly Bellego was ruled out when all four might have been expected to contest the rerun.

That handed Monarchs a 5-1, and they pushed on with two more in the next two heats. Heat 9 brought the best out of Max Fricke who battled with Aspegren for second, and dived back up the inside of the Swede to regain second place on the final bend.

Berwick used TRs in the next two heats, but Smith came last and Vissing defeated Aspegren, so that was about it for the visitors. Monarchs cruised home with top men Cook and Pijper dominant.

There was only one productive reserve on either side (Jozsef Tabaka) and Helfer’s very poor performance must raise question marks about his future. Rider replacement didn’t bring much for Berwick but if Ashworth returns and rides to his average then their team can still do well.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits

If you've managed to get your breath back from some of the incredible skills shown by the Elite League Brits last week, it's a return to team action this Friday (7.30) when the Berwick Bandits come looking for revenge in the return League Cup match.

The Bandits have won twice and lost twice at home so far but the scores in virtually every one of their six matches have been really close including a three-point loss at Glasgow and a single point defeat at Redcar. So they can't be taken for granted on the road.

Monarchs' No.1, Craig Cook just seems to get better and better and is unbeaten by a Premier League opponent so far this year. He will have no star opposite number this week because the long-term Sheffield rider and former PLRC winner, Ricky Ashworth is still unfit to ride after his fall at Armadale last Friday. So it's rider replacement, meaning Ricky's races can be covered by any of the other Bandits.

Monarchs' captain and No.2, Derek Sneddon enjoyed a good night last Friday against some of the best British Premier League riders. He lines up opposite the first of two Australian Bandits, Kozza Smith (25) who was that country's long-track champion in 2012. His career has been seriously held back by injuries since he earned a League Winners medal with King's Lynn in 2009.

In common with the rest of the Monarchs, Theo Pijper had to sit out last Friday's meeting, so he will be raring to go against Robin Aspegren (24) from Vetlanda in Sweden. This all-action crowd-pleaser has also suffered his fair share of injuries since winning a KO Cup medal with the now-defunct Newport Wasps.

It's a remarkable match-up at No.4 between an Australian newcomer, Max Fricke (17) for Monarchs and a rider who was an Australian newcomer to Armadale 10 years ago, Matthew Wethers (27), now a Bandit. It just shows what a big challenge the Premier League is to young Max who will be hoping for as long and trophy-filled a career as Edinburgh favourite, Matty.

Monarchs' new crowd-pleaser, the ultra-determined Claus Vissing lines up at No.5 against an equally committed rider David Bellego (19) from France (nobody seems to have tied his birthplace down any more precisely yet). David finished 2011 in Glasgow's league-winning side but never became a Tigers' asset. He's very much a Berwick asset now!

Edinburgh's unlikely reserve duo, Marcel Helfer and Joszef Tabaka from Germany and Hungary respectively are paired against a former Vikings Touring Team duo, Alex Edberg (22) from Sweden and Nicki Barrett (23) from Denmark. These two both ride in three different countries which makes them more experienced than most PL reserves. However, leg trailer, Alex from Eskiltuna (sounds fishy) has a preference for big tracks.

And that's always been the Achilles' heel of Berwick sides who generally find the tighter confines of the Scotwaste Arena difficult to come to terms with. So this is a big test for this Bandits side who will be desperate to dent the Monarchs' League Cup chances, having already gone out themselves.

A home win is on the cards, but there are enough surprise packets in this Bandits team to make for another exciting night of red-hot speedway action. How will Max and Marcel fare this week? Can Jozsef score a maximum? Will Craig set a new track record? Be there at 7.30 on Friday night to find out!

Likely line-ups:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon (capt.), Theo Pijper, Max Fricke, Claus Vissing, Marcel Helfer, Jozsef Tabaka.

BERWICK NEW HOLLAND BANDITS: R/R for Ricky Ashworth, Kozza Smith, Robin Aspegren, Matthew Wethers, David Bellego, Alex Edberg, Nicki Barrett.