HISTORIC NIGHT ON FRIDAY

NEWS Tuesday 21st October 2008, 4:07pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs will host a memorable night at Armadale Stadium on Friday when they take on Wolverhampton in the first leg of the first ever Elite Promotion Playoff.

Post match, injured team captain Derek Sneddon will be presented with the 2008 Premier League Championship Trophy, so brilliantly won by the team this season, and also the Premier Playoff trophy which was clinched last weekend. Elite League Wolves have booked in track specialist James Grieves to guest for them as they bid to avoid letting the Monarchs leap-frog them into the Elite League.

TEAMS FOR THE ELITE PROMOTION PLAYOFF FINAL FIRST LEG AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 24th OCTOBER (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: William Lawson, rider replacement for Thomas H Jonasson, Ryan Fisher, Andrew Tully (captain), Matthew Wethers, guest replacement for Derek Sneddon, Aaron Summers.

WOLVERHAMPTON PARRYS INTERNATIONAL WOLVES: Frederik Lindgren, David Howe, rider replacement for Niels Kristian Iversen, James Grieves (guest), Jesper B Monberg, Ludvig Lindgren, Nikolai Klindt.

PLAYOFF CHANCES: The Monarchs' team take on by far their hardest task of the season as they face up to the Wolves on Friday and Monday.

Speedway's rules certainly do not favour the team from the Premier League, and you could say the playing field is far from level.

With an average conversion factor of 2x between the leagues, Elite clubs start the season building to the equivalent of 77.70 while Premier clubs are restricted to 41.50.

That is why one of the top Premier riders, James Grieves, can come in to replace a second string in the Wolves' lineup.

Monarchs have nothing to lose. They are weakened by the absence of Thomas H Jonasson (covered again by rider replacement) and Derek Sneddon, who will be replaced by a reserve who is expected to be named tomorrow.

The absence of Sneddon (broken jaw) is particularly damaging, but the team worked wonders last weekend to beat King's Lynn in the Premier Playoff Final.

Monarchs' club chairman Alex Harkess said ?It will be a great night for our fans. We have achieved so much and we have nothing to lose in this match. Nobody expects us to win but we will see.?

Wolverhampton have admitted that they are ?nervous' though realistically they start as strong favourites in the tie.

MEETING SPONSOR: This week's big event will be sponsored by Calton Contracts, flooring specialists of West Lothian.

STAR-STUDDED SQUAD: Wolverhampton may have had a poor season in the Elite League, but they still come with riders who would all be star, or superstar, men at Premier League level.

Grand Prix rider Niels Kristian Iversen is injured but they still have another GP man in Freddie Lindgren, tenth in this year's World Championship series.

They have former World Under-21 Champion Jesper B Monberg (who used to use the name Jensen), former Scottish Open Champion David Howe and of course guest rider James Grieves, who knows Armadale as well as anyone, standing in for Morten Risager (broken wrist) who may just have been one vulnerable member of the Wolves' team.

At reserve, young Dane Nikolai Klindt is coming to the end of a fairly successful first season at Wolves, and recent recruit Ludvig Lindgren (Freddie's brother) was well placed in the World Under-21 Championship.

Only the younger Lindgren has not ridden at Armadale before, so the track will not be unknown to the Wolves' riders.

MONMORE ON MONDAY: Monarchs travel to Monmore Green, Wolverhampton, on Monday for the second leg of the Elite Promotion Playoff. Quite a few Monarchs' fans are expected to travel down. Guest replacement for Derek Sneddon in this match will be James Brundle.

LAST MEETING: Monarchs lost Derek Sneddon in the first race but still fought back brilliantly to beat King's Lynn 55-38. Top scorer was Aaron Summers with 13+5 bonus. This proved to be just enough to qualify on aggregate with Summers again top scoring in the second leg.

NEXT MEETING: The last meeting of the season will be held on Friday 31st October, the visitors being Glasgow in the second leg of the Scottish Cup.