Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

PREVIEW Friday 22nd June 2012, 12:00pm

by Gordon Fraser

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Fans and officials of Edinburgh speedway will have fingers, toes and everything else crossed this week, and not just because the visitors to Armadale’s Scotwaste Arena, on Friday (7.30) are the all-conquering Newcastle Diamonds.

Monarchs will be desperate to stage a home meeting after two successive weeks without speedway as the jet stream continues to play havoc with the country’s weather. For a time it was speedway in England that was suffering but now it’s Scotland’s turn.

Since the League Cup visit of the Diamonds eleven weeks ago, both teams have new faces, both UK riders, at No.1. The Cookie Monster, Craig Cook, is on the crest of a wave for Edinburgh and Stuart Robson now spearheads the Geordies.

Derek Sneddon has slotted back into Monarchs colours as though he has never been away. This week he faces his old club again, but a different No.2 in the young Danish rider Claes Nedermark who looked good on his last visit.

Two favourites with the Monarchs fans line up opposite each other at No.3. These are our flying Dutchman, Theo Pijper and that solid-scoring Edinburgh guest from past seasons, Newcastle's Australian skipper Mark Lemon.

At No. 4, it’s a long-time Monarch versus a one-time Monarch where the rejuvenated Matthew Wethers squares up to that other popular Australian visitor, Christian Henry who struggled in that League Cup match in April.

Our Flying Scot at No.5, Andrew Tully, is back to his brilliant Armadale best and is challenged by a famous name on the other side of the pits, Ludvig Lindgren who surprisingly failed to score on his last visit.

Micky Dyer will more than most have been missing the chance to earn some points money and this week he lines up at No.6 against a bright young British speedway prospect, the fractionally younger of the Worrall twins, Steve.

Charles Wright will also be frustrated by the lack of a consistent run of matches due to injury and the weather. His opposite number is an even brighter young British speedway prospect, the older of the twins, Richie Worrall.

It's no secret that Newcastle's phenomenal recent run of success is down to the form of the Worrall brothers at reserve, particularly Richie, who are both winning more races than the majority of riders in the top five of opposing teams

That means that Edinburgh's top five will have to pile up the points to nullify the threat from the bottom end. So while on paper this may be a top of the league versus bottom of the league match, it will be anything but.

Newcastle may be on a roll, but Monarchs have been riding with supreme confidence on their home shale lately too. It makes for a great match, so if you want to see the best the Premier League has to offer, this one's for you!

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon, Theo Pijper, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Andrew Tully, Micky Dyer, Charles Wright.

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: Stuart Robson, Claes Nedermark, Mark Lemon (capt.), Christian Henry, Ludvig Lindgren, Steve Worrall, Richie Worrall.