Bandits' lively Aussie Kozza Smith Image Credit: Ron MacNeill

KEY MATCHES AGAIN THIS WEEK

NEWS Wednesday 24th July 2013, 6:40pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Berwick are the visitors to Armadale this week, including impressive guest rider Adam Ellis in their side, while the Scotwaste Monarchs also travel to Ipswich and Newcastle over the next few days.

The match at Ipswich on Thursday is the second leg of the semi-final of the League Cup, with Monarchs defending a six-point advantage, while the visit to Newcastle is in the Premier League – can Monarchs keep the run of away wins between these sides going?

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 26th July (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

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

BERWICK NEW HOLLAND BANDITS: Ricky Ashworth (capt.), David Bellego, Robin Aspegren, Matthew Wethers, Kozza Smith, Adam Ellis (guest), Paul Starke.

THE LEAGUE CUP: Monarchs again have a hard away fixture on Thursday night, all the way down at Ipswich this time.

They are defending a six-point lead from the Armadale leg against an in-form Witches side.

Should they be required, there are TRs in this competition, though Ipswich didn't get into a position to use one in the Armadale leg.

NEWCASTLE ON SUNDAY: The Scotwaste Monarchs head to Newcastle on Sunday in the Premier League, smarting from defeat by the Diamonds at Armadale.

Newcastle drew their home match with Somerset last Sunday, and all three of the matches between Monarchs and Diamonds this season have resulted in away wins so far. Can Monarchs keep the sequence going?

THE PREMIER LEAGUE: Last Thursday night by gaining two points from their draw at Redcar, the Scotwaste Monarchs went top of the Premier League!

After losing at home on Friday, with the weekend's other results, that ceased to be the case, and the order at the top now (Wednesday) is Workington, Redcar, Edinburgh, Ipswich, Newcastle, Leicester, Somerset.

These do look like the main contenders for the six Playoff places but no-one can afford to relax.

BUSY COOK EXCELS: The form of Craig Cook continues to impress in spite of a very busy schedule, and he scored 13+1 at home for Belle Vue in their win over King's Lynn on Monday.

He has another meeting for the Aces at Poole tonight (Wednesday) then of course he is due to rejoin Monarchs for Thursday, Friday and Sunday!

MATCH SPONSORS: This Friday's match will be sponsored by Keyline Broxburn, supporters of the Monarchs for so long, backing their third meeting of the season.

ELLIS A STONG GUEST: Young Ipswich rider Adam Ellis will be coming back up the road with the Edinburgh riders after Thursday night's meeting because he guests for Berwick in place of the injured Nicki Barrett on Friday.

The 17 year old French born rider has scored 18 points in two impressive visits to Armadale, whereas Barrett had scored only 3 on his only appearance. Berwick of course are quite right to take advantage of the guest rules.

The Bandits don't have a great record at Armadale, but each of Ashworth, Smith, Bellego, Aspegren and of course Wethers have had good matches, so it could well be a difficult match for a team travelling 400 miles overnight.

As we said last week, the Scotwaste Monarchs will need to be at their best!

LAST MEETING: Last Friday Monarchs were beaten 41-52 by Newcastle at Armadale, a very disappointing result and performance after so much recent success. Craig Cook and Theo Pijper scored 11 points each.

NEXT MEETING: Armadale stages the annual individual class the Scottish Open Championship, sponsored by David Harrison Ford, on Friday 2nd August. Riders are being announced on www.be-there.co and names revealed so far are:

Max Fricke, Derek Sneddon, Claus Vissing, Jozsef Tabaka, Theo Pijper (Monarchs)

Patrick Hougaard (Peterborough)

Tobias Busch (Germany)

Kevin Wolbert (Belle Vue)

Andrew Tully (Newcastle)

with more to come daily. The draw for riding order will be made this Friday.