PLAYOFFS ON THE HORIZON

NEWS Wednesday 27th August 2014, 6:30pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs have not quite made their Playoff place a mathematical certainty, but realistically it is one of the top two seeded places they are looking for.

This week’s visitors to Armadale are Glasgow Tigers who gave themselves a glimmer of hope of one of the six places with two victories last weekend including a big one away to Playoff contenders Workington. Monarchs should be at full strength and Tigers too other than Edberg standing in for Bergé at reserve, so the match points are important to both teams.

THE TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 29th AUGUST (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS; Craig Cook, Justin Sedgmen, Max Fricke, Stevie Worrall, Sam Masters, Aaron Fox, Derek Sneddon (capt.)

GLASGOW TIGERS: Victor Palovaara, Theo Pijper (capt.), Kevin Wolbert, Tero Aarnio, Rusty Harrison, Kasper Lykke, Alex Edberg (guest).

PREMIER LEAGUE: It’s an ever-changing position at the top of the Premier League and also for all six of the Playoff places, with the possibility (likelihood?) that some teams won’t complete their fixtures by the cutoff date of the 15th September.

Here are the remaining fixtures for the leading teams.

EDINBURGH: Home v Glasgow, Newcastle, Sheffield, Redcar. Away v Rye House, Glasgow, Workington, Sheffield. Currently on 51 points from 20 matches.

SOMERSET: Home v Berwick, Peterborough, Workington. Away v Workington. Currently on 58 points from 24 matches.

BERWICK: Home v Scunthorpe, Workington, Redcar. Away v Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Somerset. Currently on 47 points from 22 matches.

IPSWICH: Home v Sheffield, Workington. Away v Plymouth, Sheffield. Currently on 47 points from 24 matches.

Other teams in the running for the Playoffs are: Glasgow 24 points (21 matches), Scunthorpe 31 (18), Newcastle 33 (26), Redcar 28 (23), Workington 21 (13). Only Sheffield and Rye House can be completely ruled out!

AARON’S PROGRESS: Aaron Fox tried to return from injury last week but had to withdraw after one race in which he had finished second.

Aaron is confident that all will be well for his comeback this week. “I feel a lot better and I can’t wait to get going,” he said.

BEN NEVIS 20th SEPTEMBER: The postponed Team Climb of Ben Nevis will now be on Saturday 20th September. Most of the team will be on the trip and they are looking for companions! Anyone interested in joining what is really a long uphill walk, or sponsoring, will be welcome to add their names on Friday.

MEETING SPONSORS: The supporters’ group The Mingers are the sponsors of Friday’s match against Glasgow.

TEST FOR NEW-LOOK TIGERS: This will be the first appearance for Tigers at Armadale of their new boys Victor Palovaara and Tero Aarnio (3 riders in the meeting with a double ‘a’ in their name!)

Aarnio made his UK debut at Armadale in 2007 but doesn’t have a great record, however for the Swede Palovaara it will be his Armadale debut. He has won races at both Glasgow and Newcastle as he finds his feet in British Speedway.

Former Monarchs Kevin Wolbert, Rusty Harrison and Theo Pijper should obviously have race-winning potential, and the Tigers are quite handy at reserve (Edberg won heat 2 for his club Berwick last Friday).

So while Monarchs will be expecting a victory it should be a Scottish Derby worth seeing.

LAST MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs beat Berwick Bandits 57-32 at Armadale last Friday with Sam Masters top man on 14.

NEXT MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs will race Sheffield Tigers in the Premier League on Friday 5th September at Armadale. The following Friday will be a double header against both Redcar and Newcastle, completing Monarchs’ home league fixtures.