NEWCASTLE AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY

NEWS Wednesday 6th May 2015, 9:24pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Border Roofing Monarchs will be trying to keep their good start to the Premier League going when they take on Newcastle Diamonds on Friday at Armadale (start time 7:30).

The Diamonds were the last team to win at Armadale back in July 2013, and in fact they won twice that season and have been consistently successful visitors over the 19 seasons of the Armadale era. They gave last year’s triple champs their hardest home match of the season in September.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 8th May (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

EDINBURGH BORDER ROOFING MONARCHS: Sam Masters, Erik Riss, Kevin Wolbert, Justin Sedgmen, Craig Cook (capt.), Max Clegg, Rob Branford.

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: Lewis Kerr, rider replacement for Anton Rosen, Steve Worrall, Christian Henry, Ludvig Lindgren, Simon Nielsen, Josh Bates (guest).

ERIK RISS: Erik is currently in the UK undergoing treatment for his broken collar bone. If successful he intends returning to the team on Friday.

If not the rider replacement facility will be used again.

GRAND PRIX QUALIFIERS: The two Monarchs racing in the Grand Prix qualifying meetings last weekend did not qualify for the semi-finals.

Justin Sedgmen scored 8 in Croatia and was just a point short of the qualifying mark, while Craig Cook was disappointed with his 5-point score at Lonigo.

Sam Masters and Kevin Wolbert race at the end of May in Abensberg, and will be happy to know that they will NOT now miss the Monarchs’ visit to Workington which has been postponed till later in the season, with the Berwick League Cup tie at Derwent Park now taking over that slot.

Congratulations to Max Fricke on his second place finish at Lonigo, his most impressive result yet.

SPEEDWAY BEST PAIRS CUP: This televised series continues with the third leg in Esbjerg, Denmark on Saturday and the reason it is worth mentioning here is that Craig Cook rides for GB!

It’s not confirmed who he will be teaming up with yet, but Craig said “It’s another track I’ve not been to and it will be good experience for me”.

GOOD START: The Border Roofing Monarchs completed the PL double over Scunthorpe with a 50-40 win at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Monday, the second year in succession they have won there.

Captain Craig Cook said “We had a fantastic win at Scunthorpe. We won there last year as well, me and Max got a 5-1 in the last heat that time. It was a great win, everyone did their bit.

“Rob was struggling a bit with the setups and probably went the wrong way, so I advised him to make further changes and just put it round the inside. It seemed to work.”.

TOP VISITORS: Newcastle are a team who always come to Armadale with a positive attitude and that’s probably why they have a better record than any other club with 8 victories.

This year’s Geordie side is topped by Lewis Kerr at no. 1, a great English prospect who scored 13 last September as his team almost pulled off the shock of the season against the all-conquering Monarchs.

Of course one of these very Monarchs was Steve Worrall, architect of much of the team’s success as his average increased by about 4.5 points! He will team up with another very capable ex-Monarch in Christian Henry.

Sheffield’s Josh Bates, who has tasted success guesting for Monarchs, guests instead of Lewis Rose who is with his Elite team Swindon at Coventry.

LAST MEETING: The Border Roofing Monarchs beat Scunthorpe 53-39 at Armadale last Friday. Kevin Wolbert and Sam Masters each won their five races. Craig Cook crashed due to a broken chain, a very awkward fall, but thankfully was fit to race later in the weekend.

NEXT MEETING: Monarchs meet Ipswich Witches in the Premier League on Friday 15th May at Armadale.

Full Result Details