KO CUP SEMI v NEWCASTLE ON FRIDAY

NEWS Wednesday 2nd September 2015, 5:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Border Roofing Monarchs move on to the Knockout Cup this week with Newcastle coming to Armadale in the semi-final after defeating Glasgow last Sunday.

This was an excellent effort by the Diamonds even allowing for Glasgow’s injury problems, and given the long history of unpredictable matches against Newcastle no-one will be wanting to make any predictions about this tie, in which the second leg is a week on Sunday. Before the first leg, Monarchs head for Ipswich on Thursday to defend a 22-point advantage in the League Cup semi-final second leg, while in another busy week Craig Cook and Sam Masters ride in the Premier League Riders Championship on Sunday.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 4th September (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

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

NEWCASTLE SAPPHIRE ENGINEERING DIAMONDS: Stevie Worrall, rider replacement for Christian Henry, Kenneth Hansen (Guest), Anton Rosen, Ludvig Lindgren (capt.), Simon Nielsen, Tero Aarnio.

PREMIER LEAGUE: The Border Roofing Monarchs are confirmed as top of the Premier League table for the second year running, and also exactly as last year they have done it with the seven riders who started the season.

It’s an incredible achievement which deserves the highest praise.

The other teams contesting the Playoff positions are (in current order) Glasgow, Somerset, Sheffield, Peterborough, Ipswich, Plymouth – if the matches are actually staged then Plymouth look likely to overhaul Ipswich. Rain-offs on Bank Holiday Monday prevented a bit of progress.

The Playoff round one is contested between teams 3rd v 6th, and 4th v 5th, then it’s 1st v 4th/5th and 2nd v 3rd/6th.

Pretty pointless speculating about the final order at this point though Sheffield are bound to be either 4th or 5th!

KNOCKOUT CUP: Winners of our semi-final against Newcastle will meet either Somerset Rebels or Rye House Rockets in the final. Their semi is due to be staged on 11th and 12th September.

Monarchs and Diamonds met in last year’s semi-final with Monarchs winning both legs after a huge win at Armadale.

Somerset would obviously be favourites against the Rockets though the latter do now have Robert Lambert in their ranks.

LEAGUE CUP: Monarchs lead 56-34 after the first leg against Ipswich, who have been running riot in their home matches recently. Remember there are no TRs in this competition, or indeed the KO Cup or Playoff matches.

The aggregate winners after the second leg will race Glasgow in the Final.

DIAMONDS ARE LATE CHARGERS: After a season which has been disappointing by their usual standards, Newcastle have made a late bid for honours with last Sunday’s KO Cup victory following some strong showings on their home track.

The signing of Finnish rider Tero Aarnio has been a good move, helping to ease the pain of losing Lewis Kerr and Christian Henry to bad injuries. We wish both riders well and they seem to be on the mend. Kenneth Hansen guests for Kerr and rider replacement applies for Henry.

Steve Worrall of course is liable to be a major player in the tie and he has piled up points at Armadale this season with various different race jackets on.

It will be an Armadale debut for Swede Anton Rosen even though he has been with Diamonds in the last three seasons.

LAST MEETING: The Border Roofing Monarchs suffered a postponement of their scheduled last home match last Friday against Berwick.

NEXT MEETING: We can’t say what next week’s home match will be until we race against Ipswich on Thursday.

PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: We wish our representatives Craig Cook and Sam Masters well in Sunday’s Championship at Sheffield. Both are former winners of course.

Full Result Details