Scorpions Looking For Revenge

NEWS Wednesday 21st June 2017, 10:00am

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scunthorpe Scorpions head to Armadale this Friday desperate for the points required to propel them up the SGB Championship table.

SCUNNY’S STRUGGLES

With almost half their season gone the Scorpions have not had their struggles to seek and currently sit 2nd bottom of the pile with only Berwick saving them from bottom spot.

DIFFERENT LOOKING SCUNTHORPE

This will be the third time already this season that the Monarchs have faced off against the Scorpions and it has been happy hunting for the Edinburgh men so far with a pair of victories.

However due to injuries and averages this is a different looking side that will make the journey north.

The visitors have shuffled the deck since the last visit with Tero Aarnio brought into the fold to replace Stefan Nielsen who suffered a broken collarbone within days of replacing Austrian reserve Fritz Wallner who broke his wrist at Armadale last time out.

A further change to the Lincolnshire men’s line-up comes at reserve where Josh Bailey misses out and is replaced by local youngster Ryan MacDonald.

NEW SIGNING BUT FAMILIAR FACE

Unfortunately news was not good after Mark Riss’s spill in heat 6 last week with tendon damage diagnosed in the young Germans hand. A minimum of 6 weeks out is expected and with that in mind the Monarchs decided a temporary replacement is required and that replacement is Theo Pijper.

Pijper is of course a familiar face to the Monarchs having ridden in the Blue and Gold from 2002-2007 and again in 2012 and 13 and it is expected he will hit the ground running and equal Riss’s scoring power from the off.

Monarchs co-promoter Alex Harkess was delighted that a rider of Pijper’s calibre was available saying ‘We welcome Theo back this week; he was a pretty obvious signing as he can walk straight back into the team. There’s nothing he needs to learn about Armadale that he doesn’t know. Of course we wish Mark a speedy recovery but Theo will fill in the position for us. The hospital says 6 weeks, Mark says 4 weeks but it certainly won’t be less than that.

This week’s opponents Scunthorpe are capable of giving us a good match. They’ve done well away from home at times and they will be looking to get something out of it.

MEETING SPONSOR

Linlithgow Tyres and Exhausts are meeting sponsors this week a long term supporter of Scottish Speedway a party from their will enjoy the proceedings from the hospitality area this Friday.

Teams for the SGB Championship match at Armadale on Friday 23rd June (start time 7:30pm, gates open 6:30pm), are:

PARSONS PEEBLES MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt), Theo Pijper, Erik Riss, Max Clegg, Ricky Wells, Josh Pickering, Mitchell Davey.

SCUNTHORPE HENDERSON’S INSURANCE SCORPIONS: Michael Palm Toft(capt), Tero Aarnio, Lewis Kerr, Ryan Douglas, Josh Auty, Carl Wilkinson, Ryan MacDonald(guest)

SCORPIONS LOOKING TO STING: While they currently sit second bottom of the table Scunthorpe have a solid looking outfit that have sprung a surprise or two so far this season. Michael Palm Toft is having his finest season on these shores at number 1 and with backup from the recently returned Josh Auty and Lewis Kerr they cannot be discounted. Carl Wilkinson is probably the most experienced reserve in the league and he is well capable of a double digit score. Tero Aarnio and Ryan Douglas have also had their moments around Armadale and the Monarchs will need to be at their best to prevail.

LAST MEETING: The Parsons Peebles Monarchs were 48-40 winners in a bruising encounter against the Ipswich Witches. Ricky Wells and Erik Riss joint top scored for the home men with 11 while former Monarchs Justin Sedgmen and Rory Schlein topped the Witches score charts with 9 apiece.

NEXT MEETING: A break in the action for the Parsons Peebles Monarchs as the spotlight changes to the younger guys as Armadale hosts the Caledonian Riders Championship in association with Linlithgow Tyres and Exhausts. An intriguing looking field is headlined by the likes of Max Clegg, Mitchell Davey and Dan Bewley but many eyes may well be on some of the lesser known riders in the line-up.

Full Result Details