Playoffs Start Now

PREVIEW Sunday 17th September 2023, 12:24pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

It is take two for the start of the Stellar Monarchs playoff campaign as they head to Scunthorpe on Sunday looking to start their campaign on a high.

With the change in structure for the playoffs this year this will be the first of four playoff matches for the Monarchs, so every point is crucial with not just the result on the day, but the aggregate bonus point vital.

The home men started their campaign of in fine style with a battling draw at Poole last Wednesday while they then lost the 'superheat' the match point gained still makes them early favourites to top the group.

This is based on their strong home record also where the Eddie Wright Raceway has been turned into a bit of a fortress and the Monarchs will hope for better than the 51-39 defeat suffered back in July.

There are a couple of changes to the side that went down by 12 that day with Craig Cook absent and being replaced by Justin Sedgmen and Paco Castagna who missed out now fully back into the swing of things after that broken arm.

Dayle Wood also returns to the side after a recent absence to take his place at reserve.

The Scorpions are as programmed with the bulk of the scoring expected from dominant number one Ryan Douglas who is having probably his finest year on British soil and went through the card the last time the teams met. Others having strong years include captain Simon Lambert and Drew Kemp appears to be in fine form at reserve also so there is no weak link in the Scorpions septet.

Tape-up is at 5pm with live streaming available from https://tv.scunthorpe-speedway.com/ with live updates also available on the Monarchs website.

Scunthorpe: Ryan Douglas, Connor Mountain, Simon Lambert, Jake Allen, Michael Palm Toft, Nathan Ablitt, Drew Kemp

Stellar Monarchs: Justin Sedgmen, Lasse Fredriksen, Kye Thomson, Paco Castagna, Josh Pickering, Dayle Wood, Bastian Borke

Full Result Details