Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

Ryan Fisher and Aaron Summers led the way in a powerhouse performance by the Scotwaste Monarchs who hammered beleaguered Newcastle 64-26.

Our opening pair both recorded paid maximums and never looked in any difficulty. Andrew Tully and Matthew Wethers were pretty much in the same class but both lost just one point, in each case passed by an opposition rider, and with Thomas Jonasson (two wins) and Michal Rajkowski also weighing in with big scores, no wonder the Diamonds were massacred.

All seven indeed won heats while for Newcastle, only Kenni Larsen and Steve Boxall managed to take the chequered flag. Larsen made a reasonable Armadale debut and was his team?s best rider.

For Derek Sneddon, it was an unhappy return to Armadale. He was coming out as the second TR in heat 8 when he hit machine problems, and finished up with a 2-minute exclusion, and finally in heat 11 he fell on the pits turn.

Monarchs established their dominance right from the start. An easy 5-1 in heat 1 and another in heat 2, in which Sean Stoddart encouragingly barged his way to the front, established the pattern.

Kenni Larsen leapt from the tapes in heat 3 and it took Andrew Tully until the fourth bend of the opening lap to come alongside him. Andrew went in hard to the next corner and Larsen might have come down, but he retained control. He headed Thomas Jonasson to gain his team?s first scalp.

Matthew Wethers was soon clear in heat 4 but this time Sean Stoddart was stranded at the rear after losing ground on the first corner.

Andrew Tully got the better of a first lap duel with Derek Sneddon in heat 5, and late in the heat Steve Boxall pushed past Thomas Jonasson for a shared race.

Monarchs then returned to their most dominant and picked up five 5-1s on the trot. This included Larsen?s TR ride in heat 7, and Sneddon?s aborted follow-up in heat 8.

Heat 9 featured a superb first corner double pass by Jonasson (outside) and Tully (inside) on faster starting Jason King, and a first win for Thomas.

Kenni Larsen went off 15 metres in heat 10 after he had tried to get another flier and caught the tapes with the peak of his helmet.

Heat 11 was an interesting one. Rajkowski led with Wethers covering in his usual style, but Boxall pulled off a brilliant outside pass on Wethers. Before Matthew had a chance to come back, Boxall had shoved inside Rajkowski on the back straight, and thereafter he resisted Wethers? passing attempts.

Trent Leverington hit the outside line in heat 12 to go ahead, with Thomas Jonasson also riding wide to attempt to pass. Going into the final lap Thomas squeezed through the tiniest of gaps to go ahead with a spectacular pass.

Heat 13 was an easy 5-1, and when Andrew Tully passed Larsen to go ahead in heat 14 it looked like another win for him. But Larsen came back with an overtake of his own to become Diamonds? second race winner.

To finish with we had another of these sensational first corners from the home pair. Larsen and Boxall headed into the first corner ahead and must have fancied their chances, but Fisher flew round the fence to go ahead, joined by the remarkable Summers who shot up the inside.

Aaron?s riding all night was just about perfect and he looks the complete rider on his home track these days.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Aaron Summers.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

After taking all three points from last week's Sheffield fixture, the team must do the same on Friday night against Newcastle at Armadale to remain in contention to top the Premier Trophy group. It won't be easy though!

On the face of it a home match against Newcastle would seem to be one of the less daunting fixtures in the calendar but it often doesn't work out that way. Regular attenders over the years at Armadale (not to mention Powderhall and even Old Meadowbank!) may well remember the Diamonds leaving us mental and physical wrecks by winning matches they had no right to expect to win.

The Diamonds' team for Friday is unrecognisable from last year's side. Top average man this season is Steve Boxall returning to the Premier League having formerly ridden for Rye House. He hasn't had a particularly good start to the season and has had some up and down performances at Armadale in the past. His partner though, Derek Sneddon, needs no introduction and I'm sure we can all just visualise him making fast starts to pick up a barrowload of points. It's often said that a rider returning to a former track has 'something to prove' but Derek has absolutely nothing to prove as far as we are concerned. We are well aware of the contribution he made to our phenomenal success last year. It's highly unlikely that a 'visiting' rider will receive a more popular reception that Derek will get on Friday.

However if Derek is likely to be a thorn in the Monarchs' flesh, the same can hardly be said about Trent Leverington on past performances at the Dale. Trent was released by Glasgow after last season and would never rate Armadale as one of his favourite circuits despite the number of times he has ridden it. His partner though will create a lot of interest. Kenni Larsen, another in a long line of sensational Danes discovered by Newcastle, has all the hallmarks of following in their footsteps. He hasn't ridden an official match at the Dale however and how he adapts to it will have a huge bearing on the visitors' hopes of success.

Jason King, at number 5, made huge progress last season to end up one of the Diamonds' greatest successes but eight points from five rides is his best score at the Dale. A former Mildenhall rider, he was one of the first names on the Newcastle team list for the new season so great is his popularity at Brough Park. The Newcastle reserves are Craig Branney and Jerran Hart and they could spell danger to our chances. Craig is a determined rider who always gets amongst the points but Jerran Hart is relatively unknown in this neck of the woods. His only appearance at Armadale was last season when he failed to score from five rides. He has made considerable improvement since then though and has scored well on some occasions for the Diamonds.

Well that's the Diamonds' team and the Monarchs, who won well (eventually) against Sheffield last week and forced a draw at Berwick for two league points, should have too much in the tank for their visitors. It's not enough just to win matches this year at home but also to win them by more than six points to make sure that all three points on offer are captured. With Sheffield having stolen a march on us in the group with a fabulous 11 point win at Newcastle (39-50) last Sunday which earned four league points any slip up could prove fatal before what looks a much more difficult match against Workington next Friday.

The teams are : Monarchs ? Ryan Fisher, Aaron Summers, Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Michal Rajkowski and Sean Stoddart.

Newcastle (provisional) ? Steve Boxall, Derek Sneddon, Trent Leverington, Kenni Larsen, Craig Branney and Jerran Hart.

May the better team win.