Edinburgh Monarchs v Sheffield Tigers

We wanted a big lead to take down to Sheffield at the end of the month, and we successfully grabbed a 28-point advantage on a track spoilt by terrible weather.

The second Friday in May, and it was a cold day, and the centre green was awash with gigantic puddles. Our track staff has no equal in saving meetings from the weather, but no-one could have left the circuit in good racing condition. There was a fair bit of passing but much of it was through Sheffield riders toiling.

Had Thomas' machinery worked we would have won by a few more, but he spent the whole night pulling out of heats with what was apparently a cut-out problem.

Once again Josh Auty went well and showed how easily a quality rider can master Armadale. Only in his last couple of rides did his gating handicap him.

We were off to a strong start with Fisher winning heat 1 easily, and Aaron Summers working his way through from the back to take second place.

Auty shot from the gate to take an easy heat 2 win and this time it was Sean Stoddart who had to work for a point, passing Chris Mills who was overshooting the corners.

Thomas was away well in heat 3, with Andrew shooting off the second bend to go ahead. After a lap though, the dreaded spluttering started and Thomas was out of the heat.

We doubled our lead to 8 with an easy 5-1 in heat 4.

Thomas switched to a Wethers bike for the first running of heat 5 in which Parsons led for a couple of laps. He then spun round, with Andrew Tully laying down quickly to avoid hitting him. Unfortunately Ashworth laid down in third but his bike ran on and clattered Tully pretty hard.

Parsons was excluded, Ashworth failed to beat the 2 minutes and Jonasson switched back to his own bike, being passed by Auty but dribbling home for the point.

Heat 6 certainly looked like a home 5-1, and it was. Fisher and Summers over Hawkins with Mills falling. Ryan passed Aaron during the heat and didn't have a smooth ride, recording a time of over a minute!

Rajkowski led heat 7 but he was going too slow, and Wethers was struggling to hold back Paul Cooper. Eventually Wethers moved ahead and Cooper grabbed second. Hall fell on the last turn trying to pass Rajkowski.

Heat 8 was a good race with no passing. Summers held off a strong challenge from Auty, and some way back Parsons did the same with Stoddart.

Auty did win heat 9 though, keeping a few metres ahead of Andrew Tully aftera good start. Jonasson again pulled out which made it a heat advantage to Sheffield.

Fisher took his third win in heat 10 but Hall had a much better heat, keeping in front of Summers who dropped his first point.

Parsons was showing signs of improved form and he led all the way in heat 11. Rajkowski was in second and threatened to pass; had he let Matthew Wethers through he almost certainly would have. However that didn't happen and the Tigers' no. 2 took the race win. It was the third and last one for the visitors.

With Auty and Hall in heat 12 and Jonasson struggling, we brought in Rajkowski and he responded by leading all the way. Thomas Jonasson held third but ended a miserable night by being passed by Auty and pulling out.

Sheffield tried to bring Mills in for Ashworth in heat 13 but this was disallowed as Sheffield's no. 1 had only had two heats. So the Tigers went with just one rider and it was a very easy 5-1 for Fisher and Wethers.

Even Auty could do nothing about Rajkowski and Tully in heay 14, in fact the Tigers' star reserve only grabbed third off the last corner.

Tully and Fisher raced away with heat 15 to build our lead up to 28 which should surely be sufficient.

HERMISTON MONARCH OF THE MATCH: Ryan Fisher.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Sheffield Tigers

The Scotwaste Monarchs, current leaders of the Premier Trophy North section, turn their attentions to another piece of silverware when they go head to head with the Sheffield Tigers in a Knockout Cup clash this Friday.

The Tigers have already visited Armadale this season on what was an outstanding meeting. If this one?s anywhere near as good, the crowd will be suitably enthralled!

Monarchs should have been heading down to South Yorkshire on Thursday for the first leg but, due to essential stadium maintenance, this has been put back until the last week of the month. That means the ?new first leg? at the Scotwaste Arena takes on a whole new meaning as we?ll be looking to build a lead as opposed to reducing a deficit (providing we had lost at Owlerton of course!).

Over the years, both sides have enjoyed KO Cup success. Tigers emerged victorious in 1974 (the year I was born. I feel really old now!) and, more recently, 2002. The latter proved to be an enormously fruitful campaign, with both the Premier League title and Young Shield added for good measure. Meanwhile, the Monarchs? first triumph came at the end of the highly enjoyable 1981 season (in November no less!). Thereafter, we had to wait ?til we moved to West Lothian in 1997 before claiming glory again. This was quickly followed up two years later but it?s fair to say our record during the 21st century has been nothing short of woeful... it?s so bad, not even the all conquering 2008 side could win the thing!

Anyone attending Friday?s meeting should be aware we have a new set of rules for this season?s competition. I?ve read about one or two of them, including something called ?tactical gates? but, such is life, apparently the rule book has been rewritten so I think I?ll just go with the flow and see what they throw at me! It?ll probably be best if I fill in the programme though, because my dad?s lazy efforts surely won?t suffice on a potentially confusing night!

The visitors haven?t had the best start to the season. There appears to be growing unrest on the terraces and the mood certainly wasn?t helped by a second home defeat last week, this time at the hands of our furry Glasgow friends.

It?s not as if they?re not putting in the effort. One look at the fantastic Sky meeting at Scunthorpe on Tuesday would show that. In fact, the performance from top man Ricky Ashworth was probably as entertaining as I?ve seen for some time. Quite how he only scored 4 is beyond me!

Star man on the last visit to sunny Armadale was young Joshua Auty. We can expect him to take another 7 rides this time and he will more than likely end up top scorer for his side. He was certainly spectacular to watch and, along with Paul Clews, is currently leading the vote for my own personal ?best away rider? award.

The remainder of the Tigers septet have yet to hit the Armadale heights, although Chris Mills is more than capable of winning a race at any time, as proven in heat 14 last time when he popped out the gate and flew! Probably the biggest surprise that night was the fact Joel Parsons had a nightmare. The Aussie has enjoyed a reasonable level of success up here but, for some reason, nothing would go right. The same cannot be said for team mate Paul Cooper whose steady improvement meant the safety fence remained intact for once!

In the home camp, it?s a swift return to action for Thomas H Jonasson. The gutsy Swede will be well deserving of a huge round of applause and appreciation from the terracing punters and I?m sure we won?t let him down.

Also returning to the country will be Ryan Fisher, fresh from his World Cup exploits in lovely Latvia. Although the Americans failed to qualify, it?s all experience for these guys and, happily, he?s returned in one piece.

We didn?t have our troubles to seek during the home win versus Redcar 7 days ago either. Andrew Tully was less than 100% fit, while skipper Matthew Wethers endured another painful crash and a few machinery problems. Hopefully everything will be sorted, as any points dropped could prove vital in the final reckoning.

One major positive from the victory over the Bears was the scoring of reserve Sean Stoddart. If he can continue that kind of form, I?m sure everyone would be happy!

Whatever happens, let?s hope for an enjoyable evening and, as always, may the best team win...

Line-ups:

Monarchs: Ryan Fisher, Aaron Summers, Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Michal Rajkowski, Sean Stoddart.

Tigers: Ricky Ashworth, Joel Parsons, Richard Hall, Paul Cooper, Ritchie Hawkins, Joshua Auty, Chris Mills.