Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers

We chose the Premier Trophy visit of Glasgow to turn in probably our worst-ever performance at Armadale, and were deservedly well beaten.

It was clear from a fairly early stage that there was no way back from a disastrous heat 2 0-5, with only two of our riders making a significant contribution, and it took two successful TRs to make the score look semi-respectable.

Ryan Fisher and Matthew Wethers scored almost two-thirds of our points and were beyond reproach.

After all the worries of getting Kevin Wolbert and Kalle Katajisto here, neither made it worth their while. Kalle wrecked his engine at the start in heat 2 and seems not to have found the time to prepare himself once he did get here. He toiled to a score of 5+2 when he should have had far more.

Kevin, struggling for his best form anyway, got his passing move against Grajczonek all wrong and ran straight into him, bringing both down. It could have been a really bad one but both rode on, Grajczonek well and Wolbert not well, possibly due to back pain.

Andrew Tully looked Ok chasing Grieves in heat 4 but after that was completely out of sorts, losing three 5-1's, taking his only points from Cal McDade (twice) and Ryan's fall in heat 13.

Jozsef Tabaka failed to show any of the recent signs of improvement, and Cal McDade looked much less promising than the week before.

Glasgow rode well and their top four realised early that we were there for the taking. McGowan and Grieves have never had any Armadale hang-ups, Dicken revels in it when there is grip on the outside, and Grajczonek had by far his best meeting on our track and ensured that there were not many points to be had against his pair, though he did concede the two 2-7s we gained (our only advantages).

Racing highlights: Fisher brilliantly caught and passed Grieves in heat 6, a race stopped when Tabaka unforgiveably tumbled and gifted Jamie Courtney yet another point. Heat 13 was thrilling for two laps as Fisher bust a gut to get between McGowan and Grieves before running out of room and falling, and Matthew Wethers had two excellent efforts late on to pass Grajczonek in heat 14 and heat 15.

But it was a night which might make Glasgow look differently on their visits to Armadale, as many as they have left anyway. It will not be easy for Monarchs to rebuild confidence after such a rancid show but they must, starting with the visit to Glasgow on Sunday.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers

This Friday sees the return of the Tigers to the Scotwaste Arena, this time on the hunt for Premier Trophy points. Glasgow came back strongly in the latter stages of the Spring Trophy match last month so Monarchs cannot afford any complacency.

Glasgow fans have experienced something of a roller coaster ride since that opening day morale boosting win against Coventry, albeit with a little help from Joe Screen. Since then it's been three wins and four losses, most crucially with two of those defeats coming at Ashfield.

Just like Edinburgh, the Tigers lost their first home Premier Trophy fixture to high-flying Newcastle and lost again this past weekend against Workington Comets who were very much strengthened on Saturday and Sunday after Friday's loss at Armadale.

In between times they pulled off a surprise win in the return match at Newcastle but couldn't repeat the feat at Berwick the following week. They also had Robert Ksiezak hospitalised after he was hurled over the second bend fence at Shielfield in a high speed accident.

As expected, Travis McGowan is slotting into the Shane Parker role and, since his last Armadale visit when he only scored 4 points, Josh Grajczonek has been regularly scoring double figures both home and away, so these are definitely two be be watched.

In between these two, Glasgow shuffled the 2, 3 and 4 slots after losing an 8-1 to Monarchs in heat 14 of the Ashfield match when the Spring Trophy was stolen from under their noses. Instead of Ksiezak, Grieves and Dicken, it became Dicken, Ksiezak, Grieves.

Fans favourite 'Big Lee' Dicken has been scoring above his average but former Monarch, Robert Ksiezak, has been struggling for consistency so far and is not yet matching his starting average. So he'll be hoping to be fit and raring to go again for Friday.

The key to Tigers fortunes seems to lie with the one and only James Grieves, still Scotland's No.1 rider. When he scores heavily, more often than not the Tigers win. And that's been a problem so far as his scores haven't been as consistent as he'd like.

But no doubt James will raise his game for this one though. Don't forget he recorded his highest score of the season so far, 17 points on his April visit when he only lost one race to our own 'Flyin Ryan' Fisher. However it's at reserve where Tigers may struggle most.

Jamie Courtney has picked up after a poor Armadale visit, although most of this has so far been due to getting out of the gate quickly at Ashfield. Mitchell Davey remains an enigma, seemingly unable to break out of the three point average level.

So it's difficult to know quite what to expect this Friday, which is just the way it should be. Monarchs are beginning to look very strong in front of their own fans, but there are enough track experts, hard triers and talented performers in this Glasgow side to keep them on their toes.

Likely line-ups:

Monarchs: Ryan Fisher, Joszef Tabaka, Kevin Wolbert, Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully, Max Dilger, Kalle Katajisto.

Tigers: Travis McGowan, Lee Dicken, Robert Ksiezak, James Grieves, Josh Grajczonek,

Jamie Courtney, Mitchell Davey.