Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

A warm sunny evening of the kind too rarely seen in these parts allowed the fans to enjoy a hard-fought encounter between these two old rivals.

Newcastle took a 5-1 in heat 1 after Kevin Wolbert had come down on the outside of the first turn, and it wasn?t until heat 8 that Edinburgh got their noses in front.

The 5-1 gained in that heat signaled the return to pre-injury form by Kyle Howarth. His scoring from reserve takes a bit of the pressure off the top five who were being forced into the situation that they could not afford a single mistake.

Over the second half of the match Monarchs gradually forged ahead, not allowing Newcastle any further heat advantages. Nevertheless the Diamonds put up a good show overall with Claes Nedermark very impressive on his Armadale debut.

Stuart Robson and James Grieves were as good as expected but their team was slightly unbalanced by Jason King who was out of touch.

The home side had no real problems even though the

big hitters in the opening pair didn?t score quite as well as usual. There were plenty of points throughout the side with Kalle Katajisto winning three heats and Craig Cook in sparkling form in spite of a strapped up wrist.

Howarth can be well pleased with his return, and new boy Tim Webster made a steady start to his Monarchs? career.

Two of the best heats featured the fast starting Grieves. He was cleverly overhauled by Andrew Tully in heat 5, and more forcefully passed by Wolbert who inadvertantly lifted and almost pushed his opponent into the fence in heat 13.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

Another absolute cracker of a meeting is in prospect at the Scotwaste Arena on Friday (7.30) when the wounded Newcastle Diamonds will be out to belie their lowly league position against our exciting Monarchs side who are still in the hunt for honours.

The Diamonds were early season favourites but have slipped alarmingly down to eleventh in the 14-team table due to a series of crushing blows, mostly afflicting a series of top class number one riders, Rene Bach, Matej Ferjan and Mark Lemon. But they are still a talented and dangerous side.

In contrast, Edinburgh sit in seventh spot with a few matches in hand on some of the teams above them, having had any number of rider absences themselves, but thankfully not due to serious injuries. This week they are at full strength with the added interest of an intriguing new signing at reserve.

Newcastle are still short of a No.1, so in opposition to Ryan Fisher's successor, Kevin Wolbert, they bring in James 'hokey cokey' Grieves. Still Scotland's number one, James can be forgiven for being confused, having recently ridden against Monarchs, for Monarchs as a guest, against Monarchs again and now against Monarchs as a guest!

Monarchs reliable skipper, Matthew Wethers, will not need to be introduced to his opposite number at No.2. It's that other much loved Monarchs captain (as was), Derek Sneddon, who is a potent middle order rider and certainly capable of being a match winner at his best.

Andrew Tully will relish being back on his home shale where he has been in scorching form. He faces Newcastle's captain at No.3, Jason King who missed quite a few weeks of the season due to a serious knee ligament injury which took much longer to heal than expected.

It may have taken half a season, but super Kalle Katajisto is back to something like his best ? and he'll need to be as he faces the vastly experienced Sunderlander, Stuart Robson at No.4. It's 16 years since Stuart rode in Monarchs colours and he has ridden for half a dozen teams in both leagues since then.

Craig Cook doesn't get it any easier at No.5 where he faces the latest flying Dane on Tyneside, 21-year-old Claes Nedermark. Claes was let down by Plymouth but has made the most of his first chance in UK speedway with the Diamonds. A very big scorer at home, most away tracks are still new to him.

Monarchs unveil one half of the National League Pairs winners as their new reserve, Tim Webster who is the latest to travel all the way from the south coast to don the blue and gold. He faces Kyle Newman, an Australian of similar age who has also ridden for some of the same NL clubs.

Kyle Howarth's return from injury to the No.7 position will bring a huge sigh of relief to the home fans and management. His opposite number is St Helens speedway twin Richie Worrall who is in his first season of Premier League action after a moto-cross upbringing.

So expect lots of close racing and perhaps another close result. Monarchs need to keep on winning at home and Newcastle could do with a spark to re-ignite their season. Monarchs should have a bit more firepower and with a more even match up at reserve, they should be expected to shade this one ? with your support!

Likely line-ups:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Kevin Wolbert, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Andrew Tully, Kalle Katajisto, Craig Cook, Tim Webster, Kyle Howarth.

NEWCASTLE SAPPHIRE ENGINEERING DIAMONDS: James Grieves (guest), Derek Sneddon, Jason King (capt), Stuart Robson, Claes Nedermark, Kyle Newman, Richie Worrall.