Monarchs Rampant At Berwick

The What the Fork Monarchs put in what must be their most dominant away performance in recent memory romping to a 58-32 victory at Shielfield Park on Saturday night against a shell shocked Berwick Bandits.

The result was never in doubt from the off as the visitors took a stranglehold on the match racing to a 14 point advantage after the first 4 races. Any thoughts of complacency were quickly expelled and in the end the Monarchs ended up with 13 heat wins, 9 heat advantages and every member of the team tasting victory at least once across the encounter.

The basis of the result was fast starting and aggressive first corners as time and again the Monarchs exited in front and on a night where passing was at a premium this was key.

In fact there were only 2 real passes off note in the match both of these from the Armadale men the first in heat 8 as Nathan Greaves never gave up finally rounding Bandits reserve Kyle Bickley on the last corner to take third Greaves saying after the meeting 'I don't think anyone expected that including ourselves, to win by that much around their own track. I'm so happy ,so glad we won and it's on to the next one now.

'This year I think I've went up a level and tonight was fantastic, it was a great performance and one we can build on and I think we can still get better'

The Monarchs were in full control and didn't let up with further 5-1 heat maximums in heats 11, 13 and 15 the latter 2 of these highlighting how superior they were with first Sam Masters who romped to a paid maximum taking the Bandits riders wide allowing partner Richie Worrall to join him at the front.

Then heat 15 saw the same result albeit in different fashion as Masters trapped the best from gate 4 and swept to the front Worrall battling his way into 2nd to cap off a truly remarkable night for the Monarchs the team coming out to deserved great applause from the traveling fans on the back straight.

Bandits Reaction Expected

The What the Fork Monarchs will need to be on guard as the Bandits look for revenge as we take the short trip down the A1 to Shielfield on Saturday night in Championship action.

The Bandits made life tough at Armadale on Friday before the home men ran out 10-point winners and this is a result the Bandits will be looking to reverse.

The Monarchs recent record at Shielfield isn't the best and a big improvement on these efforts will be needed if our boys are to bring anything home.

However, it has not been an unblemished start to the season for Gary Flint's men as uncharacteristically they have already tasted defeat on two occasions to Redcar and Birmingham so they will all the keener to make sure this doesn't become a hat trick.

The Monarchs hopes may well lie as it invariably always does in the top 3 all in fine form but all will need their gating gloves on the notoriously difficult to pass Shielfield shale.

Nathan and Willie have plenty of experience on the border circuit with Greaves in particular having already had a spin there in the early season Devils match with some success.

The reserve battle could also be key with both sides looking strong at the bottom end. Kye Thomson enjoyed a stellar first meeting at number 7 on Friday with a 12-point return while Drew Kemp deputises for Joe Lawlor in a move that on paper does look to strengthen the Monarchs.

Berwick will lean heavily on Leon Flint who has been the star man for them so far this year and romped to a 16-point haul in his last home meeting.

Elsewhere Jye Etheridge will look to continue the best season of his career so far while Kasper Anderson will want to back up his excellent debut for the Bandits at Armadale on Friday.

Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen misses out again with Matty Wethers stepping in, Wethers in inspired form for Newcastle at Shielfield just last Saturday with a 12-point haul so a repeat of that could mean trouble for the Monarchs

Dany Gappmaier is a different beast around his home shake as well, so a tough encounter is in store.

The Monarchs have surprised many on their travels so far this year though and everyone in the Blue and Gold camp will be looking for another big performance.

Tickets are still available from the Bandits website should you fancy the trip to cheer on the boys, if you can't make it then follow live updates on the Monarchs website as we try to strengthen our claim for one of those playoff positions.