IMPORTANT THREE MATCH WEEKEND

NEWS Wednesday 26th April 2006, 10:00am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs race three Premier Trophy matches in three days this weekend starting with the visit to Armadale of Newcastle Diamonds on Friday.

Diamonds were probably favourites to top the section but they haven't had it all their own way, losing to Monarchs on their own track. They will certainly be seeking revenge and their team, as always, has plenty of Armadale knowledge to help them. The two qualification slots in the Trophy are still wide open and both Edinburgh and Newcastle are certainly in contention.

PREMIER TROPHY

Results in the Premier Trophy have been so unpredictable that it is still too early to have a clear picture of who will go through - except to say that Workington look like section winners. They have two away wins and a draw and are unbeaten at home.

Sheffield have one away win plus a clean home record, Edinburgh have two away wins and one home loss.

Glasgow and Newcastle both have an away win and a home loss, while Stoke, Berwick and Redcar have lost points at home without gaining any away.

So it would seem that Sheffield, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Glasgow will contest the second qualifying spot, and of course aggregate bonus points will play their part.

WEEKEND MATCHES

Monarchs go to Berwick on Saturday night in the Premier Trophy.

It is the restaging of a match rained off in March. Shielfield hasn't been one of Monarchs' best tracks in recent times though at the moment Berwick still look quite vulnerable.

On Sunday Monarchs go to Glasgow where the Tigers have looked impressive since losing to Workington.

Start times are 7pm at Berwick and 4pm at Glasgow.

BIKE PROBLEMS

The team suffered a great deal of bike trouble at Newport on Sunday when they lost heavily in a Premier League match.

All the problems were relatively easily fixed and their should be no knock-on effect on Friday.

SPONSOR ON FRIDAY

Scotrad, the radiator business run by Monarchs' Chairman Alex Harkess, will sponsor the match on Friday against Newcastle.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER TROPHY MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 28th APRIL (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Henrik Moller, Theo Pijper (capt.), Matthew Wethers, William Lawson, Rusty Harrison, Sean Stoddart, Derek Sneddon.

NEWCASTLE DIAMONDS: George Stancl, Christian Henry, Manuel Hauzinger, James Grieves (capt.), Adam McKinna, Jamie Robertson.

ALWAYS A THREAT: No-one needs to be reminded of the record that Newcastle have at Armadale, and of course the records of both James Grieves and George Stancl at the West Lothian track are exceptional.

Recently Josef Franc has done well too, and with ex-Monarch Christian Henry and ex-Dale Devil Adam McKinna there too, it is clearly going to be a tough fixture.

Newcastle have not been as successful so far as they would have liked, losing at home to Edinburgh and losing the bonus points to Workington and Glasgow. It's still a wide-open section but a win at Armadale is certain to be one of Newcastle's main targets in the remaining matches.

LAST WEEK'S MEETING: On an evening of excellent weather Monarchs enjoyed a good match against Redcar and ran out 52-40 winners. Top scorer was Theo Pijper with 13.

NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: Glasgow Tigers come to Armadale in the Premier Trophy on Friday May 5th in a match which is sure to have a bearing on the qualification prospects of both teams.

Full Result Details