LOCAL DERBY AGAINST BANDITS

NEWS Wednesday 14th June 2006, 8:49am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs complete their Premier Trophy fixtures against Berwick at Armadale on Friday.

They can't qualify for the semi-finals as the top two positions have gone to Workington and Sheffield, but Monarchs could snatch third from Glasgow if they beat the Bandits by more than 31 points. However Monarchs have committed themselves to giving some rides to no. 8 Andrew Tully if things go well in the early stages of the match.

LAWSON PLANS TRY-OUT

William Lawson hopes to be fit enough by Friday to have a run post-match.

Certainly last Friday he was confident that this was a reasonable prospect, and his medical advisers have left it up to him to judge the situation.

This would be with a view to making a full return a week later if all goes well.

TULLY MAY GET A CHANCE

Whilst not taking anything for granted as to how the match may go, Monarchs have named Andrew Tully as no. 8 on Friday and hope to be in a position to give him a ride or two during the meeting.

The 19 year old who was born in the Isle of Man but who lives in Winchburgh has been showing excellent form for Scunthorpe in the Conference League.

MOLLER DOES WELL IN TESTS

Henrik Moller has been riding for Denmark Under-21 in two weekend Test matches against their Polish counterparts.

The highly rated Danes were beaten quite heavily but Moller's scores of 8 and 5 at Tarnow and Poznan respectively made him second top Dane behind Nicolai Klindt.

NEWPORT DATE SET

The second leg of the KO Cup tie between Monarchs and Newport will be on Tuesday 27th June with a 7pm start. Monarchs lead by 16 after the first leg.

An unusual race day will allow Monarchs to track both Theo Pijper and Henrik Moller who have weekend commitments, and Newport have been very co-operative in arranging this meeting.

SPONSOR ON FRIDAY

There will be first-time match sponsors for the visit of Berwick on Friday: Ritchie Brothers of Scotland are backing the meeting and will spend the evening in Hospitality.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER TROPHY MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 16th JUNE (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Henrik Moller, Theo Pijper (capt.), Matthew Wethers, rider replacement for William Lawson, Rusty Harrison, Sean Stoddart, Derek Sneddon. No. 8 Andrew Tully.

BERWICK ANDERSON'S QUALITY BUTCHERS BANDITS: Stanislaw Burza, David Meldrum, Lee Smethills, Michal Makovsky, Andreas Bergstrom, Danny Warwick, Craig Branney.

UNCHANGED BANDITS ? AT THE MOMENT

Berwick promoter Peter Waite has vowed to make team changes, but for the time being he is listing his usual side for Friday's match.

Both Polish rider Stanislaw Burza and Swede Andreas Bergstrom will be making their Armadale debuts, and past records suggest they could do well. Burza especially has performed with distinction on various tracks since joining the Bandits a few weeks ago.

Craig Branney has been scoring very well in recent weeks in the reserve berth.

LAST WEEK'S MEETING: Monarchs were held to a draw by league favourites King's Lynn at Armadale last Friday. Monarchs led from the first heat and were still 2 ahead going into heat 15, but a 2-4 in that race left the scores level. Theo Pijper was top home scorer with 12, including an important second place in the last heat.

NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: At the time of writing we don't know who will provide the opposition next Friday (23rd June) ! This was scheduled to be the next round of the KO Cup but the first round tie with Newport hasn't been completed yet.