BANDITS RETURN

NEWS Wednesday 19th July 2006, 0:01am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs welcome the Berwick Bandits to Armadale on Friday in a Premier League match.

The Bandits have stepped in to fill a blank date in Monarchs' fixture list and will be hoping to improve on their score in their recent Premier Trophy match. Monarchs will be looking to maintain their own improvement shown last weekend with a convincing performance.

NO SIGNING NEWS

Monarchs' search for a replacement for Rusty Harrison continues, but so far with nothing to be announced.

There are still names on the target list, but one or two possibilities have had to be ruled out.

SCOTTISH OPEN

Two weeks on Friday Armadale will stage their annual Scottish Open championship, sponsored for the second time by Keyline Broxburn.

Invitations have been issued and it is intended to start the announcement of the field on Friday at the track.

Heat sponsorships (?300) and rider sponsorships (?100) are still available.

THE FOOTBALL MATCH

All Monarchs' riders will be turning out on Saturday in a football match against a supporters' team.

Kick off is at 2pm for the match at Nielsen Park, a matter of yards to the west of the Speedway stadium.

Admission is free but there will be a bucket collection for the event which is part of the Chatzone forum sponsorship of the riders' fuel, oil and tyres for 2006.

BANDIT CHANGES?

Monarchs and Bandits are not just in competition on the track, they could also be competing for new signings.

Berwick boss Peter Waite has actually gone as far as advertising for new riders who want to come and ride for the team.

However at the moment the Bandits are listing their regular team and they won't have any new men in their team for Friday.

SPONSOR ON FRIDAY

Friday's meeting will be sponsored by Buildbase, who have sponsored Derek Sneddon this season, and are also team sponsors of Elite League club Coventry.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 21st JULY (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

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

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

BANDITS LOOK FOR IMPROVEMENT: Berwick's probably don't expect a win on Friday, though if all their riders were to produce the best performance they are capable of, it could be closer than expected.

On his Premier Trophy visit Polish star Stan Burza learnt enough about the track to win heat 15 and prevent Monarchs taking third place in the final northern table.

Lee Smethills has a best Armadale score of 15, and Swede Andreas Bergstrom liked the track and showed some nice touches.

But the best support for Burza could well come from no. 7 Craig Branney who is a strong reserve, but was unfortunately injured in heat 2 last time Bandits came to Armadale.

Jamie Birkinshaw is listed to ride but may not be fit, in which case the rider replacement facility will apply.

LAST WEEK'S MEETING: Monarchs beat Redcar 53-39 at Armadale last Friday. In their first home match without Rusty Harrison the team scored solidly with Theo Pijper's 12 points the top score. Over the weekend there were two defeats, by 37-55 at Rye House and 41-52 at Mildenhall.

NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: Somerset Rebels, who have been excellent value on their travels this season, are the visitors to Armadale on Friday 28th July in a Premier League match.

Full Result Details