JAMES GRIEVES GUESTS AGAINST BANDITS

NEWS Tuesday 22nd April 2008, 9:44am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs have a very important weekend coming up, starting on Friday with the home leg of the Knockout Cup tie against Berwick at Armadale.

With William Lawson and Andrew Tully competing in the British Under-21 Championship at Lakeside, Monarchs are entitled to guests and have Redcar's James Grieves booked to stand in for Lawson. Monarchs go to Berwick for the second leg on Saturday and then on to Glasgow to attempt to clinch their place in the Premier Trophy semi-finals on Sunday.

TEAMS FOR THE KNOCKOUT CUP MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 25th April (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Derek Sneddon (captain), Ryan Fisher, James Grieves (guest), Thomas Jonasson, Matthew Wethers, guest for Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers.

BERWICK ANDERSONS BUTCHERS BANDITS: Rider replacement for Adrian Rymel, Norbert Magosi, Henning Bager, Guglielmi Franchetti, Michal Makovsky, Tero Aarnio, Adam McKinna.

KNOCKOUT CUP: The tie between the Monarchs and the Bandits will be resolved over two days, and the winners will go on to meet the winners of the Redcar v Mildenhall match.

BIG NIGHT FOR YOUNGSTERS: William Lawson has been seeded to the British Under-21 Final at Lakeside on Friday night and on current form will be amongst the favourites for the event. He was runner up to Edward Kennett in last year's championship and is a former British Under-18 champion.

Andrew Tully just missed direct qualification to the meeting and goes as first reserve. If he gets a chance to compete then hopes are high for Andrew also.

The fixture clash is unfortunate but always a hazard in speedway. The youngsters will be back in Monarchs' lineup for the rest of the weekend and the club wishes them every success.

PREMIER TROPHY: Sunday's visit to Glasgow is the final match in the northern qualifying group. Monarchs lead the table and need to avoid a 42-point defeat to reach the semi-finals.

The riders will not be thinking of that and will be intent on giving the Tigers a good match as usual at Ashfield.

HELPING THE GALA DAY: Leaflets have been distributed in Armadale this week offering reduced price admission to Friday's match.

A proportion of proceeds from these admissions will be passed by the club to the Armadale Children's Gala committee.

SPONSOR ON FRIDAY: Friday's KO Cup match is sponsored by James Banks Joinery and Scotmat Carpets.

REVIVED BANDITS: Berwick have enjoyed improved fortunes since losing home and away to Edinburgh in the Premier Trophy.

They are currently top of the Premier League and recorded an amazing 61-29 away win at Mildenhall recently!

They have added former Elite League star Henning Bager to their lineup and have seen both Hungarian Norbert Magosi and Finn Tero Aarnio score very impressively, giving them a well-balanced team.

Rymel misses the match due to a European Championship qualifying round but his rides will be covered by rider replacement.

Italian Guglielmi Franchetti returns to action having been injured on his last Armadale visit.

DIAMOND JUBILEE WEEKEND: Earlier this week Monarchs announced plans for a two-day celebration of their 60th birthday ? the club's first match was actually 26/3/48 at Bristol.

A 4-team match at Armadale on Friday 16th May will be followed by a party at Tynecastle Stadium on 17th May.

Already over 50 ex-riders have agreed to come and contact with others is being sought.

Tickets for the Saturday event will be available to the public from Friday priced ?8, and anyone wishing to book tickets or former riders wanting to get in touch should phone 07977 151612 or email mike.hunter@edinburghspeedway.com

NEXT WEEK'S MEETING: Back to Premier League action on Friday 2nd May with last year's table-toppers King's Lynn visiting Armadale, a fascinating match considering Monarchs' recent brilliant draw at Lynn.