Edinburgh Monarchs v Glasgow Tigers

PREVIEW Friday 5th September 2008, 12:00pm

by Dennis Wallace

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Glasgow are back at Armadale for the first time in five months, this time on Premier League business. A lot has happened since the teams last met at Armadale last April.

While the Monarchs welcome back William Lawson to the side, the Tigers will be missing Josh Grajczonek who apparently will miss the rest of the season with a broken thumb and ligament damage. Injuries have blighted Glasgow all season long particularly those to Shane Parker and Josh Grajczonek. They were able to use guests for both these riders while missing from the side but Josh Grajczonek moved into the main body of the team from 1st September so the Rider Replacement facility is all that is available to them to cover his absence (short of redeclaring the side).

Derby matches between the two sides are usually hotly contested and it's probably true to say that a Tigers' victory in Friday's match would be very sweet indeed for the Ashfield crew particularly since it would dent the Monarchs' title charge and go a long way to wiping out the memory of the four heavy defeats they have suffered at the hands of the blue and gold since the start of the season.

The chances of that happening do not look good. Apart from Shane Parker who consistently looks a class act no matter where he rides, the Tigers really don't have any riders whom you could call Armadale specialists in their ranks. Parker apart, the main support for them will be expected to come from Robert Ksiezak and Trent Leverington. While both can score double figures at home their away form has generally been well down on their Ashfield performances. Both would not rate the Edinburgh track as one of their favourites which leaves Lee Dicken needing to rise to the occasion to keep the Tigers in the hunt. At reserve Glasgow track Anders Andersen and Mitchell Davey neither of whom have looked particularly comfortable in their few races round the Dale. Overall it would not be surprising to find Shane Parker scoring around half the team total. However with plenty of support for them from the hordes of visiting fans and being a local derby you just never know.

The Monarchs are on a high at the moment but will need to remain at their best with such a vital end to the season still to come. This match must not be taken lightly; any slip-up at home will almost certainly spell curtains to the title challenge. With William back in the side it will be interesting to see how quickly he can find top form. If he can hit the ground running (figuratively) the way Shane Parker did on his return it would add to the momentum the team currently has going.

Andrew moves back into the side this month while Matthew moves to reserve to partner Aaron. Otherwise the team is on the usual lines. After this match they are faced with three matches in four days next weekend which will almost certainly decide the outcome of the title - Redcar away (Thurs) then Newcastle home and away (Fri and Sun). Another positive weekend such as the one we experienced last week will have us all as high as a kite.

Neither side have announced their line-ups yet for Friday's match and, with the September averages kicking in for both sides, there may be positional changes but it is likely that the teams may look as follows:

Edinburgh: William Lawson, Derek Sneddon, Thomas H Jonasson, Andrew Tully, Ryan Fisher, Matthew Wethers, Aaron Summers.

Glasgow: Robert Ksiezak, Lee Dicken, Shane Parker, Josh Grajczonek (R/R), Trent Leverington, Anders Andersen, Mitchell Davey.

Never mind this 'may the better team win' stuff. Here's hoping for an incident and injury-free match with lots of good racing and a home win!