FIGHTING ON THREE FRONTS!

NEWS Tuesday 7th October 2008, 8:47pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

We might be approaching mid-October but the Scotwaste Monarchs are still battling for success on three fronts this week.

Buildbase Glasgow Tigers come to Armadale on Friday in the second leg of the Scottish Cup, before which Monarchs travel to Somerset on Wednesday in the second leg of the Premier Playoff semi-final. Then on Sunday Monarchs are back at Glasgow in their final Premier League match of the season.

TEAMS FOR THE SCOTTISH CUP SECOND LEG AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 10th OCTOBER (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: William Lawson, rider replacement for Thomas H Jonasson, Ryan Fisher, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Derek Sneddon (captain), Aaron Summers.

BUILDBASE GLASGOW TIGERS: Christian Henry (guest), Lee Dicken, Shane Parker, Peter Juul, Trent Leverington (captain), Mitchell Davey, Anders Andersen.

SCOTTISH CUP: Monarchs lead by a point after the first leg of the Scottish Cup at Ashfield last Sunday.

It would have been a hard heart which didn't feel some sympathy for the Tigers who lost a 5-0 in the final race to go down by a point.

Most regrettably Robert Ksiezak suffered a broken collar bone in the last race and is presumably out for the season. We wish him a speedy recovery.

Tigers will use former Glasgow and Edinburgh rider Christian Henry as a guest replacement on Friday. He has a higher average than Robert, and the Tigers line up is not strictly according to normal rules (Peter Juul should normally be at 1 or 3 under league rules), but the Monarchs' promotion are happy that the lineup is within the spirit of recent Scottish Cup events.

Monarchs will use rider replacement for Thomas H Jonasson assuming they come through Wednesday's match unscathed.

PREMIER PLAYOFFS: The tie between Monarchs and Somerset will be concluded on Wednesday, with Monarchs leading by 21 after the first leg. On the same night the King's Lynn v Rye House semi-final begins with the KL leg at Saddlebow Road.

WORLD UNDER-21 FINAL: William Lawson scored four points in the World Under-21 Final at Pardubice, Czech Republic last Saturday, finishing 13th. Top UK rider was Lewis Bridger with 6, and the winner was Russia's Emil Saifutdinov.

MEETING SPONSOR: Monarchs have invited a number of their meeting sponsors from during the season to be their guests in the George Hunter Memorial Lounge on Friday.

BALANCED TIGERS' TEAM: Monarchs will be mindful of the fact that Glasgow gave them a run for their money on their last visit to Armadale on 19th September, and it was only in the latter stages that Monarchs pulled clear.

With Christian Henry coming in at no. 1 and Trent Leverington having scored double figures on his last visit (taking Shane Parker's contribution as read), Glasgow seem to be a well balanced side for this encounter.

It will be the first visit as a Tiger for Peter Juul, who did ride as a junior at Armadale in the Frede Schott Testimonial in 2004. Peter's dad is a good friend of Frede's. The youngster looked handy in the Ashfield leg last week.

LAST MEETING: Monarchs beat Somerset 57-36 in the first leg of the Premier Playoffs. Ryan Fisher and Andrew Tully scored a dozen points each.

NEXT MEETING: There will definitely be Armadale action on Friday 17th October but we won't know what the meeting will be until after Wednesday's Playoff second leg. If Monarchs get through, and assuming the other semi is completed, it would then presumably be the Playoff Final home leg.