TWO MAJOR MEETINGS IN TWO DAYS!

NEWS Wednesday 21st October 2009, 7:36pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs are having an extraordinary finish to the season and will be racing two of the biggest meetings in their history at Armadale on successive days ? the Knockout Cup Final against King's Lynn on Friday (7.30pm) and the Promotion / Relegation Playoff against Belle Vue on Saturday (7pm).

Monarchs won the Premier Playoffs against King's Lynn this week, which qualifies them for the match against Belle Vue.

THE KNOCKOUT CUP: Monarchs' two wins in the Armadale era in the KO Cup have been in 1997 and 1999 so ten years since their last success in the competition, they would love to lift the trophy again.

Last season they won three of the four honours at Premier League level and the only one they missed out on was the KO Cup.

King's Lynn have recent successes with a tremendous hat-trick of cup wins in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The away leg for Monarchs is at the Norfolk Arena on Wednesday night.

THE PROMOTION / RELEGATION MATCH: Monarchs raced last year in the fixture against Wolverhampton and gave a good account of themselves, especially in the away leg which was a very entertaining encounter.

This was the first staging of the event so Monarchs are rather hogging the glory in this from a Premier perspective!

Belle Vue finished at the foot of the Elite League table ? but even with the World Champion out injured they will be tracking one member of Poland's World Cup winning squad (Kasprzak), the World Under-21 no. 3 (Hougaard), the 2007 Premier League Riders' Champion (Wright) and the 2008 Premier League top average rider (Ostergaard ? at no. 7!)

There's no denying odds are heavily stacked in favour of the Elite League side but once again Monarchs will give them the hardest battle they can.

MATCH SPONSOR: Friday's meeting is sponsored by Monarchs' team sponsors Scotwaste who will spend the evening in the George Hunter Memorial Lounge.

We will also welcome parties from Gordon McDougall Promotions and David Sibbald Training to the Hospitality area.

TEAMS FOR THE KNOCKOUT CUP FINAL FIRST LEG AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 23rd October (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Ryan Fisher, Michal Rajkowski, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers (captain), Kevin Wolbert, Aaron Summers, Kalle Katajisto.

KING'S LYNN STARS: Darcy Ward, rider replacement for Kozza Smith, Emiliano Sanchez, Chris Schramm, guest for Tomas Topinka, Linus Eklof, Jan Graversen.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH AGAIN: It's game on again between the Premier League giants though the Stars will be hoping that this time they will be able to track their World Under-21 Champion Darcy Ward. He missed both legs of the Premier Playoffs with a reported back injury which led to much internet speculation whether he would ride for his Polish club in their Playoffs.

They have still to name a guest replacement for Tomas Topinka, their injured captain, and this week they will use rider replacement for Kozza Smith.

There is an injury doubt on Monarchs' side too as Michal Rajkowski sustained an injured ankle when he crashed while leading heat 8 at King's Lynn, yards from the finishing line.

?I will rest for two days,? he says ?and hope I can make it for Friday. ?

The popular Pole is an ever-present in all Monarchs' matches this season and has been one of the year's major successes.

TEAMS FOR THE PROMOTION / RELEGATION MATCH FIRST LEG AT ARMADALE ON SATURDAY 24th October (start time 7.00, doors open 6.00) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Ryan Fisher, Michal Rajkowski, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers (captain), Kevin Wolbert, Aaron Summers, Kalle Katajisto.

BELLE VUE ACES: Rider replacement for Jason Crump, James Wright, Patrick Hougaard, Josh Auty, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Richard Sweetman, Ulrich Ostergaard.

ELITE PLACE FOR WINNERS: Monarchs are regularly asked ? if you win this tie will you be in the Elite League next year?

It's generally a politican's answer ? let's win the match first ? but of course the rules are clear: the winners ride in the 2010 Elite League!

In terms of average, even without the injured Crump, the Elite League team are miles stronger than any Premier side with a converted figure of over 80!

In theory Monarchs' chances should not be great, but the riders will have their own ideas. Kasprzak is the Aces' top rider, and Ostergaard at reserve is a very dangerous ?lurker' who can have seven rides if required.

LAST MEETING: Monarchs scored a 56-36 home win in last Friday's Playoff Final first leg, and rather unluckily lost the second leg 41-47 on Tuesday to retain the Trophy on a 97-83 aggregate.

NEXT MEETING: Monarchs will have the away legs of the Promotion / Relegation match at Belle Vue (Monday) and the Knockout Cup Final (King's Lynn, Wednesday) then return home for the final meeting of another incredible Armadale season, the Homecoming Scottish Open at Armadale on Friday 30th October.