CUP FINAL ON FRIDAY

NEWS Wednesday 20th October 2010, 11:15am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs bring the 2010 Armadale season to a tremendous conclusion as they race Newcastle Diamonds in the Knockout Cup Final.

Newcastle come to Armadale on Friday night (7:30pm) with Monarchs heading south on 31st October for the second leg. Monarchs and Diamonds are without doubt the two outstanding teams of the season, finishing first and second in the Premier League ? and of course Diamonds have won the Premier Trophy and Premier Playoffs as well.

TEAMS FOR THE KNOCKOUT CUP FINAL 1st LEG AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 22nd OCTOBER (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Ryan Fisher, rider replacement for Andrew Tully, Kevin Wolbert, Kalle Katajisto, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Ashley Morris, William Lawson.

NEWCASTLE SAPPHIRE ENGINEERING DIAMONDS: Kenni Larsen, rider replacement for Jason King, Derek Sneddon (capt.), Rene Bach, Stuart Robson, Dakota North, Adam McKinna.

THE TEAMS: Monarchs have to make do without broken arm victim Andrew Tully, who is a mere fifth in the team's averages in spite of his great race-winning ability on all tracks.

Monarchs will use rider replacement with Kalle Katajisto taking one of the rides, the other three being shared amongst the reserves.

To position the rider replacement at no. 2 the very successful Fisher ? Wethers pairing has to be broken up, regrettably.

Newcastle will be without Jason King and Mark Lemon and so are entitled to a guest ? and they have chosen Stuart Robson of Elite Leaguer Lakeside, which seems a strong choice! He replaces Lemon with King's rides shared between Robson, Sneddon and the reserves.

Key Diamonds' reserve Dakota North did pull out of their last fixture following a crash but he is due to ride on Wednesday night at King's Lynn in a League fixture.

MONARCHS' FUTURE: Overshadowing the great achievements of the 2010 season recently has been the club's revelation that they have had a bad year financially.

Plans for the immediate future will be announced on Friday and there will be a public meeting on Friday 29th October in the Almondvale Suite of Livingston Football Club at which management and fans can exchange views.

MEETING SPONSOR: The Knockout Cup Final at Armadale on Friday will be sponsored by New Site (Ground Engineering) whose managing director is former Scottish Speedway international Charlie McKinna.

BATTLE OF THE GIANTS: It would have been nice to see both teams at full strength but Friday's match still qualifies comfortably for the title ?Battle of the Giants'.

Newcastle have had a great season and in many other years would have done enough to finish as Champions. Only the exceptional Monarchs have stopped them doing this.

Diamonds' no. 1 Kenni Larsen topped his personal season by winning the Premier League Riders' Championship last month, and he has been neck-and-neck with Ryan Fisher at the top of the PL averages.

His fellow Dane Rene Bach was also in the Final at the PLRC though he suffered in a first bend incident with his team mate, eventually coming fourth.

These two have led the way all year for their team, with Lemon also outstanding. Stuart Robson seems an excellent guest replacement for Lemon and has always been an Armadale favourite.

Derek Sneddon's competitiveness is well known to Monarchs of course, and another key man will be first season Aussie reserve Dakota North. He has had a fine year and in the six matches which have brought Newcastle to the Final, he has scored 54 points.

PATH TO THE FINAL:

First round: Monarchs 51+55=106 Rye House 39+35=74. Diamonds 59+41=100 Scunthorpe 31+49=80.

Second round: Monarchs 58+56=114 King's Lynn 31+34=65. Diamonds 53+47=100 Redcar 37+43=80.

Semi-final: Monarchs 64+33=97 Workington 26+38=64. Diamonds 56+40=96 Birmingham 33+50=83.