COMETS COME ON AN UNBEATEN RUN

NEWS Wednesday 18th July 2012, 7:17pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs have a really tough task ahead of them this Friday with the visit of Workington Comets in a Premier League match.

They have already beaten Workington at Armadale this season, on 20th April – but in the intervening 3 months, the Comets have stayed unbeaten! That's a measure of their form, 11 wins and a draw since that Monarchs victory, and Monarchs are sweating over the fitness of their star reserve Micky Dyer for the weekend's matches, which also include a visit to Glasgow on Sunday.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 20th July (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon, Theo Pijper, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Andrew Tully, Micky Dyer, Marcel Helfer.

WORKINGTON THOMAS ARMSTRONG COMETS: Richard Lawson (capt.), Kenny Ingalls, Rene Bach, Tero Aarnio, Adam Roynon, Ashley Morris, Kyle Howarth.

MICKY'S FOOT: Just as he was enjoying his best home meeting of the season, Monarchs' Aussie reserve Micky Dyer got tangled up last week in a crash not of his making, piling into a fallen rider's bike.

Pain persisted over the weekend and he has been told that he has broken bones in his foot – but he still wants to race in the weekend matches.

"It's still sore and swollen" he said on Wednesday, "but I want to ride if I possibly can. I need to be able to get my boot on."

Monarchs will ensure a replacement is standing by, though this can only be a National League rider as Micky is the team's seventh rider by average.

Just the wrong time for rider and club to hit such a problem.

CRAIG IN THE FINAL: Craig Cook's excellent form has seen him rewarded with a place in the British Final for the first time in his short career.

Figures based on 2012 matches only show Craig as currently the top Premier League rider, so it would have been a great pity if he had missed out.

The semi-finals at Sheffield and Rye House were both rained off earlier in the month, and because of the continuing weather problems it was decided not to restage them but to seed the riders according to average.

Andrew Tully has just missed out but could still get a berth if a couple of riders drop out.

Derek Sneddon was the other Monarch who should have ridden in the semi-final.

The British Final is at Wolverhampton on Monday 30th July, to be televised on Sky TV.

MEETING SPONSORS: Friday's visit by Workington will be sponsored by Monarchs regular backers Keyline Broxburn.

COMETS RAMPANT: It has been a great year so far for Workington who present a major challenge for any team home or away.

There have been riders familiar to the Armadale public to the fore in the Comets' success story, with Rusty Harrison in good form, though he recently was a shock departure from the side.

He has been replaced by Tero Aarnio, ex-Berwick and Scunthorpe, with Harrison expected to re-emerge somewhere else before long.

At reserve though, 2011 Monarchs Kyle Howarth and Ashley Morris will at least know the track. Howarth has been one of the UK's success stories this season while Morris has recently been brought in to replace Gary Irving in another surprise move.

The top men for the Comets are Richard Lawson and Rene Bach, with spectacular Adam Roynon also having a good season.

Armadale is perhaps not a favoured style of circuit for Workington who race on a big track in Cumbria, but they are a danger anywhere especially if Monarchs are weakened.

LAST MEETING: Even with Theo Pijper missing, the Scotwaste Monarchs were on strong form to defeat Berwick 56-36 in a Premier League match.

NEXT MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs will meet old friend Ryan Fisher as well as Ben Barker when Plymouth Devils provide the opposition at Armadale on Friday 27th July.

Full Result Details