TOUGH TEST AGAINST THE BEARS

NEWS Wednesday 5th June 2013, 9:03pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Scotwaste Monarchs face a difficult Premier League match this Friday at Armadale against a Redcar Bears team who won there last season, and who have considerable Armadale expertise in their side.

Monarchs would like to be at full strength for a match like this but unfortunately they are not, with Theo Pijper missing due to a World Longtrack round in Finland the next day, and Mitchell Davey out with a broken wrist. Rider replacement applies for Theo, while James Sarjeant guests for Mitchell.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 7th June (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon (capt.), rider replacement for Theo Pijper, Jozsef Tabaka, Claus Vissing, James Sarjeant (guest), Max Fricke.

REDCAR BEARS: Ulrich Ostergaard, Hugh Skidmore, Matej Kus, Micky Dyer, Aaron Summers (capt.), Carl Wilkinson, Max Dilger.

R/R MUST BE EFFECTIVE: So far this season in home matches, Craig Cook and Theo Pijper have been the big scorers for the Scotwaste Monarchs.

Not that the others have been bad, but Theo’s scores in home matches so far have been 14+1, 12+1, 13+1, 10, 14+1, 13+1 so he has probably been going as well as he ever has at Armadale.

Theo would like to have attempted to ride for Monarchs then make the journey, but his Federation were not happy that he took the risk.

So the others need to do the job – everyone is eligible for a ride.

At reserve James Sarjeant has been going as well as any of the available riders and his team boss at NL Coventry Storm, Lawrence Rogers, said “He’s on fire right now!”

BEARS’ TRACK EXPERTISE: Redcar of course track three former Monarchs in their side – Aaron Summers the team captain, Micky Dyer and Max Dilger.

Max admittedly would not expect to be listed as an Armadale expert as he was moved away due to struggling with his former home track, but he did score 6 points when the Bears won on Friday 13th April last year.

Aaron Summers scored 13 on that occasion and is very much a specialist while Micky Dyer has had a sensational season so far.

That’s the three ex-Monarchs – and we’re not saying that Ostergaard, Skidmore, Kus and Wilkinson aren’t handy as well!

SKY NEXT WEEK: A reminder that the Scotwaste Monarchs appear on Sky TV On Tuesday evening (11th) racing at Somerset in the Premier League.

MATCH SPONSOR: We will be pleased to welcome the guests of Sibbald Training as match sponsors on Friday.

They are experts in the field of providing Construction & Plant Training and have been annual visitors for some time.

GOOD YEAR FOR BEARS: Redcar have not done well in the Premier League in recent seasons, in spite of often seeming to have a solid side. This year they have turned things round and are currently sitting third in the Premier League table.

The next two days are important for the Bears with a tough home match against Somerset on Thursday, then a visit to Armadale against a slightly understrength Monarchs.

We’ve already advertised their talents earlier but it is probably true to say that the better fortunes this season are largely due to the great form shown by Micky Dyer. Both Micky and Monarchs’ Jozsef Tabaka have been piling up the points at reserve but both move into the top five of their teams this week.

LAST MEETING: The last home match was on Friday 24th May, when the Scotwaste Monarchs beat Scunthorpe 56-36, two days before going to Glasgow and winning 61-32!

NEXT MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs take on Newcastle Diamonds in the KO Cup quarter finals, at Armadale on 14th June and on Tyneside two days later. It’s very much a clash of two of the giants in the Premier League this season, in fact these are the only two teams still in all three of the national competitions at this level.