Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds

PREVIEW Friday 14th June 2013, 12:00pm

by Gordon Fraser

  Edinburgh Monarchs

This Friday sees the first leg of a very challenging weekend of KO Cup action with the formidable Newcastle Diamonds visiting Armadale on Friday and the mighty Monarchs making the return trip to the Newcastle Stadium on Sunday.

Both sides will think they are in with a real chance in either leg since nothing seems to be predictable about the Premier League this season. Newcastle recently won at Ipswich then drew with the same opponents at home, while Edinburgh have lost at home and achieved one of their best ever away wins all in the space of a week.

New superlatives had to be invented for Craig Cook’s magnificent Heat 15 match-winning ride at Somerset and he will hope to carry on his stunning form against the Diamonds popular captain and talismanic No.1, Stuart Robson from Sunderland, the former Coventry and Lakeside star who has topped and tailed a 20-year career in the Diamonds' colours.

Both riders at No.2, have ridden for both clubs. Former Diamonds favourite, Derek Sneddon will be hoping to get through at least one speedway match with his bike undamaged while former Monarchs favourite, Andrew Tully is just back in action after injuring his back in practice before he had turned a wheel in anger for the Diamonds.

Monarchs fans will be hoping Theo Pijper isn’t too badly affected by the injury he picked up in his long track meeting in faraway Finland last week. His opponent at No.3 is another likeable former Monarch, Christian Henry, the Aussie who seems to have at last settled into a consistent run of high scores after several seasons blighted by injuries.

The home fans will also be wondering what the next instalment of the Jozsef Tabaka story has in store now that the sensational Hungarian has moved to No.4. His opposite number is Ludvig Lindgren, the younger of the Lindgren brothers from Sweden. In a six-year career so far he has ridden for Wolves, Birmingham, Berwick and now Newcastle.

The spotlight has suddenly fallen on Monarchs' No.5, Claus Vissing whose scores have taken an unexpected dip. He will have to be sharper this week as he faces the young and hungry Merseysider, Richie Worrall whose sensational scores have been a huge factor in Newcastle's success in only his second full Premier League season.

In the continuing absence of Mitchell Davey, Monarchs have a guest at No.6, the young Mildenhall Fen Tigers star, Josh Bates, the nephew of former speedway racing uncles. There's a double-take on the other side of the pits where Diamonds track Steve Worrall, twin brother of Richie, also a former moto-cross rider.

Last but not least, there's an intriguing match-up at No 7 where the fast-improving 17-year-old Max Fricke lines up opposite yet another former moto-cross rider, 23-year-old Lewis Kerr from King's Lynn. Both have been scoring well recently, so this match-up could be crucial to the outcome of this match and this tie.

The difficult matches just keep coming one after the other in what is turning out to be a fantastic Premier League season. With Monarchs having shown their vulnerability last Friday, Newcastle will travel north with high hopes of emulating their Redcar neighbours and taking a lead into the second leg.

Monarchs are back to near full strength, but there are concerns about their crucial No.3, Theo Pijper who is riding with broken ribs and they again have a Conference League guest at No.6. Combine this with the patchy form of Claus Vissing and the doubts creep in. Yet again, you can lift your team's chances, so be sure to be in your favourite spot at 7.30 sharp.

Likely line-ups:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon (capt.), Theo Pijper, Jozsef Tabaka, Claus Vissing, Josh Bates (guest), Max Fricke.

NEWCASTLE SAPPHIRE ENGINEERING DIAMONDS: Stuart Robson (capt), Andrew Tully, Christian Henry, Ludvig Lindgren, Richie Worrall, Steve Worrall, Lewis Kerr.

Full Result Details