IMPORTANT SPELL STARTS WITH THE WITCHES

NEWS Wednesday 13th May 2015, 1:47pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Border Roofing Monarchs have scored maximum points in their three Premier League matches so far, but that will be put to the test this weekend starting with the visit of Ipswich Witches on Friday to Armadale (start time 7:30).

They are a very good side led by Great Britain international Danny King, and welcoming back American Gino Manzares who has been injured recently. Perhaps even more interesting has been the recent form of Italian World Cup star Nico Covatti.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 15th May (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

EDINBURGH BORDER ROOFING MONARCHS: Sam Masters, Erik Riss, Kevin Wolbert, Justin Sedgmen, Craig Cook (capt.), Max Clegg, Rob Branford.

IPSWICH WITCHES: Danny King, Gino Manzares, Nico Covatti, rider replacement for Cameron Heeps, Rohan Tungate, Stefan Nielsen, Ritchie Hawkins (capt.).

ERIK RISS: Erik has been out since the end of April with a broken collar bone but should be practising today for the first World Longtrack Championship Grand Prix which is at Herxheim on Thursday.

He said “Feeling better, can move it a lot more now, really looking forward to racing on Friday.”

COOK LOOKS TO FRIDAY: Captain Craig Cook looked forward to the Ipswich visit on Friday, saying: “It will be a good meeting against Ipswich, I’ve actually seen them already this year when I guested for Sheffield against them the other week.

“They are a good team, and it’s always good racing against Danny King. He’s a good guy and a fair racer, and someone I like racing against.”

WORLD CUP SQUADS: Nowadays the World Cup team managers like to name a 10-man squad before later whittling down to 5.

So in the ten for Australia are both Sam Masters and Justin Sedgmen, and for Great Britain Craig Cook is in their 10, as is Ipswich’s Danny King.

First event for the Aussies is at Gniezno on 6th June, and for GB at King’s Lynn on 8th June.

NEWCASTLE ON SUNDAY: The Border Roofing Monarchs head to Newcastle on Sunday for a PL match.

Captain Craig Cook said “I always look forward to going there, it’s a track I really like. I get on with it really well. I’ll try to pass on my confidence to the other guys, and the setups I use, because with the team we’ve got I think we should be able to get something from the match. I don’t think it’s out of our reach.”

PREMIER LEAGUE: Current standings in the Premier League at a very early stage find Peterborough leading with 14 points from 4 matches, followed by Sheffield with 13 (7) and Edinburgh 10 (3).

There’s a massively long way to go though and Glasgow have only raced their first League match on Tuesday night.

DANGEROUS WITCHES: Ipswich are the team Monarchs defeated in the Cup Final last season, and their best rider at Armadale in the second leg was Cameron Heeps. Unfortunately the young Aussie will be missing on Friday having recently broken his wrist but the cover for him via rider replacement looks quite strong with everyone except King getting a ride.

Covatti’s recent form suggests he will be a key man, he has been absolutely flying, and the same was true of Manzares on his last visit to the track.

If they can give substantial backing to King then it could be a hotly-contested fixture.

As always this year, the battles between the reserves could be important as well as unpredictable.

LAST MEETING: The Border Roofing Monarchs beat Newcastle 52-40 at Armadale last Friday. Sam Masters top scored for Monarchs with 14 points, just beaten in the final race by Steve Worrall.

NEXT MEETING: One of the highlights of the Knockout Cup early stages will surely be the pairing of the Border Roofing Monarchs with Sheffield. Monarchs travel to Sheffield on Thursday with the return at Armadale on Friday 22nd May.