Witch Hunt

PREVIEW Thursday 9th June 2016, 5:44pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

It’s back to Premier League action this week as we welcome Chris Louis and his Ipswich Tru7.com Witches to Armadale.

The Witches have made an indifferent start to the season and fresh from a team switch will be looking to kick-start their league campaign this Friday. The major shock so far has been the inconsistent record the Witches have round their normally tough Foxhall circuit which has led to them crashing out of both cup competitions already. This of course will just make them doubly determined to improve their league performances and show that they are the playoff contenders many had predicted before the start of the season.

One of the major problems with the Witches in the early weeks of the season was the form of number 1 Danny King. Danny who was retained on a 9.54 average at the start of the season was expected to spearhead the team and be a match for anyone home and away. This did not transpire early in the season and it could be that the then impending birth of Danny’s second child was playing on his mind. Whatever it was has now been rectified that’s for sure as Danny has now raced to double figures in each of the Witches last four fixtures including of course the controversial last heat winner at Foxhall against the Monarchs in the return fixture last month.

Number 2 for the Suffolk men is ‘Jumping’ James Sergeant. This is the 3rd preview I’ve had to write for James so far this season and he is yet to touch the tapes in either of the 2 previous fixtures so maybe it’s time I dropped the ‘Jumping’ tagline. Anyway James was a welcome addition to Ryan’s testimonial last week and the young Englishman is starting to consolidate his place in the top five of the team and kick on from his promising debut season at PL level last year.

Number 3 for Chris Louis’s men is all action Argentinean Nico Covatti. Covatti is really starting to make a name for himself at European level having been named reserve for the upcoming European Championship meeting and it must be his eye catching displays for the Witches that have caught the organiser’s attention as he has turned himself into a dependable heat leader.

Joining Covatti in the Witches middle order is experienced Dane Morten Risager. Risager us now unbelievably in his 13th season in British Speedway and while he may not have hit the heights many thought he was capable off when Coventry first brought him to these shores as a 16 year old he has turned into a solid rider in the Premier League capable of match winning performances on his day if he could add consistency to his undoubted talent he would take some beating.

Number 5 and the big signing this week for the Witches is none other than our old friend Ben Barker. There’s not much to be said about Barker a man that the Monarchs faithful definitely love to hate. He would have to admit himself that he underperformed for Glasgow in the early parts of this season and the Tigers were not going to stand for that. He showed his undoubted talent though in signing off with a paid 14 score on his last appearance for the Tigers last Sunday and while he would not rate Armadale as one of his favourite circuits he will still be a danger man as he looks to impress his new bosses this week.

Senior reserve in a very cosmopolitan Witches line-up is young Italian Paco Castagna. Paco has flattered to deceive so far this season and the reserve berths have been somewhat of a weakness for the Suffolk men so far. Paco will look to turn this around starting on Friday and it could be that there may be some pressure on his shoulders with Chris Louis and his fellow promoters having showed they are not afraid to wield the axe if they feel there is a better alternative.

Joining Paco at reserve is another recent signing Oliver Greenwood. Greenwood made his debut against the Monarchs in the Witches home fixture back in May and while he has not been pulling up any trees the Witches management will be happy with his contribution having scored 3 or more in 3 of his 4 matches so far.

The Border Roofing Monarchs will go into this fixture looking to avenge that defeat at Foxhall back on the 19th of May when a combination of missing Erik and some dubious refereeing meant we only came away with the consolation point for being defeated by less than 7 rather than the 3 or 4 points for an away win we felt we were able of collecting. However we will not line up the same way as we did that night as we introduce a new rider to the fold. Joining us at number 4 is young German Mark Riss. Riss is of course a name that is known to the Monarchs faithful as the older brother (by 1 year) of our very own Erik Riss. It was originally signalled that Mark would be the one that would join us before the start of last season as he was the better of the two brothers on the shale. All I can say is that if that is the case we are in for a treat. There will be no pressure placed on Mark on his debut though as it has to be said we have not been getting much production out of our number 4 berth so far. It was not for any lack of commitment or effort from previous incumbent Jye Etheridge but unfortunately things did not work out and we wish Jye all the best going forward.

Friday starts a busy spell for the Blue and Gold as we play catch up with the rest of the league having raced the least amount of matches so far. A run of five matches in the nine days starting Friday may well determine whether we will be serious contenders or also-rans this season however paramount to this is maintaining our home record in the league against the Witches at Armadale this Friday in what will be sure to be a tight and tense affair.

Full Result Details