It's Not Over

NEWS Wednesday 24th August 2016, 9:34pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Border Roofing Monarchs have given themselves a huge task to progress in the Knockout Cup when the quarter final tie against Glasgow is concluded at Armadale on Friday.

They face a 24-point deficit from the first leg at Ashfield but they will be giving it everything against what is of course a very strong Tigers’ side, currently second in the Premier League table. Both sides should be at full strength for the match.

John Campbell said “. We’ve got a mountain to climb if we are to make the semi final but it’s not over until it’s over and that’s the way we are looking at it.”

Teams for the Premier League Match at Armadale on Friday 26th August (start time 7:30pm, gates open 6:30pm), are:

BORDER ROOFING MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt.), Mark Riss, Erik Riss, Ryan Fisher, Kevin Wolbert, Max Clegg, Dan Bewley.

ALLIED VEHICLES TIGERS: Aaron Summers (capt.), Rene Bach, Richie Worrall, Fernando Garcia, Richard Lawson, Nike Lunna, Danny Ayres.

RYAN RIDES!

Ryan Fisher hates missing matches so he will not have been happy that he had to miss the match at Sheffield last week with a broken bone in his foot. He would also have missed the visit of Somerset last Friday but of course it was rained off.

He had already indicated that he would return this week if he possibly could – and today he said “”I went to the doctor today and he said that I actually have two broken bones in my foot. But he said ‘As soon as you feel ready to race, go ahead. You can push it as much as you can handle.’ So yes I will be ready for Friday!” Typical Fish.

HISTORICAL POINTERS

Monarchs need to win by more than 24 points on Friday, and it’s a margin Monarchs have achieved a few times against the Tigers in recent years. The Armadale era began in 1997 but in spite of many visits by Glasgow it took them till 2nd October 2009 to win by more than 24 with a score of 60-30.

If we discount an infamous match in 2010 when Tigers’ effort was questioned, the biggest score over the period was 65-29 in 2014, Monarchs’ greatest season. In all Monarchs’ winning margin at Armadale has exceeded 24 on six occasions.

MATCH SPONSOR

Friday’s cup tie will be sponsored by Cadzow Bridge Building Supplies Limited. They are new to speedway this season and have been introduced to the sport by Border Roofing.

GEORGE MASON

Monarchs’ long time stalwart supporter George Mason passed away this week. For the many who will wish to attend George’s Funeral will be at Warriston Crematorium on Thursday 1st September at 3pm.

TIGERS SHUFFLED Stewart Dickson again switches his pairings as he prepares to defend his team’s lead. Rene Bach moves to number two with captain Summers to give the Tigers a strong start, and it would be hard to imagine that they think they will do anything other than qualify – after all Glasgow’s heaviest defeat this season is 16 points, and most of their results have been much better than that.

Summers, Lawson and Richie Worrall are strong heat leaders, and Bach adds experience in the second string berths. Tigers have been grateful to both Nike Lunna and Coty Garcia for excellent displays

Neither has a great record at Armadale but they are a pair of triers, as is Danny Ayres. Both teams are sure to want to hit the other hard in the opening races.

SEASON TICKETS:

Season ticket holders will be pleased to know that their tickets will be valid for Friday’s match, even though they normally would not be in cup rounds after the first.

John Campbell explained “Our season ticket holders lost a match when the opening night’s attraction v Belle Vue was rained off, so we are pleased to make that up to them this week.”

LAST MEETING: As we have said so many times (this is the eighth time actually), last Friday’s match at Armadale was washed out by adverse weather.

NEXT MEETING: On Friday 2nd September the match at Armadale will be a double header of Premier League matches against Redcar and Plymouth.

Full Result Details