Will The Bandits Bounce Back

PREVIEW Thursday 13th April 2017, 4:00pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After a fantastic start to their SGB Championship campaign the Parsons Peebles Monarchs welcome a Berwick Bandits side that will be desperate for revenge after our 48-42 victory at Shielfield last Saturday.

The Olympus Marquees Bandits have made an indifferent start to the season having only tasted victory once in seven matches raced so far, though to be fair to the Bandits the fixture list has not been kind to them as they have faced much fancied opposition in pretty much all of those matches.

This is not the kind of form expected by the new management consortium headed by the Courtney’s and Gary Havelock and many are speculating that if fortunes do not turn around soon then changes may be forthcoming. On paper the Bandits have a solid looking septet with potential top end power being matched by a potential trump card at reserve in Dany Gappmaier. This has not been the case so far with Dimitri Berge and Liam Carr being the main cause for consternation from the Bandits faithful.

While the Bandits do not have the best of records at Armadale we cannot take anything for granted and only need to go back as recently as the start of last season for the last time the Bandits were victorious around our home shale. That was a very different looking Bandits line-up to what we will face tomorrow night but an entertaining looking team will head up the A1.

Starting at number 1 it was perhaps the surprise signing of the winter in the entire SGB Championship in the form of Lewis Bridger. Bridger who made his name in the top tier of British Speedway over the last 10 years with Eastbourne and Lakeside among others is one of the most exciting names to grace our league in the last few years and with his small track pedigree his battles against our top boys will be a sight to behold. It may take Lewis a wee while to get accustomed to some of the new tracks but anyone who witnessed his third to first ride against the Riss brothers last Saturday at Shielfield will know exactly what the Sussex racer is capable off.

A reshuffle of the Bandits line-up sees young Frenchman Dimitri Berge move to number 2. Berge now in his fourth year in this country is looking to take the next step in his career and become a top tier rider in the Championship. His performances in the world under 21 finals last year show the potential but we are yet to see this at Armadale so far and it would be fair to say that he is fonder of the bigger faster circuits in the league.

Number 3 is testimonial man and the most experienced of the visitors in Kevin Doolan. The ever popular Aussie will celebrate his big day at Shielfield on the 17th of June and a full house will be expected for the man who has made friends everywhere he has been since first coming to these shores with Belle Vue back in 1999. That is not to say that Kevin is winding down and with numerous double digit returns on his Armadale resume not to mention his recent 7 point return in the Harrisons Scottish Open not many will be surprised should he pull off a heat win or two.

Joining Kevin in the engine room is young Northumbrian Liam Carr. Although still only 21 Liam has been around for a few years now and is looking to make his mark at this level. One of the riders to have benefitted from the fast track reserve system last year Liam is more than capable of pulling out a shock or two at Armadale and if he has his gating boots on we could be in for a tough night.

A former Monarch takes the second heat leader position in the Bandits line-up in the form of Claus Vissing. Claus was a 2013 Monarch after Sam fell foul to visa problems. Another who is perhaps more at home on the bigger faster circuits a move back to Shielfield where he excels could really see the likeable Dane kick on this year and with his Armadale experience (29 matches raced at the Dale just one behind Kevin Doolan) and an average of over 7 per match he is another who cannot be discounted.

I feel like I could almost copy and paste from last week’s preview of Scunthorpe for number 6 in the Bandits line-up. It is an Austrian who was introduced to the team last year, who did enough to warrant being brought back this year and who the team feel will be a trump card in the early stages of the season. So last week I was talking about Fritz Wallner this week it is Dany Gappmaier. Gappmaier impressed all at Shielfield last year with his never say die attitude and ability. Although an early season knock forced him to miss a couple of matches Gappmaier is repaying this faith and has scored everywhere he has gone so far. Tomorrow will be his first visit to Armadale and it will be interesting to see how he fares on the tighter confines.

Unfortunately young Cumbrian Ryan Blacklock will be missing at number 7 afte being diagnosed with multiple broken vertebrae. At time of writing the guest replacement is unknown. This is a bitter blow for Blackock who it looked like he may have been lost to the sport at the end of last season but a winter to reconsider alongside a team spot opening up at Berwick has him in the Championship this year. Ryan guested for the Monarchs in some style last year against Glasgow taking a paid win in a heat 2 5-0 in his next ride he had third place all but secured ahead of Danny Ayres before slipping off so he is another who is capable of causing an upset or two tomorrow night.

So that’s the visitors what about our Blue and Gold heroes the Parsons Peebles Monarchs. Well what a start it was to our league campaign last week with 2 wins from 2 and we will look to complete the hat trick of victories tomorrow night. Our form so far this season has been built on the wonderful scoring of our top boys. Ricky Wells was paid for 29 points from a possible 30 last weekend and Sam wasn’t far behind with paid 25. This coupled with steady scoring from the Riss brothers gave us a great platform to build one. Mitchell and Max are still finding their feet this season but I have no doubt they will come good. That just leaves man of the moment Josh Pickering. Having seen his performance in the Open no one was surprised with Josh’s excellent display at home last Friday but even better was to come on Saturday. After missing his first heat under the 2 minute warning Josh then romped to 7 points from his 3 rides including 2 lightning fast heat wins to really boost the Monarchs onto victory. While we will all be keeping our expectations to a minimum it looks like we have unearthed a good one here and with his crowd pleasing antics he is sure to be a darling of the terraces in no time.

So all is set fair for another exciting night of action at Armadale as we look to build on that early promise shown. I hope to see you all there as the Parsons Peebles Monarchs go racing once again..... Oh and for the kiddie winks out there remember the first 100 of you through the door also gets a free Easter egg from the Easter bunny himself!

Full Result Details