Does It Get Much Bigger Than This

PREVIEW Friday 25th May 2018, 2:00pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

I would say no as we welcome the Glasgow Tigers east in the first leg of our Knockout Cup encounter!

Glasgow will of course be buoyed by their victory at Armadale earlier in the season but a few things have changed in the Monarchs set up since then and our boys will most definitely be 'up for the cup'.

One noticeable change since the Tigers last came a calling is at reserve we welcome debutant Coty Garcia to the fold this evening, Garcia replacing Matt Williamson who has stepped down from the team. Garcia has been around a few of the northern clubs with spells at Glasgow, Berwick and Redcar but perhaps from a Monarchs point of view his most noticeable performance came as guest in both legs of a triumphant League Cup final team and I'm sure all of a Monarchs persuasion will be hoping that is a harbinger of things to come this weekend.

Beyond that the Monarchs welcome back number 1 Ricky Wells after he missed out on our trip to Lakeside last week due to Grand Prix qualifying commitments. Unfortunately Ricky could not progress through what on paper looked the toughest of the semi finals and we are delighted to have him back tonight.

The rest of the line-up is as per normal with top form needed throughout. Joel and Max looking to build consistency and match their better performances while forgetting some of the poorer ones and Mark Riss looking to continue his strong home form which has seen him average over 7 at the Dale so far this year.

The battles at heat leader will of course be fierce with Ricky and Erik needing to be at their best also but for me the key man in Friday night's encounter may well be reserve Josh Pickering. If Josh can subdue the Glasgow pair and take a few scalps from the top 5 then this would go along way to securing a victory and as much of a lead as possible before we head to Ashfield on Sunday.

For the Tigers it is back to full strength after a few matches missing various riders. Paul Starke returns after an accumulation of knocks led to a much needed rest being required and this could prove key for the Tigers as with his position at 5th in the averages he is almost irreplaceable. Also returning after missing last weeks home win against Redcar is Chris Harris, Harris was another who was unsuccessful in his attempts to make the GP Challenge being beaten by former Monarch Kevin Wolbert in a run off for a spot.

It has been an up and down few weeks for the Tigers with the shocking mauling at home to Workington being followed up by a little bit of a disappointing away performance at Redcar. This was rectified with a strong home win over the same opposition last Sunday and away manager Cami Brown will hope this is more a sign of what is to come from his men who have perhaps been a little underserved by Harris and fellow heatleader Richie Worrall so far this year being as looking at their averages so far both have dropped with Claus Vissing and Lewi Kerr taking on the mantle as the top points scorers. We of course know how dangerous both of these guys are at the Dale though and it would be foolish to rule them out in any heat tonight.

So a top clash is in store, the weather is playing ball, both teams are at full strength and unlike in the League Cup no consolation points come into play so it's all or nothing over the two legs starting at Armadale as both look to progress to face Berwick in the next round.

Can the Monarchs build a lead to defend on Sunday, there is only one place to be to see and that is Armadale.

See you there!

Full Result Details