Visiting Scorpions near full strength

NEWS Thursday 2nd August 2018, 9:00am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

This week's Armadale visitors are Scunthorpe whose powerful team has been disrupted by injury for much of the season, but they are virtually at full strength to face the Staggs Bar Monarchs on Friday.

Heat leaders Stevie Worrall and Jason Garrity are in the side along with Josh Auty, Jake Allen and Gino Manzares leaving only long-term injury victim Stefan Nielsen on the sidelines, and he is pretty well covered by rider replacement.

So the in-form Monarchs, fresh from their 69-point haul last Friday, will surely be much more severely tested this week.

Team manager Alex Harkess said "This Friday against Scunthorpe I would like to win convincingly again, maybe not 69 again but a convincing win with everybody chipping in. It was incredible to think that all seven of our riders had a paid win by heat 4 last week! I'm not sure that will happen against such a strong lineup, but I'd like to think that our three heat leaders will continue to win heats and the others will all contribute. I hope the weather is something similar because I thought the track last week was exceptionally good all the way through, they must have put a lot of work into it."

Friday is also the annual Ed the Monarch birthday bash with Free Cake for arrivals while it lasts, and a prize race round the track for the kids during the evening. Mascot Ed (a lion for those who don't know) is perhaps the most popular of all the Monarchs, and writes a weekly programme column.

THIS WEEK'S MEETING:

Friday 3rd August: Staggs Bar Monarchs v Scunthorpe (Championship), 7:30pm

STAGGS BAR MONARCHS: Ricky Wells, Victor Palovaara, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Erik Riss (captain), Max Clegg, Joel Andersson.

HENDERSON'S SCORPIONS: Steve Worrall (captain), rider replacement for Stefan

Nielsen, Jason Garrity, Jake Allen, Josh Auty, Danny Phillips, Gino Manzares

Full Result Details