Crucial Fixture At Shielfield

PREVIEW Saturday 11th August 2018, 10:39am

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Staggs Bar Monarchs make the short trip down the A1 to Berwick this Saturday looking to gain some vital away points as the playoff chase heats up.

Of course Friday night saw the washout of the home affair meaning both sides are still on the hunt for points with the playoff deadline now less than a month away.

The Bandits have built their playoff push on their form round the Shielfield circuit with only Workington having left victorious. The Bandits have shown their strength recently with a resounding 58-32 victory over Glasgow in their last home fixture.

The strength of the Bandits at home lies in the upturn in performances they receive from former Monarch Jye Etheridge and Austrian racer Dany Gappmaier. Both are known big track specialists and their powerful performances at home make up for a lack of an obvious number 1. This strength is matched at reserve where Nikolaj Busk-Jakobsen and Theo Pijper provide a punch this being witnessed by the 5-1 they took at Armadale in the called off match on Friday. Experienced campaigners Kevin Doolan, Aaron Summers and David Howe all have had their moments and Summers in particular appears to be in the best form of his season with double digit returns a regular occurrence in recent times.

For the Staggs Bar Monarchs Shielfield is a track where we have a mixed record at with some resounding victories matched by some disappointing defeats. This will be our 3rd visit to the Borders this year both ending in defeat so far but both of these came prior to our recent changes ad we will be hopeful that Richie will give the backing we have lacked at Shielfield so far. Ricky and Erik have been excellent in our two visits with combined scores of 25 and 24 and if we get this type of score again with the backup provided by Richie, Victor and Josh in the main body then it would give us a solid base to build from. Joel will be key man at reserve as he looks to nullify the strong Bandits pairing and anything we get form Max may well be seen as a bonus on a track he struggles on and against a compact Berwick team.

It has to be said that with time running out this match is probably more of a must win for our hosts as another home defeat coupled with their lack of away points as opposed to their playoff rivals would probably spell the end of their championship hopes. For the Monarchs well other matches lie ahead to try and gain away points but if anything could be gained it could go a long way to securing that vital top 4 spot.

Can the boys do it? Why not get yourself to Berwick tonight to cheer them on.

See you there!

Full Result Details