Tough Task at Ashfield

NEWS Sunday 30th June 2019, 10:00am

by PR Team

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Staggs Bar Monarchs head west today for the second instalment of this weekend's Scottish derby thriller.

A typically hard fought encounter with Glasgow at Armadale Stadium on Friday evening saw the Tigers sneak away with the SGB Championship points.

Staggs Bar Monarchs travel to the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium, tapes up 3pm, seeking to avenge Friday's loss but with the odds stacked against them with injuries continuing to plague the team.

Ricky Wells is forced to sit out having sustained tissue damage to his shoulder and sprained his wrist in an horrific looking spill on Friday. Ricky is optimistic that this should not see him out of action for too long. Meanwhile, Josh Pickering also misses today as he continues his recovery from his shoulder injury.

A packed fixture list sees 8 out of the 11 SGB Championship teams in action today meaning that cover for Ricky and Josh has not been easy to find. John Campbell offered this insight,

"Once Ricky made me aware of his injuries on Saturday morning I set out in search of a guest to cover for him. With only three teams to choose guests from, this was not an easy task. This process can take a significant amount of time as naturally it can take time for riders to respond.

"Having contacted all of the riders with a higher average to find that none are available it was late on before I was able to secure a guest. The Club thank Nathan Greaves who will step in for Josh Pickering. There was only one other option available after Nathan so we are extremely grateful that he has taken on the booking during what is a very busy period for him. Rider replacement will be in operation for Ricky Wells.

"Facing such problems, I did ask Josh if there was any possibility that he could ride today. Josh carefully considered this before sensibly deciding that it is just too early to risk returning to action."

Injuries have reared their ugly head in many teams in recent weeks which sees Leicester facing similar problems in securing the services of guests for their match at Eastbourne today.

There are still some reasons to be cheerful however. Cameron Heeps continues his blistering form and will lead the line against the Tigers. On form Swedish duo, Victor Palovaara and Joel Andersson will battle hard for the Monarchs today while exciting newcomer Connor Coles and experienced William Lawson will also give their all.

The teams will line up as follows:

Glasgow: Craig Cook, James Sarjeant, Rasmus Jensen, Paul Starke, Claus Vissing, Connor Bailey, Kyle Bickley.

Edinburgh: Ricky Wells R/R, Victor Palovaara, Nathan Greaves, Joel Andersson, Cameron Heeps, William Lawson, Connor Coles.

Full Result Details