Tight Match in prospect v Champions

PREVIEW Friday 11th June 2021, 12:00pm

by Jim Milton

  Edinburgh Monarchs

With one foot teetering perilously over the Knockout Cup abyss, the Monarchs headed to Tyneside on Sunday determined to make amends for a lacklustre first leg display two days earlier.

Despite treating the Diamonds to a first heat 5-1 at Armadale, Edinburgh failed to improve upon that four-point margin by the meeting's end, and suddenly their stay in the tournament hung by a thread.

Had we simply become the latest in a long line of detractors to treat Newcastle too lightly? Or was it just a bad night at the office? A bad night that could have gotten a whole lot worse but for the sterling efforts of our Maximum Men, Richie Worrall (full) and Sam Masters (paid).

Our skipper's contractual absence at Brough Park was a further blow although having former Monarch and twin brother to Richie, Stevie Worrall, available to step in as a guest must have helped send the team south with a decent degree of optimism. And it proved to be well founded as the Diamonds' bid to get their teeth into a fightback never got off the ground.

Indeed, it was Heat 6 before they gained their first race advantage and although Roynan and Wright's bagged a 5-1 two heats later to set up the potential for a rousing finale, Edinburgh refused to relinquish any more ground over the remaining seven heats and, by the end, cruised through to the next round with a comfortable 18-point aggregate win.

On Friday it's back to league business with the visit to Armadale of the Watling JCB Leicester Lions. Of course, 2019 saw the East Midlands club win major silverware for the first time, namely a Championship Title and Shield double.

Covid's untimely intervention must have been particularly frustrating then for an on-fire outfit desperate to defend that title. And despite only three members of the 2019 squad, Josh Bates, Ty Proctor and Ryan Douglas, remaining at Beaumont Park, the promotion team of Marc Bates, Dave Darcy, and team boss Stewart Dickson, have recruited impressively, to such an extent, in fact, that their charges are already being touted in some quarters as strong candidates to go the distance once again.

Of the 'old guard' though, Barnsley-born Bates has previously ridden for Leicester on three separate occasions, 2014, 2017 and 2019, and the Lions' hierarchy were quick to make it four after last season's proposed move to Somerset floundered due to Covid. And with his 6.19 average placing him as far down the rankings among their opening septet as fifth, the club's credentials for a prosperous season are further reinforced. Josh will double up in the Premiership with Sheffield Tigers.

34-year-old Ty Proctor will join Bates in the team's middle order and the Australian, who will also ride in the Premiership with King's Lynn, seems the type of points-scoring foil that must be a heat leader's dream.

And one of those Lions' heat leaders will be 27-year-old Ryan Douglas whose five year stint with the Scunthorpe Scorpions has given him bags of experience at this level. Another to divide team loyalties with the country's top tier, the ever-popular and highly-rated Aussie will also extend his Premiership with Wolverhampton for the season ahead. Ryan's reputation for being stronger on away tracks can be backed up by statistics, so he will be keen to improve his form at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena at the earliest opportunity.

It might be that Leicester's fortunes this season will largely fall on the quality of the team's newcomers and in Nick Morris and Kyle Howarth, they have picked up experienced campaigners whose annual usage of silver polish must be substantial for all the trophies the years have bestowed upon them.

At the age of 26, Morris already has six league titles under his belt, and is as tenacious a competitor as they come. As he has done repeatedly in the past, the Australian will relish the nuances of Armadale's tricky circuit. New skipper, Howarth, has already sampled the Monarch's track this season and, although his guest spot for Newcastle seven days ago was perhaps one to forget for the Mancunian, it would be wise to heed the old adage that lightning never strikes in the same place twice.

In common with their team-mates in the main body of the team, Nick and Kyle are also contracted to ride in the Premiership, with Wolverhampton and Sheffield respectively.

One area where the Lions may lack the maturity of previous seasons is at reserve. However, in twins Dan and Joe Thompson, the club has handed chances of a lifetime to youngsters of boundless potential whose knowledge of their home track can only be enhanced by their continued inclusion in the Lion Cubs' set-up. It will be Joe who satisfies the Rising Star requirement.

So, Friday's meeting should be a tightly-contested affair with the Monarchs, even at full strength, having to be at their best to succeed. Despite Leicester's outstanding 2019 title feat, both of their clashes with the Monarchs proved close with the home side coming out on top on both occasions, the Lions by five points at Beaumont Park and Edinburgh by a single point at Armadale.

On Saturday, the Monarchs make the long journey south to Eastbourne where their Championship clash with the H.G. Aerospace Eagles at Arlington starts at 7.30 pm.

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