Eastbourne Bound

PREVIEW Saturday 12th June 2021, 4:13pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The What the Fork Monarchs are on the road again on Saturday as they make the long trip to Sussex to take on the Eastbourne Eagles in Championship action.

The Eagles are tipped as one of the favourites to make the playoffs and in recent seasons any success they have had has been predicated on turning their Arlington base into a fortress, so a tough task lies ahead for the Monarchs.

The Eagles are also known for having a very British feel to them and that continues in 2021 as their entire septet are all British born albeit 2 changes to the line-up for this one firstly sees Drew Kemp miss out due to track and trace Alfie Bowtell stepping in.

Elsewhere Lewis Kerr also misses out after smashing his collarbone last week, rider replacement will be in operation all bar Edward Kennett due a ride in Kerr's absence.

The big battles off the day will no doubt be at the top end as the Eagles have a potent pairing in Kennett and Richard Lawson so the heat 13 and 15 battles will be one to behold.

The middle order of the Eagles team sees a mix of youth and experience as Kyle Newman and Tom Brennan fill those spots, Brennan looking well healed after a horrific injury early in 2019. Newman off course now with a good few years under his belt and looks a steal in that second string role having been a number 1 at this level in the past.

Jason Edwards completes the line-up and is just the kind of rider the rising star system was put in place for a young improving rider who no doubt will benefit from the increased chances off a team spot that comes with the program.

The What the Fork Monarchs will head south buoyed by a strong home win over Leicester on Friday night with Josh Pickering and William Lawson in particular a lot happier with their performances. Willie on an improved clutch put in a great performance and Josh taking his first heat 15 win at Armadale so both will look for a repeat.

Sam and Richie have plenty of Eastbourne experience also so the hope will be they can outscore their counterparts while Kye has shown that he is not overawed by visiting anywhere new and with the Eastbourne track like Armadale being one of the tighter more technical tracks it should hold no fear.

Any points gained elsewhere by Nathan and Joe will go a long way towards a strong result for the Monarchs and as always the minimum aim is to in search off a league point and see if anything better can be achieved.

Live updates will be available on the Monarchs website so tune in to see how the boys are doing!

Full Result Details