Richie returns to face the league leaders

PREVIEW Wednesday 25th August 2021, 2:00pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Poole's proposed visit to Armadale earlier in the month was postponed, but this Friday we will have the big showdown with the Pirates in excellent form hoping to extend their lead at the top of the table.

They have a team with very few weaknesses – highly experienced heat leaders in Rory Schlein, Danny King and Stevie Worrall plus talented backup men. These now include the young Dane Benjamin Basso who is rated very highly and made a good start on his debut last weekend. It will be Poole's first ever visit to the West Lothian circuit.

The What the Fork Monarchs will be pleased to welcome back Richie Worrall who missed last Friday's match. The original assessment of two broken fingers was downgraded to one cracked finger and he reports that he has no problems gripping things, advancing his return to the track. Monarchs had put Nick Morris on standby as a guest had this been required.

They do have to replace reserve Luke Crang who damaged his knee during last Friday's match (in which he gained 5 points). He has been ruled out and Drew Kemp will stand in, making his Armadale debut.

It is the last scheduled visit for Rory Schlein who arrived in the UK twenty years ago and plans a Farewell meeting in October. He spent his first four formative seasons with the Monarchs. (It is possible of course that the clubs could meet again in either the Knockout Cup or the Championship Playoffs). He would also be first on the list should there be space in the Armadale fixture list for a Scottish Open Championship this season – Rory has won it four times and has a burning ambition to make it five!

Amongst the results that have taken them to the top, Poole managed to win at Leicester, and scored no less than 61 at Newcastle.

Team manager Alex Harkess has expressed some disappointment with recent Monarchs' displays at home and is looking for better. "Amongst the Pirates, Rory and Steve Worrall are riders who we always associate with our club since they did so much when they were here. I welcome them and their team mates, but exactly as with Scott Nicholls last week, it's a warm welcome but I hope you don't have too good a night! I'd like to believe that for once we will do what we should be doing at home."

As with all Armadale matches this season Friday's match will be Live Streamed, however the stream will be available only to those outwith a 25 mile radius of the track. Anyone within that limit but unable to attend should email us here

THIS WEEK'S MEETING:

Friday 27th August: Edinburgh What the Fork Monarchs v Poole (Championship), Armadale, 7:30pm

WHAT THE FORK MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt.), William Lawson, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Drew Kemp (guest), Nathan Greaves.

PIRATES: Rory Schlein, Benjamin Basso, Stevie Worrall, Stefan Neilsen, Danny King (capt.), Ben Cook, Danyon Hume.

Tickets

Tickets for this Friday's match against Poole are on sale now! Book online via our ticketing website. Tickets are also available to buy at the stadium 6:30pm onwards from the Box Office. Cash and card payments can be taken there.

For the time being, we strongly recommend booking online to streamline entry to the stadium and to allow the Box Office to be available to those who cannot book online.

Book Tickets

Live Stream

You can watch Friday's against Poole live on EMTV for £11.99. Click below to pre-order your access:

Pre-order Live Stream

Full Result Details