Monarchs aim for the Quarters

NEWS Wednesday 20th April 2022, 9:50pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The What the Fork Monarchs gave themselves an excellent chance of qualifying for the Knockout Cup quarter finals by winning 49-41 in the first leg at Newcastle last Sunday. The second leg is at Armadale this Friday evening.

Nothing is certain in Speedway of course but Monarchs would be disappointed if they can't finish the job, even allowing for the many years of close and unpredictable results against Newcastle. Monarchs made a great start last weekend with a 10-point home win over Berwick as well as that victory on Tyneside, but some of their riders still need to build up their knowledge of their home track.

The visiting Diamonds do have a great deal of Armadale experience with former Monarchs Matthew Wethers and Max Clegg in the side. They along with Paul Starke and former Scottish Open Champion James Wright form the backbone of the Newcastle side, who will use rider replacement for their injured no. 1 Bradley Wilson-Dean. This allows any of their other riders an additional ride.

Monarchs' team manager Alex Harkess says "This Friday we have to keep improving and making things better. Hopefully any mechanical gremlins that anyone has had will be sorted out. Newcastle certainly have a few riders that have been round our place."

Norwegian Lasse Fredriksen made such a good debut last week that he was voted Monarch of the Match in the club's online poll. He said "I feel at home with Edinburgh already and I want to thank all the fans who have welcomed me very well, it's been a long time coming but now I'm here I know it's going to be a good year."

As with all Armadale matches this season, Friday's match will be Live Streamed. Details on www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk

FRIDAY'S MATCH:

Friday 22nd April: Edinburgh Monarchs v Newcastle Diamonds (Championship KO Cup), Armadale, 7:30pm

WTF MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt.), Lasse Fredriksen, Paco Castagna, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Jacob Hook, James Sarjeant.

ADVANCED FIRE AND SECURITY DIAMONDS: Rider replacement for Bradley Wilson-Dean, Matthew Wethers, James Wright (capt.), Max Clegg, Paul Starke, Lee Complin, George Congreve.

Full Result Details