Birmingham Brummies v Edinburgh Monarchs

Both Birmingham and Edinburgh will be hoping it?s a case of second time lucky when the sides meet for the rearranged Premier League fixture at Perry Barr this Wednesday.

The first attempt at the beginning of July was washed out after only one heat (I won?t embarrass our guys by reminding them of the score in that one!) but of course, since then, we?ve undergone some major surgery, so much that only three of our original seven representatives will be making the return journey on this occasion.

The Brummies? first season back in the sport certainly couldn?t be described as unsuccessful. In fact, if they take all three points from this meeting, they will sit proudly (and very briefly if Kings Lynn also win!) at the top of the League.

So, why are they doing so well? Part of the reason is the form of their top man Jason Lyons, whose consistency is amazing, even at his age! Having been ?around the block? for numerous years, he seems settled back into the second tier. He?s also hugely popular in the Armadale area despite his Glasgow links!

Of course, it hasn?t all been plain sailing for the PL newcomers. Promoter Graham Drury took the shock step of rather harshly dumping former heat leader Ulrich Ostergaard. It?s also fair to say his replacement, Henning Bager (another former Glasgow man), hasn?t exactly set the heather on fire and, barring a dramatic improvement in his form in future weeks, this could ultimately prove costly for his team?s chances of success.

The absence of solid scoring Argentinean Emiliano Sanchez (er, yet another former Tiger!), who will miss the remainder of the season after having recent surgery on his spleen, will no doubt prove a big loss and the home side will have to rely on the good old rider replacement facility for cover.

With Sanchez out, the Brummies will need their middle order to step up a gear. However, neither former Monarch Henrik Moller or Austrian enigma Manuel Hauzinger are overly well known for their consistency. The extent to which we keep those two out of the points will go a long way to deciding the final outcome.

At reserve, the home side are represented by New Zealander Ben Powell, whose progress seems to be continually stunted by machine problems and the impressive Lee Smart, who beat Kaj Laukkanen at Armadale earlier this year!

In order to claim the aggregate point, we must either win (that would be nice!) or lose by less than four points. It appears something of a tall order and, if we are to take anything back up the road North, we?ll need the likes of Laukkanen and George Stancl on top form. Neither has ridden the Perry Barr circuit (as far as I?m aware!), so hopefully they won?t take too long to get themselves dialled in.

As always Matthew Wethers will give a consistent performance but, as with Moller and Hauzinger, the returns of Derek Sneddon and Andrew Tully will be pivotal to the end result.

Finally, at the bottom end, we will track what must be one of the youngest reserve pairings in speedway history, in the shape of Kalle Katajisto and Joe Haines. Kalle will be looking to continue his 500cc education, while Joe?s exciting talent will receive its? first ever senior test at the ripe old age of 16 years and 1 day!

Good luck to everyone and, as always, may the best team win...

Expected line-ups:

Brummies: Henning Bager, Emiliano Sanchez r/r, Jason Lyons, Henrik Moller, Manuel Hauzinger, Ben Powell, Lee Smart, Gareth Isherwood (no. 8).

Monarchs: George Stancl, Derek Sneddon, Kaj Laukkanen, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Joe Haines, Kalle Katajisto.