Edinburgh Monarchs v Sheffield Tigers

"This week?s visitors to Armadale are Sheffield who defeated the Monarchs by 55-36 in a Premier League match just over a week ago at Owlerton.

It?s therefore revenge time for Edinburgh who will be determined to wipe out the memory of their biggest loss so far this season. The record books are on Edinburgh?s side. Since the beginning of 2004 the Yorkshire Tigers have ridden nine times at Armadale, have never won and have averaged 39 points per meeting.

Of course the record books count for little once the match is underway but, if Sheffield were to target certain tracks where they would hope to emerge victorious, Armadale would not be likely to be high up that list if on it at all!

This does not mean to say that the Sheffield riders are without any form round the Dale. They have all had their moments and none of them are strangers to the track. Indeed looking back to the meeting in April 2004 when they went down by 47- 42 there are no less than three survivors from that occasion - Andre Compton, Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson who appear to be permanent fixtures in the Sheffield side. Only Matthew Wethers remains for Edinburgh from the Monarchs? side that day. Sheffield?s performance in scoring 42 points was against an Edinburgh side which had Frede Schott, Rory Schlein, Peter Carr, Theo Pijper and Cameron Woodward in its ranks as well as Matthew Wethers - it will be interesting to see how far the current side has come to compare the two.

After the fabulous result from Birmingham on Wednesday night it is of paramount importance that the momentum is maintained by Edinburgh by beating the current Sheffield side hopefully with something to spare. The Monarchs are without Thomas Jonasson and have Adam McKinna stepping in as a guest at number 2 but otherwise are on the usual lines, although since this is the last match scheduled for the month of June at Armadale, the next time the team lines up for a home match there will be changes in the riding order with Andrew Tully guaranteed to be moving out of the reserve berth probably for ever. Another 21 point maximum would be a fine way to herald the beginning of a new era for him.

Everybody chipped in at Birmingham which shows that the Monarchs are a team which carries threat down the line. Sheffield are unlikely to be able to cope with that unless a big improvement is made by all of their side. Andre Compton is always the big threat when the Tigers come to Armadale but it needs better showings from Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson if they are to get close this time. Joel Parsons can be an awkward customer to contain with his aggressive style while Paul Cooper and Lee Smethills would need to produce something special on this occasion. Completing the visitors? line up is Kyle Hughes a first season rookie to Premier League racing who has replaced Sam Martin in Sheffield?s line up.

The danger as always after a good away performance followed in quick succession with what looks like a certain home win is the possibility of complacency setting in. That hasn?t been the case so far so but there is the added strain on men and machinery. There were no reported injuries after the match at Perry Barr although some gremlins appeared to be affecting some of the machinery. At least there has been a day between matches for the Edinburgh boys to sort these out so it?s a case of onwards and upwards for the Monarchs.

The line-ups will be:

Edinburgh: William Lawson, Adam McKinna (Guest), Derek Sneddon, Matthew Wethers, Ryan Fisher, Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers.

Sheffield: Ricky Ashworth, Joel Parsons, Andre Compton, Paul Cooper, Ben Wilson, Kyle Hughes, Lee Smethills.

May the better team win.