Kings Lynn Stars v Edinburgh Monarchs

Having ended their Premier League campaign on a successful note, the Scotwaste Monarchs turn their attentions to the battle for Promotion to the Elite League.

Standing between them and a shot at the big time are the Kings Lynn Stars, who have been one of the standout sides of the season. Indeed, had they not drawn as many as 5 fixtures (4 of them on the road), they may well have snatched the title from the Monarchs? grasp.

However, ifs and buts never mean anything in the real world and we deservedly finished ahead of everyone. It does, of course, also mean all the other teams are aiming to shoot us down and the Stars are certainly more than capable of doing that.

A simple glance at their two pronged spearhead of Kevin Doolan and Tomas Topinka is enough to show they mean business. Doolan is an absolute Legend who I would have loved the Monarchs to have signed this year, while Czech star Topinka, despite fast approaching the veteran stage of his career, is still amongst the top average men in the PL.

One problem the Norfolk outfit have had on occasions throughout the year is a lack of ?significant? contribution from their middle order. Shaun Tacey, Russell Harrison and Simon Lambert are the current occupiers of the race jackets, although only Lambert will actually be on show in this Final showdown. Former Coventry, Mildenhall and Workington (amongst others!) man Tacey has seen his season abruptly ended after suffering a broken collarbone recently. At his age, recovery speeds are generally slower than, say, a John Oliver type character, so Isle of Wight?s impressive young Aussie Richard Sweetman steps into his shoes.

If Tacey considered himself unfortunate with injuries, he?ll no doubt spare a thought for teammate Russell Harrison. A blood clot has seen the end of not only his season but also his whole career. I?ll take this opportunity to wish him very best wishes for the future.

Which leaves young Simon Lambert, who seems to have been around for ages and yet was still sitting on the minimum 3.00 when 2008 began. Somehow, he?s managed to more than double that figure, a stat made even more impressive when you consider he?s been riding in the top 5 for the majority of the year.

At the bottom end, the Stars boast another 2 Aussies, namely the aforementioned John Oliver, together with Kozza Smith. Oliver will probably be most remembered up North for being a ?nearly Monarch? in 2006 before Kings Lynn decided they needed him at the 11th hour. His scoring at the Norfolk Arena has been nothing short of superb and, although he still lacks that same consistency on his travels, he will be a key man over the two legs.

During our League visit in April, Kozza Smith was still something of a wild child. He displayed a weirdly wonderful riding style which meant he either fell off or simply zig zagged across the track! Thankfully, since then, he?s settled down to being a more reliable scorer for his side and will be yet another threat which the Monarchs must contain if they are to enjoy any success in the tie.

Of course, that cold, dark night in April saw us earn a hugely deserved draw. It could (and probably should) have been a win but we won?t dwell on that! There probably weren?t any star men back then, such was the team effort on show, but certainly Thomas H Jonasson?s contribution will be greatly missed this time round. He may have ?only? scored 9 points in the final reckoning but he did beat Kevin Doolan, a fine achievement by the young Swede on his Saddlebow Road debut.

Jonasson was one of 3 riders who top scored on the 9 point mark, the others being William Lawson and Andrew Tully, who was in the reserve berth at the time. Young Lawson was in such a rich vein of form at that stage of the season and it would be a superb effort if he could match that score in this one. Meanwhile, Tully will certainly have to improve his gating or he could be in trouble against the super fast Stars.

American Ryan Fisher won?t forget his Kings Lynn PL debut, if for no reason other than the fact he bounced off the home straight fence at the end of his very first lap! He recovered to collect 6 from his next 3 outings in typical ?Fish? fashion but will surely be looking for double figures on Wednesday. After all, nappies are very expensive nowadays!

The remaining 3 Monarchs can all look back on the April encounter with a tinge of bad luck. Matthew Wethers had engine problems all night, struggling to an uncharacteristically low 4 points, Derek Sneddon, despite riding very well, threw away vital points when he innocently slid off in heat 8 and Aaron Summers blew his best engine while literally walking heat 2. Let?s hope for a better rub of the green on this occasion!

I?ll be joining Mike Hunter and Dennis Wallace, amongst others, on the train for this meeting. One can only hope those nasty signal men don?t decide to hold a last minute strike or you may just hear some rather loud complaints from wherever you?re sitting!!!

As always, may the best team win...

Line ups:

Stars: Kevin Doolan, Richard Sweetman, Tomas Topinka, Simon Lambert, rider replacement for Russell Harrison, John Oliver, Kozza Smith.

Edinburgh: William Lawson, rider replacement for Thomas H Jonasson, Ryan Fisher, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers, Derek Sneddon, Aaron Summers.