Edinburgh Monarchs v Redcar Bears

Edinburgh went a long way to wiping out memories of recent poor displays with a very strong and solid performance to wipe out Redcar.

The Bears were certainly disappointing, but Jason Lyons and Aaron Summers were both in good form, pocketing 21 points from their first six rides between them before running into the powerhouse that is the Kevin Wolbert-Craig Cook duo on top form.

Robert Branford can be absolved of criticism because he is a trier whose tenacity will surely be turned into points one day. The rest of the side though offered very little in either effort or achievement.

The home side didn?t have a weak link which isn?t something that has been said too often of the Scotwaste Monarchs this season.

The track looked in great condition early on and Lyons was just 0.1 sec outside the track record winning heat 1 ? with Wolbert pushing him all the way to the line.

Heat 2 was a real cracker, and maybe a glimpse of why National League racing can be so enjoyable. Byron Bekker, Robert Branford and Kyle Howarth swapped places throughout before Bekker sailed home for a great win.

Andrew Tully and Matthew Wethers forced their way past Gary Havelock on the first lap of heat 3 as the home team started to gain the upper hand, then Summers looked in fine form winning heat 4 stylishly.

After that, the drizzle started to affect track conditions, though riders prepared to attack the track could still get round pretty well. Neither Wolbert nor Cook dropped another point after their opening rides, and there were good contributions from the home reserves.

Howarth looked back to his best, while Bekker followed his heat 2 win with two falls. Undaunted, he chased and harried Havelock in heat 14, outside and in, and was rewarded with one of the best paid wins he?s ever likely to have achieved.

To finish with we had a fine battle between Summers and Wolbert in the early stages of heat 15, completing a pretty satisfactory night for the Armadale supporters.

Edinburgh Monarchs v Redcar Bears

The Scotwaste Monarchs face another very serious challenge at Armadale this Friday (7.30) when the formidable Redcar Bears side motor up from Teesside on the hunt for some valuable away Premier League points that could see them take over the sixth spot previously occupied by Edinburgh.

They are led by the vastly experienced 41-year-old Australian, Jason Lyons from Mildura who has won most honours in the sport since first riding a speedway bike at the age of nine. His tussles with Monarchs German star Kevin Wolbert should be worth the admission money alone.

Under-fire Kalle Katajisto has some ground to make up to convince the fans and the club that he can produce the goods on a consistent basis. And it won't be easy since it is highly possible that Adam Roynon will not be fit, in which case his rides will be covered by rider replacement.

Monarchs' answer to a scud missile, Andrew Tully lines up opposite one of the most promising riders to come out of the Czech Republic, 22-year-old Matej Kus who is in his first full UK season. Older fans will be interested to know that Matej's mechanic is Middlesborough legend Martin Dixon.

New dad, Matthew Wethers faces the most experienced Bear of the lot, 42-year-old Cleveland native, Gary Havelock, who has also won a host of honours along the way, including the World Championship, since first riding a motor bike at the age of three.

Craig Cook will be looking to settle back into his best points gathering form but he will have a tough job against one of this season's most frequent Armadale visitors, Aaron Summers, who always seems to feel he has something extra to prove when he returns to his original PL track.

With young Tim Webster taking time out to lick his wounds after a serious of spills, his place is taken by 24-year-old South African, Byron Bekker. He faces a very handy Redcar reserve, Peter Jull from Denmark who is likely to be called on to take a number of extra rides.

Kyle Howarth will be hopeful of getting back among the points this week against an 18-year-old Australian in his first Premier League season, Robert Branford. The son of ex-Monarch Darrell Branford, Robert is one of the stars of Buxton's National League side.

So we have two teams evenly matched throughout the card which should be a recipe for close, exciting racing. Monarchs have a few fixtures in hand on those around them but they will need to take full points from this one if they hope to get back into sixth spot or better.

Home advantage should just tip this one in favour of the blue and gold, but neither side can afford to have any riders below their best. The reserve battles could be crucial to the outcome and if Redcar are on top form, this could be a cliffhanger. Hang on to your hats ? it's Premier League speedway at its best!

Likely line-ups:

EDINBURGH SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Kevin Wolbert, Kalle Katajisto, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Craig Cook, Byron Bekker (guest), Kyle Howarth.

REDCAR SIMPSON RACING UK BEARS: Jason Lyons, Adam Roynon, Matej Kus, Gary Havelock (capt.), Aaron Summers, Peter Juul Larsen, Robert Branford.