Best Monarchs display for ages

This was the first home match Monarchs had raced for four weeks, and all pre-match expectations were that it would be a close fixture against an in-form visiting team. What transpired was quite different as the Armadale side gave their best performance, not just of this season but for some time before that, with a display that the Bears just had no answer to.

Monarchs took all three points on offer and remain in third spot right on the tail of Scunthorpe and Glasgow.

The score did not flatter Edinburgh, and it didn't appear that Redcar were riding especially badly. Monarchs gated exceptionally well, and when necessary pulled off some great overtakes in heats where they didn't make the start.

A very happy home captain Paco Castagna said "We discussed on the track walk that we had to start strong and we did it. It made me so proud of the boys. Redcar are a strong team, they are gaters and they know this track as well so it was good."

Paco himself has been having a difficult season but he was justified in feeling much happier with his personal form. "I decided to step down from King's Lynn recently, and we had a four week gap, I went back home to practise, practise, did all right at Redcar and Plymouth, gaining confidence and here we are, we're back.

"I felt confident tonight on a track where all year I've been struggling. It doesn't matter that I've been here for four or five years you need to have that confidence. It took a lot of pressure off my shoulders and it was unbelievable to see the young guys scoring well too – Jordy, Mitch finished on a high, Jonatan finished on a high. We all did our job, I'm very proud of the boys."

It was a memorable night for Jordy Loftus especially with three wins, and he was voted Monarch of the Match though there were several candidates for that! None of the Bears would be particularly happy with their score and yet they all rode well at times, not least Vinnie Foord who seemed faster and steadier than previously on this track.

With three 5-1s in the first five heats, Monarchs established their dominance and led 22-8 at that point. Best heat in the early stages was heat 4, a tapes to flag win for the fast gating \jordy Loftus but with Kye Thomson fighting throughout to overhaul the Bears, slicing past Jody Scott off the last corner and just failing to take Jake Allen as well.

Heat 5 was also an exciting chase as the very speedy Nicolai Klindt just failed to catch Sedgmen. Indeed throughout the meeting Klindt looked the quickest man on show but he was often not quite in the right place at the right time.

Kye Thomson's win in heat 7 nullified the use of Allen as a tactical sub, and if heat 8 looked on paper as if it could be a turning point, Loftus again put paid to that with another great start and ride.

Heat 9 was a thrilling tussle between Allen and Castagna, the home captain eventually succeeding with inside line passing at which he is so good on his day.

Dan Thompson is as high quality a rider as you will see in the Championship, and we saw him at his best when he rounded Jason Edwards in heat 10 to slot in behind partner Grahn who made a superb start in this one. Klindt finally won a race in heat 11, the first for his team and as it turned out the only race advantage for the Bears.

That made heat 13 intriguing as Klindt came out against the top home men. It was an excellent heat as Dan Thompson made the start, leaving Kye Thomson room for a successful outside sweep to the front. Klindt threw everything into his chase of Thompson but just missed out.

Heat 14 was a curious heat, which looked like a tapes-to-flag win for Mitch Cluff who till that point had not joined in the points spree. Cluff was announced as the winner, which seemed correct, but shortly after the result was altered to give Jason Edwards the victory.

A very enjoyable match finished with perhaps the best heat of all, Jake Allen leading stalked by Dan Thompson who also had to watch our for Klindt again looking very threatening behind him. Eventually Dan pulled off a great inside pass to complete his paid maximum.

There was much enthralling action in this fixture, and it suggests that Monarchs are turning into a very good side indeed.

Monarchs Back In Action This Weekend

After a bit of a summer break Edinburgh Monarchs roar back into action this weekend with back to back fixtures, vital league points and Scottish Cup spoils up for grabs.

First up at Armadale on Friday night is a visit from a revitalised Redcar Bears who are looking to continue a recent march up the table.

Early home defeats to Poole and Scunthorpe had left Gavin Parr's side at the bottom of the table looking up but a strong run in the last few weeks with home wins over Oxford and an 8-point victory over the Monarchs (meaning the bonus point is also in play in this one) and a rout of Plymouth on the road has catapulted the Teessiders back into 5th in the standings with the knowledge that a win in this one would see them leapfrog the Monarchs into 3rd place.

The Bears will travel north in confidence after securing a draw at Armadale earlier in the year in the KO cup and having won in each of the last two years also so it really is a track that holds no fears.

There are two changes to the Bears team with Ace Pijper and Simon Lambert missing out, Monarchs Academy man Vinnie Foord steps in for Pijper with a strong looking rider replacement facility in place for Lambert allowing extra rides for Jason Edwards, Jake Mulford, Foord and reserve partner Jody Scott.

Elsewhere top two Nicolai Klindt and Jake Allen provide a potent punch and it is a Bears team with no apparent weakness.

That of course just means that the home men will need to be at their absolute best as they look to build on victory of their own at Plymouth the last time out. The word from the camp after that one was how pleasing a total team performance it was with all seven riders with at least one win or paid win and the onus is on that level of performance to continue throughout.

It is a full strength Monarchs line-up in this one.

BSN are in attendance at Armadale so single match streams can be purchased through them for non season pass holders with the EMTV stream still going live for any Monarchs Gold Card members.

After the league match on Friday the action heads west to Ashfield and the first leg of the Scottish Cup currently held by the Tigers.

The strangest of occurrences in the competition last year as both teams won their respective away leg the Tigers coming out on top by two points on aggregate.

This year perhaps has not been as kind so far though as despite sitting atop the Championship standings at time of writing there was disappointing early KO Cup and BSN Series exits the latter of course at the hands of the Monarchs who recorded a famous 49-41 win at Ashfield back in May.

Edinburgh's top four led the way that day with 38 points between them and a repeat of this could go a long way to a similar result. The Monarchs do go into this one with one change as Workington's Tate Zischke steps in for missing captain Paco Castagna who is on Italian Championship duty.

The hosts currently line-up as per their usual 1-7 however there must be doubt over number one Kyle Howarth's availability given he has missed the last few meetings for both Glasgow and Premiership Leicester through injury.

Perhaps most notable about that last paragraph is the use of the words 'Glasgow number one' not being followed by the name Chris Harris with the mix of an increase in average for Howarth and decrease for Harris meaning it is an unusual looking number three race jacket that will be on the back of the former world number six.

Sam Hagon and Mario Hausl also swapped positions in the most recent averages with the young Englishman roaring back into the reserve berth with a paid 11 score last time out his only defeat at the hands of Sam Masters.

The top five is made up of Leon Flint who is enjoying another fine year and Kevin Juhl Pedersen whose debut season scoring has seen him pick up a Premiership space at Ipswich also.

Freddy Hodder completes the team and can be a match winner on any night as evidenced by a recent maximum in an away victory against Oxford.

So, a tight affair look in order as both team look to put a stamp on the competition prior to the second leg at Armadale in September Glasgow TV streaming this one for those that can't be in attendance.

Friday 10th July - Armadale Stadium - 19:30

Edinburgh Monarchs - Dan Thompson, Jonatan Grahn, Justin Sedgmen, Paco. Castagna, Kye Thomson, Mitch Cluff, Jordy Loftus

Redcar Bears - Nicolai Klindt, Simon Lambert r/r, Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards, Jake Allen, Vinnie Foord, Jody Scott

Saturday 11th July - Ashfield Stadium - 19:00

Glasgow Tigers - Kyle Howarth, Mario Hausl, Chris Harris, Kevin Juhl Pederson, Leon Flint, Sam Hagon, Freddy Hodder

Edinburgh Monarchs - Dan Thompson, Jonatan Grahn, Justin Sedgmen, Tate Zischke, Kye Thomson, Mitch Cluff, Jordy Loftus