Good match and we beat the rain

With rain forecast for later in the evening, and a full programme to get through, the teams got cracking early with this fixture, which proved to be an entertaining one with favourable signs for both sides. Monarchs took all three Championship points with a 52-38 win on the night but Plymouth provided two of the main stars of the meeting along with a never-say-die attitude from their team mates.

With Paco Castagna away, it was important that the home reserves scored well as they were due to take ten rides. Both Cluff and Loftus stepped right up to the mark with an excellent 15 plus 5 bonus between them.

Jordy Loftus scored paid 11 of these and was a happy young fellow. "Very happy with the team's performance, we all scored points and we got very few lasts. I'm quite happy with myself because I was paid for double figures and I've scored well in the last couple of home meetings. I had a tangle in my last ride but these things happen. We knew we had to cover for Paco and we all scored points in his rides. It will be a confidence boost for tomorrow at Workington."

Over the first half of the match, Danny King and Scott Nicholls were as good as expected, but Monarchs dominated the rest of the Gladiators septet. King won heat one but then came down on the outside of the first bend in heat 5. He was pushed into an awkward position and didn't seem happy to be ruled out of the rerun, in which Jonatan Grahn pulled off a fine last bend outside overtake on Joe Thompson.

Nicholls swept majestically to victory in heats 4 and 6, but in spite of the excellence of their two stars, Monarchs took five 5-1s in the first eight heats and held a 20-point lead at that point.

Nicholls took a tac sub ride in heat 9 and along with King recorded a comfortable 5-1, the only heat that Justin Sedgmen was beaten in. This proved to be one of four heat advantages to the visitors over the last seven heats. Ben Barker got himself going after two settling-in rides, winning heat 14, and both Daniel Klima and Joe Thompson rode better than their scores suggest.

Heats 13 and 15 were obviously eagerly anticipated and did not disappoint. King gated in heat 13 and Nicholls flew around the outside of the home men to slot in behind his partner. Kye Thomson however refused to give up and took advantage of a slight slip on the final turn by Nicholls to grab second by a hairsbreadth.

Two heats later it was obvious that Dan Thompson, who hadn't scored in heat 13, wanted to make amends and although Nicholls gave it his all, the home man took the flag. Garry May explained that Danny King was rested from this heat as he wasn't fully fit and has a hard weekend ahead.

Monarchs had no weak links with everyone scoring paid 9 at least, and certainly at Armadale they look a very formidable outfit at the moment.

The Blast From the Past enthusiasts closed the show just before the anticipated rain came, and former Bandit Jason Straughan rescued a 12-12 draw for Scotland when he passed Keith Cornell in the final race.

Gladiators are ready and will be contenders

The Monarchs enjoyed a great team performance and a thumping home win over Redcar in their most recent home meeting. They remain firmly in the play-off places but will face a very tough test this week from a Plymouth Gladiators team who are also post-season contenders and have already secured a MAXiCab KO Cup Final match-up with Berwick later this year.

The Monarchs pulled off an impressive 47-43 win at The Coliseum last month, but Plymouth are back to full-strength now and might fancy their chances of revenge as they will travel north with an intriguing mix of experienced stars, track specialists and bright young talent.

Tough Gladiators Line Up

Skipper Danny King returned from injury last week with a maximum for Ipswich in the Premiership. Last season he scored 16 points at Armadale for Redcar and is always a threat in West Lothian. Danny will celebrate his 40th birthday in a few weeks' time, and it was 10 years ago this month that he stormed around Bartosz Zmarzlik to win Heat 19 at the British Speedway Grand Prix at Cardiff – an event he qualified for as British Champion.

Scott Nicholls has been crowned British Champion a record-breaking seven times and has multiple GP silver medals to his name. Now a staggering 48-years-old, Scott will be older than the combined ages of his Monarchs opponents in at least two races on Friday, but he proved that he's still got it with an 18-point maximum against Berwick recently and he is also scoring well as a team-mate of King's at Ipswich. Although he is now entering his 'George Clooney' phase, Scott has long been regarded by some as the 'sexiest man in speedway' and is always a favourite with some ladies of a certain age in the Armadale crowd.

The popular and charismatic Thompson twins, Dan and Joe, are more used to teaming up together for Leicester Lions, but both will enjoy a rare chance to race against each other this week, with Joe lining up at No. 2 for Plymouth.

The always entertaining Ben Barker will return from injury for the Gladiators' northern tour which includes Berwick and Redcar. Czech rider Daniel Klima and Slovenian Anže Grmek are unknown quantities around the technical turns of Armadale, but both have adapted well to the tight confines of their home track and shown great ability this year.

They will be joined by New Zealander Ben Whalley. Ben had three impressive race wins for Edinburgh Monarchs Academy at Armadale last week. He also won an Academy individual meeting at Belle Vue last week. Monarchs' Jordy Loftus won all of his qualifying heats in that meeting in very impressive style, but he encountered a kill-switch problem while leading in the final and finished third.

Monarchs Ready for Challenge

Dan Thompson was the Monarch's maximum man last time out at home, but perhaps the most impressive aspect of the win over Redcar was that four Monarchs recorded nine-point scores. That was almost expected from the reliably excellent Justin Sedgmen and Kye Thomson, but three race wins for Jordy and a return to form from skipper Paco Castagna were especially pleasing. All of the Monarchs contributed though, including smooth Swede Jonatan Grahn, who maintained his record of winning at least one heat in every home match this season, and former Gladiator Mitch Cluff who may have a point to prove against his former club.

This weekend, Paco is competing in the FIM SGP Challenge in Italy and will have a chance of qualifying for next season's Grand Prix series on a track he knows well. Fixture congestion and other factors have ruled out all realistic guest options, so the Monarchs will utilise Rider Replacement in his absence and Justin Sedgmen will captain the side.

A look ahead to August shows that the Monarchs will face some tough challenges from title-contending visitors next month, so they will be keen to grab all three league points on offer at Armadale this week, and also at Workington on Saturday.

The Monarchs hold an 8-point aggregate advantage over the Comets, who boast an impressive line-up with Drew Kemp joining Troy Batchelor, Tate Zischke and Nikolai Klindt (guesting for Jonas Jeppesen) in a strong spearhead. Surprisingly, they have already lost three home league matches so far this season, including a heavy loss last week against Poole.

The Comets won last year's league encounter 47-43 despite 13 points from Jonatan Grahn and 11 from Paco Castagna. The skipper will be missed, but all of his team-mates have had good showings in Cumbria previously, so the Monarchs will be hoping to add something to the points column.

The action starts in Workington at 6pm on Saturday and the usual large travelling support can look forward to some spectacular entertainment at the exciting Northside track.

Friday 24th July 2026: Edinburgh Monarchs v Plymouth Gladiators, Cab Direct Championship, Armadale Stadium, 7:30pm

EDINBURGH ROSS ECO TECHNOLOGIES MONARCHS: Dan Thompson, Rider Replacement for Paco Castagna, Justin Sedgmen (captain), Jonatan Grahn, Kye Thomson, Mitch Cluff, Jordy Loftus.

PLYMOUTH OBM GLADIATORS: Danny King, Joe Thompson, Daniel Klima, Ben Barker (captain), Scott Nicholls, Anže Grmek, Ben Whalley.