Two Championship points gained

Monarchs took two Championship points from Workington this evening, after a 45-45 draw and a comfortable 8-point win on aggregate for the bonus. It's a good result, but tinged with disappointment as the team led the way from heat 4 to heat 14 before losing a 5-1 in heat 15. Monarchs go second in the Championship table, a point behind Scunthorpe.

Team manager John Campbell said "I think we've got to be very pleased with picking up another two league points. Anything we can get away from home is a bonus. Nicolai Klindt of course made all the difference, Jeppesen may not have scored a maximum.

"But I'm very pleased we got the draw and the bonus. We had some exceptional performances."

It's a track Monarchs haven't yet won on, having previously drawn last year in a cup tie. We had four men in paid double figures today, excellent battling performances by Jordy Loftus, Jonatan Grahn and Kye Thomson who were all on paid 13, plus Justin Sedgmen with paid 10 from four rides.

Unfortunately it was an off day for Dan Thompson, who has been so good for us this season, though he did manage an important second place in heat 13 after switching bikes. Earlier he had appeared to lack speed.

Comets did have the benefit of an unbeatable performance from their guest Nicolai Klindt who scored an 18 point maximum, though to be fair Jonas Jeppessen their own number one is also good there. It made no difference whether Klindt made the start or not, no-one could touch him.

After losing two 4-2s to start with, Monarchs hit back with two 5-1s, heat 3 being a bit fortunate as Tate Zischke had a motor blow-up and baulked his partner Kemp, allowing Grahn to join Sedgmen up front. Jordy Loftus was already to the fore with a great win in heat 4, with Kye passing Batchelor to join him.

The pattern of scoring was then repeated, two lost 4-2s followed by two Monarchs' 5-1s! Heat 6 saw Kye Thomson get as close as anyone did to Klindt. Sedgmen and Grahn out-fought Batchelor in heat 7, and Jordy pulled off another classic to join Kye after a battle with Vinnie Foord. So we led 28-20 after heat 8.

Heat 9 was an excellent race as Zischke made up ground to pass Kye, whose choice of the wide line for once didn't prove correct. Comets were six down at heat 11 which inevitably meant a Klindt tac sub ride, and he romped off for a 5-1 with Batchelor over Dan and Jordy.

Battle was well and truly joined and we held on to the narrow two point lead over the next two shared heats. Dan and Kye worked so hard to squeeze Batchelor out of the points in heat 13.

We then took an advantage in heat 14 with Jonatan just holding on to pip Zischke, which meant the draw was virtually certain leading 44-40 going in to the final race.

All sorts of possibilities in that one both for who to use and which gates to select. However there was again no holding Klindt off the worst gate 4, and Kemp just managed to gain the advantage over Jonatan and Kye.

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.