NEW-LOOK BANDITS WILL BE TOUGH

NEWS Wednesday 2nd April 2014, 11:23am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The League Cup competition gets under way at Armadale on Friday with a visit from a Berwick Bandits team who started with a whopping home win last weekend.

Their poor record at Armadale looks like a thing of the past as their bring a solid team with such familiar faces as Matthew Wethers, Claus Vissing and Liam Carr in their ranks. It’s a four-team qualifying section so every match is vital, only the section winners are assured of qualifying for the next stage. In recent years the Scotwaste Monarchs have been the dominant team in the north but many will have earmarked Workington and Berwick as powerful challengers this season.

TEAMS FOR THE LEAGUE CUP MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 4th APRIL (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Aaron Fox, Max Fricke, Derek Sneddon (capt.), Sam Masters, Justin Sedgmen, Steve Worrall.

BERWICK BANDITS: Kevin Doolan, David Bellego, Matej Kus, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Claus Vissing, Liam Carr, Steen Jensen.

SUPER START FOR STEVIE: Perhaps the happiest of the Scotwaste Monarchs over the weekend was Stevie Worrall with 5 wins over the two matches against Glasgow in a haul of 17 points (11 at Glasgow).

Unfortunately he did manage some expensive damage to his machinery in a post-race fall at Glasgow.

He said “Glasgow was really good, I don’t usually like it but I went well there. Edinburgh was good as it usually is.

“The damage I’ve done is probably about £7-800, I’ve done the forks, diamond, the front wheel – that wheel had only done about two meetings.”

BERWICK PROSPECTS: The Scotwaste Monarchs head for Berwick on Saturday night. It’s going to be a tough place to visit this year but the team are looking at it positively.

Captain Derek Sneddon said “I was looking at the updates from Berwick last weekend and they certainly scored well against Redcar, but I know a lot of the boys in our team have already spoken about enjoying Berwick so I think we can do well.”

MAX IN POLAND: The fast-developing career of 18 year old Max Fricke saw him race his first ever match in Poland on Tuesday, scoring 5 points for Torun in a pre-season match at Bydgoscz. He races in the return at Torun on Thursday before returning to Armadale.

MONARCHS’ PODCAST: Last Saturday saw the launch of the new Edinburgh Monarchs podcast which will be a feature of the new season. Post match comments (Saturday) and a midweek preview will be regular items in a show hosted by Scott Frame.

STRONG BANDITS: The Berwick lineup looks very good indeed this season and they kicked off at home last weekend with a 60-point score.

That included a maximum for 2013 Monarch Claus Vissing, and it will be interesting to see how Claus copes with Armadale which he sometimes found tricky last year. He was at the opening meeting last Friday having a look.

Of course Bandits’ captain Matthew Wethers knows Armadale better than anyone, having ridden there no fewer than 237 times – no-one has ridden there more. Stormy also started his season well last weekend.

Young Liam Carr became a favourite with Monarchs’ fans last year after several spirited guest bookings, and his Danish reserve partner Steen Jensen is an interesting returning rider this year.

Aussie Kevin Doolan has a fine Armadale record, he has been on the winning side there a few times.

That just leaves speedy Frenchman David Bellego and Czech rider Matej Kus, both race winners in West Lothian in the past, so it’s hard to see a weak link in this year’s Bandits septet.

LAST MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs beat Glasgow 52-38 in the Armadale opener last week with Craig Cook unbeaten, a feat he repeated at Glasgow on Sunday as Monarchs won through there by 47-43.

NEXT MEETING: The League Cup campaign continues against the team most people have marked down as the favourites for honours this season, the Workington Comets.