Take Three Against The Tigers

NEWS Wednesday 2nd August 2017, 1:46pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

After a 3 week gap SGB Championship action returns to Armadale this Friday when the Parsons Peebles Monarchs take on the Sheffield Tigers

TOUGH TASK AHEAD

This will be the third visit of the season to Armadale for the Tigers who have acquitted themselves excellently on the two prior appearances so far. A 4 point defeat in the cup in April being backed up by just a 5 point defeat in the league at the beginning of June

STRONGER SHEFFIELD

Many would argue that the Yorkshire outfit have strengthened since each of those two visits with the recent signings of Jan Graversen and George Wood to bolster the lower ranks of the team following injury and retirement issues that led to the loss of the previous incumbents.

STAR GUEST

One further change to the Sheffield line-up comes at number 1 where Josh Grajczonek misses out due to being involved for Somerset in the SGB Premiership. One of the biggest names in the sport in the UK steps in though as 3 time British Champion and former world number 6 Chris Harris deputises. Harris has been a recent marquee addition to the Championship division and while it has been a few years since his last Armadale experience his battles with the Monarchs heat leaders will be box office.

MONARCHS HAVE NOT BEEN IDLE

Although it has been 3 weeks since the last competitive fixture at Armadale that is not to say the Parsons Peebles Monarchs have not been busy as they continue their push for a 5th league title in the last 10 years. A very productive week last week saw 4 away points gained from two matches at Ipswich and Newcastle respectively.

The hope is that a strong home finish to the season will see the Monarchs into the playoffs and the chance to lift the crown. Monarchs co-promoter John Campbell stating “I would hope we now have enough away points to make the playoffs however we will be taking nothing for granted as we have some big challenges ahead at home over the coming weeks starting with Sheffield. We need to ensure we do not drop any points at home to guarantee our playoff place.”

MEETING SPONSOR

This week we welcome team sponsor Parsons Peebles into the George Hunter Memorial Lounge as meeting sponsors also. Parsons Peebles are a famous and storied name in electrical mechanical engineering with a history that dates back to 1898. This is their first year as the Monarchs title sponsor and we look forward to welcoming them to Armadale this Friday

Teams for the SGB Championship match at Armadale on Friday 4th August (start time 7:30pm, gates open 6:30pm), are:

PARSONS PEEBLES MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt), Theo Pijper, Ricky Wells, Max Clegg, Erik Riss, Josh Pickering, Mitchell Davey.

SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE TIGERS: Chris Harris (guest), Todd Kurtz, Lasse Bjerre, Josh Bates, Kyle Howarth, Jan Graversen, George Wood

TIGERS LOOKING TO ROAR: Sheffield were tipped by many to be pacesetters in the SGB Championship this year and after a slow start to the season fixture wise they are now rounding into ominous form and with recent additions Graversen and Wood looking to solidify the bottom end of the team there appears to be no weak links in their septet. Harris, Howarth and Bjerre will form one of the most potent visiting heat leader trio’s the Monarchs will see all season and Josh Bates is improving almost week on week. Only Todd Kurtz would maybe class Armadale as a disliked track for him however he has shown in the past that his quick starting style can work around the West Lothian circuit. The Monarchs will certainly need to be at their best to maintain their unbeaten home record.

LAST MEETING: Last week’s intermediate challenge match against Buxton Hitmen fell victim to a late and unforecast downpour. The plan is to re-arrange the match and discussions are ongoing to come up with a suitable date.

NEXT MEETING: Another tough challenge awaits as the Peterborough Panthers visit Armadale. The Panthers were soundly beaten 60-30 on their last visit but the Panthers were completely luckless that night and finished with only 4 fit riders. A sterner test will come next Friday next week no doubt.

Full Result Details