Second visit by Diamonds

NEWS Wednesday 14th July 2021, 6:02pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Friday's Armadale action sees the Newcastle GEC Diamonds return in a Championship fixture, some six weeks after they pushed the What the Fork Monarchs close (47-43) in a Knockout Cup tie.

Monarchs went on to win the tie overall with a comfortable victory on Tyneside in the second leg, and for sure they will expect victory on Friday, but they will certainly be reminded not to be complacent by the earlier match.

On that early June night the Diamonds' guest at no. 1 had a poor match, but for Friday's event Ben Barker will be in place at the head of the Diamonds' lineup. Ben is in good form and recorded two wins against Craig Cook at Glasgow last week.

In addition Matthew Wethers, Max Clegg and James Wright know Armadale well and are likely to score heavily. Newcastle have recently introduced Archie Freeman to their lineup at no. 7, but the youngster (who also rides for the Armadale Devils) will not be riding on Friday as he is required for the British Under-21 Final at Redcar.

Looking forward to the match, Alex Harkess said "The Diamonds have had some not bad away scores including running us to 4 points earlier in the season. Who knows, they have got some riders who like Armadale and can ride it. If we leave the door open they will not be far away but it's up to us to ensure that is not the case. After Saturday night at Berwick our supporters will be expecting something special!"

The legendary Matthew Wethers, three times a league winner as a Monarch, responded, saying "We were underestimated at the start of the season - I think Adam and James were 2 of the signings of the year and we have a good team, so we just need to get out on the track and do it. We aren't overconfident, but I think we hopefully being underdogs can surprise and take some points away."

As with all Armadale meetings this week's match will be Live Streamed, details in the EMTV section of the club website.

THIS WEEK'S MEETING:

Friday 16th July: Edinburgh What the Fork Monarchs v Newcastle (Championship), Armadale, 7:30pm

WHAT THE FORK MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt.), Nathan Greaves, William Lawson, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Joe Lawlor, Kye Thomson.

GEC DIAMONDS: Ben Barker, rider replacement for Adam Roynon, Connor Mountain, Max Clegg, Matthew Wethers (capt.), James Wright, Ryan Terry-Daley (guest).

Full Result Details