Midweek Derby Up Next

PREVIEW Tuesday 13th August 2024, 2:05pm

by Jim Milton

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Another frustrating weekend for fans of the Stellar Edinburgh Monarchs as rain wreaked havoc on a Scottish derby clash for the fourth time this season.

This time the precipitation gods saw fit to allow seven heats of racing before Armadale was considered unsafe for the show to go on.

Things had gone swimmingly (not the best turn of phrase under the circumstances) up until that point with Edinburgh settling into a nine-point lead thanks mainly to some fine riding from Kye, Paco, Max and Connor in particular. But hey, such is life in the world of speedway - especially in these parts.

As far as the Monarchs' lingering hopes of grabbing that final play-off place we're concerned, their fate would be confirmed 48 hours later after 30 heats of speedway between Berwick and Workington ended with the five Championship points available going to the Comets, effectively leaving the Monarchs out of the running.

No real shock if truth be told, but disappointing nonetheless.

Finishing as far up the table to keep confidence high with the BSN Series semi final looking our last remaining objective as far as the league is concerned.

So, a positive result at Ashfield on Wednesday might go some way to achieving that aim.

Although Glasgow have a couple of meetings in hand over their great rivals, they are only two points better off in the table. In fact, it's so tight down at the bottom, only four points separate Edinburgh from Redcar in fifth spot. So, for the sake of pride, there's still a lot to play for yet.

For the trip to Ashfield, both teams will show a couple of changes to their respective line-ups.

For the Tigers, Anders Rowe, who has signed a 28-day mini contract with the club, comes in for Stevie Worrall, while Tom Spencer guests for Jason Garrad.

Justin Sedgmen has still to fully shake off his knee injury for the visitors and the No.5 race jacket was originally to be worn by Drew Kemp. Kemp now unable to fulfill the booking so other options are being explored.

Elsewhere in the Monarchs' line-up, Dayle Wood replaces Max James who is unavailable.

Tapes up is at 7.30pm with live updates available throughout on the Monarchs official website

Full Result Details