Bandits bring new man Nick

NEWS Wednesday 30th July 2025, 6:37pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

This Friday's visitors to race the Stellar Monarchs at Armadale in a Championship clash are the Berwick Bandits, a team who have reacted to some bad luck and enforced team changes in the best possible way, by bringing in high quality replacements.

Former Grand Prix winner Peter Kildemand was the first of these but most recently, Australian Nick Morris has been handed the number one slot in the Bandits side. So for the second week running a big name rider returns to the sport, and as with Nicholls last week it will be fascinating to see how long Morris takes to click into gear.

The visitors have another recent signing in Dane Jonas Jeppesen coming to Armadale for the first time; he scored 15 points in his first match for Berwick at Glasgow! Add in Drew Kemp, top scorer on Bandits' last visit in May and you have a very strong top for in their side.

Monarchs lost by two on their recent trip to Berwick so the aggregate bonus will be decided on Friday also.

Team manager Alex Harkess as well as the Armadale support were heartened by Monarchs' away win at Scunthorpe. "I have felt the team was coming together in the last couple of home matches even though in both of these they fell away in the last three races. Hopefully we are going to go from strength to strength now after winning at Scunthorpe.

"This Friday we have Berwick, they have Nick Morris in the side rather than Craig Cook. Whether Nick can score as well in his first match as Craig might have done, I don't know. He's a quality rider but he's one we've got to beat! They've got a new Dane there also, he hasn't been to Armadale before. It's just another team coming that we have to beat. We've got to win, and I'm sure it should be by more than two to give us the bonus as well."

Friday's match will be Live Streamed for those who cannot attend, details on www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk.

FRIDAY'S MATCH:

Friday 1st August: Edinburgh Monarchs v Berwick Bandits (Championship), Armadale, 7:30pm

STELLAR MONARCHS: Victor Palovaara, Paco Castagna (Capt.), Justin Sedgmen, Kye Thomson, Michael Palm Toft, Jonatan Grahn, Jordy Loftus.

R.E.D. BANDITS: Nick Morris, Sam Hagon, Jonas Jeppesen, Drew Kemp, Peter Kildemand, Dayle Wood, Jack Smith.