Speedway: On-fire Monarchs face final hurdle

Sep 24 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

WEST LOTHIAN-based Scotwaste Monarchs have enjoyed an astonishing upsurge in form of late and this Friday stage one of the big occasions of the season at Armadale Stadium.

It’s the Premier Trophy Final first leg and it pits together the teams which now sit first and second in the Premier League.

King’s Lynn are the new champions, succeeding Monarchs who won it last year, and Monarchs have virtually clinched second place with only Birmingham having a very slight chance of catching them.

It should be a classic encounter as the East Anglians have swept all before them this season, becoming the first team to win at Workington last Saturday. They also pushed Monarchs very hard on their league visit to Armadale in July when the home side edged it 46-45.

However Monarchs have improved since then, particularly since the signing of German star Kevin Wolbert.

Last week their young local star Andrew Tully made a successful return and the team is the strongest it has been since the early weeks of the season.

Monarchs are the current holders of the Premier Trophy. The second leg is at King’s Lynn on October 7.

In an incredible few days last week they won away at Birmingham and Sheffield, and in both matches of the double-header at Armadale against Berwick and Redcar.

That pushed them from ninth in the league to second by the end of last Friday night.

On top of that they went to Rye House and completed the aggregate victory in the Knockout Cup semi-final, so the final of that competition is another treat awaiting Armadale supporters.

The other semi is King’s Lynn v Scunthorpe.

Monarchs will also compete in the PL Playoffs with King’s Lynn, Birmingham and Newcastle, the winners of that knockout going on to meet either Poole or Belle Vue in the Promotion/Relegation Playoffs.

So there is a feast of Speedway still left at Armadale this season where the curtain will come down on October 30 with the re-staging of the Homecoming Scottish Open Championship.

Teams for Friday (7.30pm start):

Scotwaste Monarchs: Ryan Fisher, Michal Rajkowski, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers (captain), Kevin Wolbert, Aaron Summers, Byron Bekker.

Kings Lynn Stars: Darcy Ward, rider replacement for Kozza Smith, Emiliano Sanchez, Chris Schramm, Tomas Topinka, Linus Eklof, Jan Graversen.