Motorsport: Monarchs place one hand on silverware

Oct 1 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THE West Lothian-based Scotwaste Monarchs are chasing four trophies after grabbing a strong lead in the Premier Trophy Final.

And this week looks set to be perhaps the most telling week of their season as the Monarchs bid to progress in three of the trophies this week.

Their heavy schedule includes King’s Lynn last night (Wednesday) for the second leg of the Premier Trophy final – into which they had taken a 13-point lead.

Next up, they are in action tomorrow (Friday) at the Armadale Stadium against traditional rivals Glasgow Tigers in the first leg of the Scottish Cup.

The Tigers have not had a great season but they will be very keen to grab the last piece of silverware open to them, and they have the riders to give Monarchs a hard match on Friday.

Shane Parker will be missing due to injury but Birmingham’s Jason Lyons will guest in his place, alongside Armadale veterans James Grieves and William Lawson.

In addition, reserve Lee Dicken pocketed 10 points on his last visit. The second leg of this event is at Glasgow on October 11.

Last Friday the team rode superbly to beat league champions King’s Lynn 54-41 in the Premier Trophy first leg.

Ryan Fisher led the way with a superb performance, going unbeaten, and Andrew Tully also didn’t lose a heat other than breaking the starting tapes in his first ride.

The winning margin could have been greater but for a nasty crash by Aaron Summers which badly damaged his best bike.

Even King’s Lynn wonderboy Darcy Ward could not stop the Monarchs, though they will be a different proposition on their own track on Wednesday.

Teams for Friday:

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

Glasgow A-Plant Tigers: James Grieves, Josh Grajczonek, Sandi Conda, William Lawson, Jason Lyons (guest), Mitchell Davey, Lee Dicken.

Ryan Fisher scored eight points in the Premier League Riders’ Championship at Sheffield last Sunday which meant he finished in ninth place.

This Sunday the Monarchs travel to Newcastle for the first leg of the Premier play-offs semi-final.

The second leg is at Armadale on October 9, and the other semi is King’s Lynn against Birmingham.

Winners of the play-offs will race against Belle Vue (Manchester) in the race-off for an Elite League place in 2010.