Double win on opening weekend for magnificent Monarchs

May 6 2010 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

THE Scotwaste Monarchs face a tough KO Cup tie this weekend against Rye House Rockets at Armadale Stadium tomorrow night (Friday).

The second leg is at Hoddesdon the next day, a bit of a rush for the riders to clean up their equipment and travel the 400 miles for the leg.

Although the Monarchs knocked the Rockets out of the cup last season by a wide margin, things will certainly not be so easy this time round and the local side will have to be at their best to make it through.

Rye House won the southern section of the Premier Trophy and have made a strong start to the season.

Their record at Armadale is generally very good and the two tracks are similar in shape.

Young riders Linus Sundstrom (Sweden) plus Englishmen Jordan Frampton and Kyle Hughes are on the up and up, while old heads Chris Neath and Stefan Ekberg still have plenty to offer.

Last week the Monarchs put the previous week’s debacle behind them to start their Premier League campaign with a bang – an away win at Redcar and a home win over Sheffield.

The six points gained put them into second spot in the early Premier League table and will surely act as a major boost for the matches ahead.

Ryan Fisher was the inspiration for the Monarchs in their win at Redcar which is a real boost for the team and supporters.

Fisher won all his five races including a sizzling ride round the boards in the last heat decider.

Everyone else chipped in with points, with Kevin Wolbert back to something like his best on 10.

Friday’s meeting started with two bad-looking crashes though the only injury turned out to be concussion for visiting reserve Arlo Bugeja.

After a long delay the meeting resumed and the spectators saw some of the best racing of the season.

Reserve Kalle Katajisto and Andrew Tully were in thrilling form alongside the usual high scores of Fisher and Wolbert.

Teams for Friday are as follows:

Scotwaste Monarchs: Ryan Fisher, Jozsef Tabaka, Kevin Wolbert, Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully, Kyle Howarth, Kalle Katajisto.

Rye House Rockets: Chris Neath, Stefan Ekberg, Jordan Frampton, Luke Bowen, Linus Sundstrom, Kurt Shields, Kyle Hughes.

Monarchs’ injured reserve Max Dilger made a return at the weekend in German and came through two meetings successfully giving a real boost for the squad.

This Saturday he rides in Slovenia in a World Under-21 round, so has to miss the Cup ties.

Bournemouth rider Kyle Howarth (16) will stand in for Max.