Edinburgh Monarchs
Glasgow Tigers
Premier League
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Friday 24th June 2016
Armadale Stadium

After the rain was the winner last Friday it’s the big one this Friday as we welcome our nearest and dearest along the M8 as we tackle the Glasgow Allied Vehicles Tigers in the Premier League.

The Tigers were tipped as favourites to sweep the board in the Premier League this season and while they may well off expected some better performances away from the home confines of Ashfield they are still well placed to do this. Sitting second in the league table and having upcoming League Cup semi finals and Knockout Cup quarter finals as well as the Pairs and Fours to come. Of course if the Tigers are looking for any advice on how to win multiple trophies in the same season they only need to ask us when visiting on Friday night.

The Tigers have shuffled the deck slightly since the start of the season with Ben Barker perceived to be underperforming and being replaced by ex Workington and Newcastle man Rene Bach although due to the variances of Speedway and the laissez faire attitude to committing to a team we won’t see Bach this Friday with Berwick’s Kevin Doolan due to deputise.

The Glasgow team was put together this year with the hope that the top 4 would carry the load and the junior members of the team would kick in with enough points to see them over the line in most matches and while this has been the case at Ashfield where the Tigers have been unstoppable this has fallen down away from home on numerous occasions with resounding defeats at Sheffield, Somerset and Peterborough. It does have to be said though that these are probably going to be three of the hardest places for anyone to visit.

One man who has not let the Tigers done this season is number one Richard Lawson. Son of God as he is known through the west has maintained his average at over Nine points per meeting this year and also looks to have gotten over his hatred for Armadale after posting a 12 point score in the League Cup match back in May including defeating all of the Monarchs top three.

As mentioned previously Kevin Doolan guests in place of Rene Bach at number 2. Bach being missing due to Danish league commitments. It could be argued this strengthens the Tigers as Doolan is of course one of the favourite visitors to the Dale due to his ability to score points and the fact he is generally considered to be one of the nicest guys in British Speedway and if Doolan matches the 12 points he scored in Berwick’s early season victory at the Dale the Monarchs could well be in trouble tomorrow night.

Number 3 for the Tigers is Richie Worrall. Worrall looks to be back to the form that made him one of the top men in the league a couple of years ago and is the key component in the middle order of the team. Another who can be classed as an Armadale expert having recorded double figure scores on numerous occasions. With a potential 6 rides available for Worrall on Friday he could be the man the match is one or lost against.

No one to join Richie in the middle order as young Finn Nike Lunna misses out due to injury. Lunna sustained a hand injury a few weeks ago and despite initially trying to ride through it a subsequent trip to a specialist identified an operation was required and this could see the youngster out for up to 8 weeks. With Lunna sitting 5th in the Tigers averages his riders can be covered by Richie Worrall and the Tigers reserves.

The final member of the powerhouse top 5 for the Tigers is Aaron Summers. Spud as he is affectionately known needs no introduction to the Monarchs fans having first ridden on these shores for the Blue and Gold back in 2007. Summers now appears well suited to the Tigers line-up as an excellent second heat leader and team captain and he is another who takes some beating around the Dale.

Looking to improve on their previous Armadale performances will be the two cult heroes the Tigers field at reserve Fernando Garcia and Danny Ayres. Both have become firm fan favourites due to their never say die riding styles and fan friendly celebrations. This should not overshadow the level of performance that the two are bringing to the table though both having upped their average by more than half a point from the start of the season. Any marked improvement on the previous visit to Armadale from either would be greatly welcomed by the Tigers particularly with three rider replacement rides to be covered alongside their programmed rides.

Looking to keep the Tigers at bay will be our home heroes the Border Roofing Monarchs who line up with our programmed 1-7 albeit incorporating the riding order we made for last weekend. It has been a quiet spell for the Monarchs the last couple of weeks with the rain costing us last week’s home match as well as an away match at Scunthorpe. Of course we made the trip south to Plymouth last Saturday and were perhaps unfortunate to come away empty handed when Sam’s chain snapped while on a 5-1 in heat 15. We could also point to the combined 3 points achieved from our guest choices replacing the 15 points that Max and Erik achieved earlier in the season however say that as we may we still came home with zero points.

A couple of the boys have been in action individually this week with Sam continuing his blistering firm with 15 points in Poland last Sunday and 13 for Wolves on Monday. Erik will have been happy with a 4th place finish in the first round of the U21 World Final this being backed up by a double figure return in his Danish League debut and we will look for these two to continue to show this kind of form on Friday.

Key for the Monarchs will be the continued improvement of the second order riders. We have seen enough from Mark to know he isn’t too far from contributing and if he can get his gating boots on he will be among the points. Dan appears to be improving match on match and has said himself he now feels more confident round the Armadale track and we all look forward to seeing this in the coming weeks. Max is a key man for us and if he can contribute his usual points at home we will all be happy.

So after a tight match in the League Cup that saw the Monarchs come out on top 46-43 the home men will be looking for at least a repeat of this result as we look to carry on our unbeaten home form in the League with the lack of away points recently this will be absolutely vital if we are to keep our chase for the playoffs and a third consecutive title come the end of the season. Glasgow will be looking for the points that will take them back top of the table and of course the bragging rights that come with an away victory over your nearest rivals. This match as the making of the biggest at Armadale since the playoff final second leg last year and a repeat of the result from that night would be greatly received.