BANDITS BACK ON LEAGUE BUSINESS

NEWS Wednesday 13th June 2012, 8:31am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Berwick will be intending to put on a much stronger display than they did in the League Cup when they come to Armadale on Friday in a Premier League match.

They have highly rated heat leaders and certainly should be capable of a top six finish in the league, so Friday's match will be important for them as it is for the Scotwaste Monarchs. Monarchs are at the foot of the table at the moment, simply because they have hardly raced any matches, but of course they need to be raking in points soon, starting this week. They race at Redcar on Thursday before squaring up to the Bandits at Armadale.

TEAMS FOR THE PREMUER LEAGUE MATCH AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 15th June (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

SCOTWASTE MONARCHS: Craig Cook, Derek Sneddon, Theo Pijper, Matthew Wethers (capt.), Andrew Tully, Micky Dyer, Charles Wright.

BERWICK BANDITS: Ricky Ashworth, Lubos Tomicek, Lee Complin (capt.), David Bellego, Seb Alden, Robert Branford (guest), Jason King.

CONGRATS TO CRAIG: Monarchs' no. 1 Craig Cook has accepted a doubling up role with Belle Vue in the Elite League and rode his first match for them on Monday. He scored an excellent 9 points and beat Grand Prix star Freddie Lindgren twice.

John Campbell said "Cookie thought carefully about this move as his focus is very much on Premier League and Edinburgh but I said to him that a few more meetings would not do any harm."

Belle Vue race at Peterborough on Thursday but of course Cook will be with the Monarchs at Redcar.

BUSY THEO: Theo Pijper opened his World Longtrack campaign last Saturday with third place in the first round at Forssa, Finland.

Theo has always been a willing traveller and this week after racing for Monarchs on Thursday and Friday, he sets off on a trek to Norway where he rides in the second leg of the World Longtrack on Saturday.

REDCAR ON THURSDAY: Monarchs head for Redcar on Thursday for their first match since they raced Sheffield on 1st June. They will be at full strength, as will the Bears who welcome back Ulrich Ostergaard and Max Dilger.

KUMHO KINGS RETURN: Friday sees the first home match this season for the Edinburgh Kumho Kings in the Northern Junior League (in memory of Kenny Smith).

The Kumho Kings won the competition last season. Their lineup on Friday will be James McBain, Stephen Morris and Ryan McDonald. The Kings are also due to race at Redcar on Thursday.

MONARCHS IN BRITISH SEMI: Andrew Tully and Derek Sneddon ride at Sheffield in the British semi-final on with July with Craig Cook at Rye House two days later.

BANDITS LOOK TO IMPROVE: Berwick could only score 33 on their League Cup visit at the beginning of May and that is not very good for a team built for success as the Bandits clearly are.

They can do much better, with high average riders Ricky Ashworth and Seb Alden capable of scoring more than they did on that occasion.

Frenchman David Bellego rode well on his last visit without getting a great score, and he certainly has the potential to do well.

Berwick of course stage the biggest meeting in their history on Saturday when a Grand Prix qualifier is held at Shielfield. Lee Complin rides as reserve for the meeting.

LAST MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs beat Sheffield 56-37 at Armadale on 1st June. Both Andrew Tully and Craig Cook were unbeaten on the night.

NEXT MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs face a really tough test at Armadale on Friday 22nd June when they face Newcastle, with the sensational Worrall twins at reserve as well as a top five well equipped to ride Armadale.