Sam and Richie Image Credit: Ron MacNeill

The Sky's The Limit

PREVIEW Tuesday 28th June 2016, 7:29pm

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Border Roofing Monarchs will look to put their best foot forward as we once again appear in front of the Sky cameras against Glasgow in the Premier League at Ashfield on Wednesday night.

The biggest rivalry in British Speedway finally gets it’s TV debut this week as Sky continue to dabble with Premier League Speedway which has provided them with some of the best matches seen on the platform (who can forget our visits to Somerset over the last couple of years). As is the norm and due to our fairly consistent strong showings on the road the Monarchs find themselves as the visitors when Kelvin and Nige come to showcase the most exciting league in British Speedway.

The Border Roofing Monarchs will have it all to do though if we are to replicate some of our prior performances against a powerhouse Tigers side. While they may be a little disappointed with some of their away performances the Tigers have been in electric form round their home shale averaging over 56 points a match so far this including an unbelievable 71 point haul against Scunthorpe and handily defeated the Monarchs 56-37 back in April in the League Cup.

Back in April Sam as ever was our main man as he romped to 17 points from his 5 rides. Unfortunately we could not find any kind of consistent back up as all the Tigers were paid for at least one heat win. Of course both sides have made changes since then with Rene Bach replacing Ben Barker for the Tigers who will also be missing Nike Lunna due to a broken hand with the Monarchs having replaced Jye Etheridge with young German Mark Riss.

With the 2 teams having split the League Cup matches and after the Edinburgh home tie in the League being postponed bragging rights are up for grabs and both teams will be looking to get one over their nearest rivals with a Knockout Cup tie to come also.

The biggest boost for the Tigers so far this season has been the form of the lower orders of the team round Ashfield. It was mooted at the start of the season that a long tail could be the difference between success and failure and so far the lesser experienced riders have come to the fore. One of these riders will be missing with Nike Lunna suffering from a broken hand. This will leave the extra rides to be shared between the reserve duo of Danny Ayres and Fernando Garcia along with more experienced teammate Richie Worrall. Ayres and Garcia have become cult heroes for Glasgow and a strong performance in front of the cameras from either or both will only add to this legend.

Of course the Monarchs will be looking to match up with the Tigers from start to finish and it could be argued that we are one of the few teams on the league with the top end strength to do just that. Sam, Kevin and Ryan are all previous maximum men around Ashfield and Erik has also shown his liking for the Saracen Park circuit in the past and if our top men are on form who knows how far it could take us. The key battles as mentioned may well come at the lower end where we will be looking for more from our bottom 3 than we have amassed on the road so far this season.

It is often said when the chips are down that’s when champions come to the fore so I guess the only question on Wednesday is will these be coming with salt and sauce or salt and vinegar in what promises to be a feisty and passionate encounter in front of a hopefully big audience both trackside and those watching at home.

Glasgow Allied Vehicles Tigers

1- Richard Lawson

2- Rider Replacement

3- Richie Worrall

4- Rene Bach

5- Aaron Summers (Capt)

6- Fernando Garcia

7- Danny Ayres

Edinburgh Border Roofing Monarchs

1- Sam Masters (Capt)

2- Mark Riss

3- Erik Riss

4- Ryan Fisher

5- Kevin Wolbert

6- Max Clegg

7- Dan Bewley