Can The Tigers Be Tamed?

PREVIEW Sunday 20th August 2017, 9:48am

by Graham Muncie

  Edinburgh Monarchs

The Parsons Peebles Monarchs are on their travels again on Sunday as we head to south Yorkshire to take on the form team in the league the Sheffield Tigers.

Tipped as pre-season title favourites the Tigers took a little while to get into their stride but are in blistering form now having recorded a remarkable maximum 31 points from their last 9 fixtures. 5 home wins and 4 maximum 4 point away victories of course including a 51-39 triumph at Armadale a couple of weeks ago just goes to show the kind of form Simon Stead’s men are currently on.

This is not to say the Monarchs head south having admitted defeat though and we will of course be doing our best to dent that record.

Sheffield’s recent turnaround has coincided with a strengthening at reserve with Jan Graversen and Georgie Wood being introduced into the mix adding some punch to what is a frighteningly strong top 5.

Sheffield return to full strength with Josh Grajczonek and Lasse Bjerre back in the line-up following recent absences. They join a top 5 completed by Todd Kurtz and the biggest improvers in their side in the form of Kyle Howarth and Josh Bates. Anyone who has witnessed the Tigers at Armadale cannot help but having been impressed by the improvement shown by Howarth and Bates and their fast riding and exciting styles are a joy to watch particularly at the fast open spaces of Owlerton.

Of course the Monarchs have riders of their own who are just as comfortable around Owlerton as some of the home men although our main man there is normally Sam Masters who of course still misses out. Former Tiger Ty Proctor is the man charged with filling Sam’s shoes and on recent form a big performance from Ty may not be totally out of the question.

With Friday’s unfortunate rain off this means that Mark now makes his return at Owlerton and if he can recapture the form shown earlier in the season while guesting for the Tigers then who knows what we may be capable off.

This is our second visit to Sheffield this season and we will be looking to improve on our first attempt which resulted in a 53-37 defeat and a KO cup exit. No one really excelled that day although there were encouraging signs from Max who won heat 2 and Josh who got to grips with the track as the match progressed. Add to this that Mitchell also had a good outing hitting 4 points and most pleasingly for him was getting the mental barrier of his first visit to the track since his almost career ending smash a few years previous.

It would have to be said that riders such as Ricky Wells and Erik Riss are in better form now than they were when we visited last and if everything falls in right for the Monarchs then who knows what we are capable off.

It is probably said that the Monarchs fans travel (or attempt to as I currently try to navigate my way across the country after a cancelled train) in hope rather than expectation but how many times have we seen our boys come out fighting when their backs are to the walls it will take a tremendous effort to record so much as a point but as we all know in speedway anything can happen.

Full Result Details