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Agree, probably should've taken him straight away, especially given the current ambulance crisis. But still no guarantee it would've been back in time as ambulances often have to sit for hours outside A&E waiting to pass patients over to the hospital.

Yes, but Poole can't wait till Tuesday at 10pm to decide who they want to face on the Wednesday. So would have to pick Leicester or delay the semi.

True, but maybe too expensive? It was a horrendous crash - best wishes to Sarj. Don't know where this leaves the semi-final at Poole on Wednesday.

Curfew is 10pm at Armadale, but meeting now abandoned due to lack of medical cover as track ambulance had to take James to hospital because NHS quoted 'up to 12 hours' for NHS ambulance to arrive and track ambulance wouldn't have got back in time to run even 10 heats. Implication is that with current ambulance crisis (in Scotland at any rate) any rider being injured badly enough to require to go to hospital will mean automatic abandonment of meeting.

Weather looks very iffy on Friday. Hope they've got the Saturday booked as an alternative as it looks much drier. Cup semi-final first leg at Glasgow on the Sunday.

Great to have a live stream to watch and aside from the technical issues it was very good. If I had to be hyper-critical I would say some of the race coverage could have been better, e.g. seemed to miss the outside of bend 4 quite a lot (Josh was disappearing out of the picture) and sometimes followed the race at the back when the front was closer and vice versa, but these things will improve the more you do it. Glasgow have the most professional live stream (but I think they pay someone to provide it). Edinburgh's is in house and is great and has been improving - they have interviews with riders and others and they've recently added a pit camera and (most importantly) replays of the races.

Excellent performance from all the Monarchs. If Jason's bike hadn't packed up in heat 8, all 6 would have had at least one race win. Great racing on a great track with Josh, as usual, the stand-out. Drew Kemp brilliant. Bears definitely missed Palm Toft and the score would have been closer if he'd been there, but I still fancy Monarchs would've won. Great to be able to watch it on the live stream even although there were a few issues with it. Now going to watch it back.

Yes started but only saw heat one from an angle looking at the starting gate!

Excellent news! Good luck for next season.

Watched this on the live stream an it was a very enjoyable match. Riders missing on both sides but those there gave 100% effort. Kent more affected by missing riders but this was evened up by George Rothery's machine problems all night until he finally came out on borrowed machinery to win his last heat. There was heavy rain early on but these NDL lads just got on with it. For the Devils Danny and Tom were rock solid but I've been very impressed with the improvement in both the Millar boys this season - especially Gregor. This is exactly what this league is supposed to do. For Kent, Alex Spooner and Vinnie Foord caught the eye with battling and skilful performances.

Phew!

Can only assume they have other commitments or don't want to ride the heavily criticised Birmingham track. Anyway good luck to Tom, hope he has a good night. I don't know how much experience he has of the Birmingham track but I did see that he rode there for Redcar in 2019, scoring 1 from 3 in a 53-37 win for the Bears. His reserve partner that night was Nathan Greaves scoring 10+2 from 5.

Could also have had Rising Stars whose actual average is below Nathan's. You can't tell their averages from the SGB site but it definitely includes Connor Bailey and Jordan Jenkins who have already covered for him successfully in the past week.

It's the league match - cup match is later in the month. Got to say with Tom Woolley in for Nathan, Anders Rowe R/R, and the first time on the track for Kye, this will be an uphill battle for the Monarchs and they could struggle to reach the 38 points they require.

Sunday 26th September.

Maybe so, but you're a different team to the one we beat just after Ulrich's injury. Tom Brennan is a class act and with Marcin and Connor at reserve I think you'll rack up big scores at Ashfield and be very difficult to beat over 2 legs by anyone.

...unless Brum pick up 5 away points at Newcastle and Glasgow, and Kent win home and away against Leicester by something like 70-20 both matches

Well done and thanks to Connor Bailey - excellent contribution to the cause tonight. Actually I think Connor and Ricky are running in to form at just the right time for Tigers chances of winning the play-offs.

Edinburgh having to go with R/R for Anders Rowe (recurrence of knee injury) and Connor Bailey guests for the retired Nathan Greaves. So a Glasgow guest on both sides. I think this will be close. NEWCASTLE: Ben Barker, Connor Mountain, James Wright, Max Clegg, Ricky Wells, Archie Freeman, Adam Roynon.EDINBURGH: Sam Masters, Anders Rowe R/R, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Drew Kemp, Connor Bailey.

For Edinburgh Drew Kemp back from helping GB to 3rd place in World U21 Team Final. Jordan Jenkins replaces Nathan Greaves - good choice I think. From Leicester website: LEICESTER can effectively secure their place in the Championship play-offs with a win at home to Edinburgh on Saturday (7pm).The Watling JCB Lions were rained-off at Redcar on Friday and dropped to fifth in the table as a result of Scunthorpe defeating leaders Poole in their final regular fixture to move onto 33 points.That is the mark the Lions will also reach if they beat the Monarchs at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena, and having already moved out of reach of Berwick, Plymouth and Newcastle, their race-points difference advantage is such that 33 points would almost certainly be enough to finish above both Scunthorpe and Kent, neither of whom can exceed that total.The main job on Saturday is to get the better of an Edinburgh side who have had an up and down spell but appear some way stronger than in recent weeks.A strong heat-leader trio incudes former Lions star Richie Worrall, who returned from injury with a 14-point haul in Friday’s KO Cup win over Birmingham, and track specialist Sam Masters - and the lower order has recently been strengthened by the signings of Anders Rowe and Drew Kemp.The visitors bring in Jordan Jenkins to guest at reserve with Nathan Greaves having recently retired.For the Lions, Nick Morris lines up in the No.1 race-jacket with Hans Andersen reverting to No.5, with Ryan Douglas and Kyle Howarth teaming up in the middle order.And boss Stewart Dickson expects a tough test despite his side’s impressive recent form – being mindful of the fact that the Monarchs proved to be one of the best visitors to Leicester in 2019 when they raced into an early six-point lead before the Lions roared back to win 47-42.Dickson said: “We’re now up to +6 in terms of away points gained over home points lost, which makes things look a lot more comfortable, but I’m never fully satisfied, and we do want more points away!“At the moment I’m not looking beyond Saturday because this is going to be a hard one. Masters, Worrall and (Josh) Pickering is a great top three, and I expect a very tough encounter.“But the way we’re racing, we’ve upped our game in the last three or four weeks, and if we ride to what we can then it’s another meeting we should win.”LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Dan Thompson, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Hans Andersen, Joe Thompson, Zaine Kennedy.EDINBURGH: Sam Masters, Anders Rowe, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Drew Kemp, Jordan Jenkins.

Fighting point for the Monarchs - back up to 6th place on our own in the +/- table. Good performance from Jordan Jenkins as guest.

Richie back and Kye fit for Monarchs but last week's hero Drew Kemp away at World Under-21 Team Final. Both sides weaker at reserve compared to last week as Paco Castagna and Jack Thomas also not available - and they scored 18+5 between them last week. From Monarchs website: This week it is Knockout Cup action at Armadale, the quarter final tie between the What the Fork Monarchs and the Birmingham Brummies. The teams qualified for this stage by beating Newcastle and Redcar respectively in the previous round, and the winners will meet Glasgow in the semi-final. This tie was started at the end of July but Birmingham's visit that night was abandoned with Monarchs leading 26-16, and we start from scratch again this week. Of course the teams drew in a league match last Friday, Monarchs being without both Richie Worrall and Kye Thomson by the end of the match. The good news is that both will be ready to ride this Friday as Monarchs field their full-strength 1-5. Both teams are using guests in the reserve berths; for Monarchs, Drew Kemp (double figures last week) is missing because he is riding in the World Under-21 Team Final in Poland, and Nathan Greaves of course hit us with his untimely retirement on the eve of last Friday's event. Deputising for Monarchs will be Danny Phillips of the Armadale Devils, and Berwick's Kyle Bickley. Birmingham's reserves will be Luke Crang and Jason Edwards and they will again use rider replacement for injured German Valentin Grobauer. Once again Chris Harris and Erik Riss are sure to be to the fore, and Ashley Morris will be trying to repeat last week's good performance. Team manager Alex Harkess says "Tonight it is certainly the aim to get a good lead to make the second leg easier. The unfortunate thing is that Drew will not be riding due to the Under-21 Team Championship. What a difference he would make if he was here." There are 3 vital away matches over the following 5 days in the race for Playoff places. Drew Kemp will be back for these, and realistically Monarchs may need to win two of the matches which are Leicester (Saturday), Newcastle (Sunday) and Birmingham (Wednesday). As with all Armadale matches this season Friday's match will be Live Streamed, however the stream will be available only to those outwith a 25 mile radius of the track. Anyone within that limit but unable to attend should email info@edinburghmonarchs.co.uk WHAT THE FORK MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt.), Anders Rowe, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Danny Phillips, Kyle Bickley. EDWARDS PLUMBING BRUMMIES: Chris Harris (capt.), rider replacement for Valentin Grobauer, James Shanes, Ashley Morris, Erik Riss, Luke Crang, Jason Edwards.

Welcome back Richie Worrall! Straight back into it with a fantastic inside pass on Erik Riss in heat 4 and only missing out on the full 15 in heat 15 when beaten by a fast start and ride from Chris Harris, who was fast all night and the pick of the Brummies. The standard of racing was far better tonight too, with the second strings and reserves of both sides having great tussles for the minor places. Anders Rowe showed steady improvement on the previous week and probably deserved a few more points and Kyle Bickley was a good guest. For the Brummies, James Shanes was much improved and provided plenty of entertainment as did Jason Edwards picking up paid 8 at reserve.

I took advantage of Glasgow not riding at home on a Friday to watch this one on the live stream as it's always a pleasure watching Cookie around Ashfield. Excellent meeting with lots of good heats and plenty of passing - heats 11 and 13 being the standouts. All the Glasgow team rode well and Broc Nicol deserved a lot more points than he got. Got to feel sorry for Jack Thomas in heat 11 - he rode brilliantly to pass Adam Ellis only to have Simon Lambert pass him as the 3 riders went down the back straight side by side, Ellis then got back past him before his team-mate Ricky Wells also went by and amazingly snatched second on the line. A lot of effort and skill from Jack for no points. For Scunthorpe Adam Ellis was a little disappointing but they were well served by Jorgensen and Lambert and the others were all involved in good tussles for the minor places. The stream also showed new Pole, Marcin Nowak, go out for a few practice laps after the meeting and he looked fast and stylish. I predict he'll be an exciting addition to the team and the re-modelled Tigers will be back challenging for the title. Just hope the re-modelled Monarchs can get themselves together quickly enough to join them in the play-offs.

Now a very important meeting for Monarchs as their top 6 spot now under threat. R/R for Richie again is not ideal and much will depend on the 2 new riders. Drew Kemp will be looking for a big improvement on last week and Anders Rowe will hope to repeat or better his performance from earlier in the season for Redcar. From Monarchs website: The What the Fork Monarchs have a very important match this Friday against Birmingham as several teams battle for Playoff places. The Monarchs and the Brummies are both in contention and want the points. Things have not been going Monarchs' way recently, especially with the continuing absence of Richie Worrall following his crash on 13th August in which he suffered a cracked finger. It had been organised that Richard Lawson would guest this week but on Thursday he pulled out for reasons that the club accept. So it will be rider replacement once again with the lack of other suitable guests. Birmingham also use rider replacement for Valentin Grobauer who is again missing, as he was on their recent abandoned KO Cup visit. Monarchs of course track their two new signings, 19 year olds Anders Rowe and Drew Kemp, who are expected to strengthen the bottom end of the team, though it is reasonable to suppose they will need time to find their feet in new surroundings. Kemp commented "I felt I learnt a lot riding Armadale as a guest last week and it's a track that I can definitely improve on. It's good to go to a team which could win something this year and I hope I can add something to the team." Brummies' top two of Erik Riss (former Monarchs captain) and Chris Harris need no introduction, and they have a solid batch of backup riders. Team manager Alex Harkess says "If we get a good contribution from everyone we will be fine. I want a good win, we were winning comfortably when Birmingham were here in the cup and I think we were on our way to a big win." As with all Armadale matches this season Friday's match will be Live Streamed, however the stream will be available only to those outwith a 25 mile radius of the track. Anyone within that limit but unable to attend should email info@edinburghmonarchs.co.uk WHAT THE FORK MONARCHS: Sam Masters (capt.), Anders Rowe, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Rider replacement for Richie Worrall, Drew Kemp, Nathan Greaves. EDWARDS PLUMBING BRUMMIES: Chris Harris (capt.), rider replacement for Valentin Grobauer, James Shanes, Ashley Morris, Erik Riss, Paco Castagna, Jack Thomas.