SCOTLAND1314

I'll be hopefully popping through to use my discount voucher as a result of our last visit. Any idea if Mitchell Davey will be returning in time for this one? Would be good to get the Blue and Gold back to full strength. Tennis .. jings.

Really pleased to see Claus put in a tremendous performance on Friday. Leicester were looking lively for a while then a combination of bad luck for them and a strong finish by the Monarchs giving the home men a win. Ellis and Branford looked good for the Lions with others chipping in with decent scores but the strong performances of Claus and Cookie in heats 13 and 15 making a big difference to the final score.

That's a shame about Bjerre not going to be at The Dale. Bizarre re the manager situation, not sure I quite understand what's going on.

Bucket and spade at the ready...

I've been told that I should be on stage..... sweeping it.

The world can breathe easier again... :-)

Rumour had it you are coming through in your mankini and knotted hanky... ;-) What's the situation re manager? I think Bjerre, Doolan, Nieminen and Karlsson have all ridden well around The Dale in the recent past so it could be closer than you think.

Any Leicester fans joining in the festivities? Weather has been Bermuda like up here for weeks... well sort of. Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1371 Another potentially tough fixture for the Blue & Gold, at the time of writing it's unclear to me if any of the injury list will be back for the home men.

As has been stated earlier was this a poor performance by Worky or a good Monarchs display, yes probably a bit of both. The track looked grippy all over which helped produce some decent racing with the best of the bunch Cookie against Lawson in heat 15. For the away team Rusty had a decent return and Lawson was ok and if he'd hit the front through the first turn more often he could have scored more as he seems to ride the track quite well. Of the rest I was expecting a bit more from Kyle and Ashley but it might have just been a bad day at the office for them. Really not sure what has happened to Rene Bach I hope he can get back to his best soon. Chris Mills seemed to have lots of bike issues so I guess his night was hampered accordingly. The Blue and Gold Cookie had another good day, topped off with a cracker of a pass on Lawson in heat 15. Solid performances from Derek and Theo. Hats off to Theo from picking himself up from a fall in his second race to bounce back for a good return. Good to see James Sarjeant chipping in with a nice return as well, hopefully he's enjoyed his time with the Monarchs. The lad tries hard so it was nice to see him earning a few quid. Really great to see Claus scoring his best Armadale return of the season. More of the same big chap. Similarly nice to see young Max making steady progress each week. Some of his first turns were very useful indeed. Only 2 points for r/r for Tabaka, so it could have been an even bigger win for The Blue and Gold.

It will be good to hear Al's take on the one's he hasn't already mentioned. Heat 2 Kerr should have been excluded as he seemed out of control (and the knock on effect was a wrecked bike for Max) Heat 3 It looked like a Newcastle rider should have been excluded as part of the first running and I thought Claus was unlucky to get excluded later Heat 4 This looked all 4 back yet Theo was excluded Heat 11 To me I thought this could have been all 4 back yet Andy was excluded Heat 14 I thought Lindgren was correctly excluded So the law of averages would suggest a pretty decent swing in favour of Edinburgh but as has been said it's water under the bridge and the Monarchs are through. Are videos of the Newcastle v Edinburgh match going to be available at Armadale this Friday?

Brilliant.

Last night will live long in the memory of those that were there. Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1363

What a fantastic effort and result from Edinburgh tonight. Theo solid scoring and close result it just makes his effort in heat 15, on Friday, all the more important. Derek solid and did well to pick himself off the deck in heat 14 to win the re-run. Great to see Claus putting in a good performance including a nice race win. Max .. where do you start? last to first in heat 2, solid in heat 8, smooth start to flag win in heat 12 and an intelligent pass in heat 14 to put the Monarchs in the lead (and most of his no scoring rides were from the graveyard gate 4) Then Cookie what can you say that hasn't been said before? 4 start to flag wins and a heat 13 that showed skill/bravery against a flying Richie Worrall. Thanks also to James Sarjeant for the effort it wasn't your night tonight but it will come. This team just keep on continuing to defy the odds.

I think Chopster has summed it up nicely. Newcastle rode hard and gated well. Unfortunately the slick track made it difficult to pass, although Theo's ride and pass in heat 15 was truly heroic (considering his physical condition) that guy has guts, simple. The ref had a shocker (probably for both teams), that is all. This tie under normal circumstances would not be over but it will be very tough for whatever Monarchs team takes to the track on Sunday, as many have said, both man and machine are hurting this morning. But if you can count on nothing else with this team is that they fight, as was shown last night, lesser teams would have been rolled over but the Blue and Gold kept on fighting. Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1361

Good answer. Any particular favourite?

Well I never saw that coming. Magic win from Edinburgh Monarchs with 6 riders scoring good points, with Cookie and Max the stand out performances. Perhaps we'll see another PL match with Edinburgh Monarchs in it. Well done guys safe home.

True on reflection, 'dip' may have been a better word. They should be cracking matches though.

Dust reference was more of a bit of fun directed towards our west coast pals. I think they had dust issues on Sunday ... Doc and his crew do a great job to keep the track in good shape no matter the weather. Long may that continue.

This match has all the makings of being an absolute belter. Both teams after a good start to the season have slipped into a bit of a (hopefully) mini slump in form. Let's hope for dry weather a big crowd and some good speedway.. but no dust. ;-)

Which team changes would encourage you to go back to Ashfield? i.e. what riders would you like to see in the team now

Edinburgh have hit a bit of a poor bit of form (Claus) and injury (Cookie and Mitchell) so I'd be surprised if the Blue & Gold took anything from this one. But you never know...we live in hope. Stay safe.

Thanks for that.

Any rumour re the the out-going and in-coming riders?

Thanks very much for that. I'm still quite interested in this though, for no real logical reason than to watch a bit of speedway on the TV. My cheeky wee flutter on Russia may not be that misplaced after all.

Do we know the full line up for this match yet? Do we know who the commentators are?