SCOTLAND1314

Weather report Blue and Gold sky.... that is all.

With some of the home riders carrying injury, lack of form and the away riders putting in some decent scores this fixture could well be closer than the one run earlier in the season. Roll on Friday...

Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1327

Quality signing in Ed Kennett. I haven't seen enough of Paul Starke to judge but glad the chap has been given a chance at PL level. Good luck to the promotion.

Sounds like an absolutely terrific comeback from the Blue & Gold today. Cookie sounded like he was a class apart. Theo solid. Wee Joe tremendous score after a poor start. Excellent to see wee Max get a few good points as well including a paid win in heat 14 over a flying Birks to effectively get The Monarchs a point!! Hopefully Claus is ok.

Good luck to both teams today. It could well be a cracker of a meeting.

A bit harsh. A very rough and ready calculation would suggest that Alex Edberg has an average for the year to date of 4.92 ish (I think) with a home average of 5.5 ish. Admittedly his better scores were earlier in the season. So whilst the track shape and size may not have changed since the start of this or last season perhaps the track surface has... I know Alex didn't enjoy the new surface when Edinburgh visited recently. He was not alone in that. So just perhaps Alex is just trying to indicate that there are other reasons for his lack of recent big scores. All I know is that I've visited Berwick 3 times this season and on all occasions it has been dry and on all occasions the track surface has been different. That said as indicated he appears to have improved his average if all the season's matches to date were eligible for average calculation. As a slight aside I'd just like to say that Berwick fans have a good rider, perhaps soon to be great, in David Bellego.

I feel a wee bit sorry for Berwick they have improved their lot off track no end. They've also acquired one or two decent riders along the way. Last night seems to have swung on the battle of the guests. Worky have done very well over the last couple of matches by employing Cookie, Dyer and Wee Joe Tabaka. With these guys effectively giving match winning performances. IMO Berwick are missing the scoring of an in form Ashworth (certainly at home). Berwick tried using R/R for Ricky which wasn't quite doing it (certainly against Edinburgh) and last night they turned to a guest rider who appears to have had an off night. At the start of the season many were predicting a high league finish for Berwick so have all the reasons for this optimism dissipated?

Hopefully this GP will be a good one. I guess horse power will help. Will this leave Nikki P checking his rear mirrors again... Will Holder get a good score... Will Tai's motors make the difference... How will Darcy get on.... I can't wait to find out... Roll on Saturday.

Very disappointing for the promotion especially as they'd put on a Legend's Night as well. Let's hope for better weather next week.

Heat 9 was the best of the night I think. The meeting itself didn't have the same amount of quality racing/passing as previous weeks but it was still decent enough. The crowd looked ok as well.

Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1314 Shame about the late weather failure but Doc and his crew still provided a raceable track. This match was very similar to the away tie on Saturday with the scoreline tight until half distance and then the Monarchs (heat leader strength) making a difference. Really great to see young Max getting stuck in, brilliant heat 9 tussle and another couple of strong point scoring rides.... more please ;-)

I must admit I'm looking forward to the next chapter of the Claus and Cookie show. Cookie is a joy to watch around any track and Claus is proving to be a very big hit with the fans with a battling combative racing style and exuberant celebration style... #theclausandcookieshow Throw into the mix Wee Joe Tabaka and his exhilarating passes (jeez he'll be very good when he gates well on a regular basis) #hepasseswhenhewants Oh aye and Theo who so far this season has played a huge part in two of the best races around the Dale #thepijpercallsthetune

Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1310 1. Craig Cook 2. Derek Sneddon 3. Theo Pijper 4. Max Fricke 5. Claus Vissing 6. Marcel Helfer 7. Joe Tabaka 1. TBC 2. David Bellego 3. Kozza Smith 4. Matty Wethers 5. Robin Aspegren 6. Alex Edberg 7. Nicki Barrett This Friday will see the re-appearance of multi-league title winning Monarch asset Matty Wethers and his Bandit team mates. At the time of writing I'm unsure who will be in the number one race jacket (if anyone) for the visitors, however regardless of that I know I'll be interested to see how David Bellego rides as he is proving to be a shining light in Bandits colours this season. The home heat leaders and Wee Joe Tabaka have found a good consistent level of form so far this season so hopefully the others can start to produce a similar high standard soon. I hope it starts on Friday. Roll on Friday..

Yes I Sky+'d the GP and watched it this morning. Great stuff.

Absolute belter of a GP with two races that should go down in speedway history as classics IMO. Really good to see Tai performing so well and also nice to see Zagar join the party as well. I loved the peach of a move from Ward on the re-run of heat 14.... class.

What a superb performance by the wee man last night. Keep it going chap.

Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs Speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1308 A good support travelled down to follow Edinburgh last night home support looked a little sparse (maybe GP night kept a few indoors, perhaps other reasons). First couple of heats were very odd as it looked as if most riders were very tentative on a 'new' surface. Thereafter it was almost completely FTG. Only the scoreline keeping it semi interesting and when Bellego's valiant effort to stem the tide came to heats 13 and 15 even he couldn't stop the flying Cookie and Claus show. Healthy returns from the Cookie and Claus Show, Theo and Wee Joe with the others chipping in a few. For Berwick the star of the show was Bellego with Smith and Wethers helping out against the big boys a bit, Barrett came onto a game but Aspegren was poor and Edberg poorer. Any news on the juniors crash? It looked a sore one.

Cheers chief.

Both teams would have claims to improve their score from the last encounter earlier in the season.... but which team will. I'll say neither 45-45

Courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs speedway http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/news/article.asp?id=1301

Good effort tonight by the lads. Leicester 46 - Monarchs 44 Sounded like tricky conditions. Job done.

Really looking forward to visiting the new Ashfield circuit. Hopefully Cookie, Theo, Joe and Claus can continue their superb form and if the others can chip in with a few points this one could be close.

Edinburgh Monarchs appear to have hit the ground running so far this season. The Monarchs took Leicester to the wire last season at home, will the Monarchs take one step further and convert to an away win? Or will Leicester Lions fight back and regain a bit of pride (pun intended). Much could depend on how well wee Joe Tabaka and bike have recovered from last night's tumble, with bike coming off second best. Good luck to both teams and let's hope there is some good entertainment on show.

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