Latest call off piles up ties for Monarchs

Published on 16/06/2012 12:00

Edinburgh MONARCHS are facing a serious fixture pile-up after last night’s Premier League meeting at Armadale against Berwick Bandits was washed out, the Capital speedway club’s third postponement in less than a month.

But the call off has not hit Monarchs financially according to chairman Alex Harkess. He said: “Because we called the match off early it has not cost us much, and the previous two rain-offs against Leicester and Ipswich, we were able to make the decision early in the morning and we were not out of pocket.

“Being Berwick none of their riders’ were en-route to Armadale so we won’t have to pay for them coming back when the match is restaged, so it’s not too bad, it could have been a whole lot worse.

“It would have been ten times worse had the fans been in the stadium with both teams sitting there.”

Harkess, however, revealed that trying to find new dates in the calendar for three outstanding matches will not be easy. “We don’t have any free dates before the cut off deadline for the league play-offs which occurs on September 17, so it’s a problem to say the least.”

But can Monarchs, and other clubs, learn from Berwick to try and avoid cancellations.

Berwick are scheduled to host a Grand Prix qualifier showpiece at Shielfield Park tonight and Harkess said: “Berwick took the precaution of covering their circuit yesterday because of the bad weather and it gives them a sporting chance of getting the meeting on.

“And this might be the way forward and we should all look at it.

“It was done in conjunction with the farming community at Berwick who use covers to protect their plants and crops from adverse weather. But Berwick are now worried that the track underneath is too dry and may need watering.”.

Monarchs next scheduled home match is against Newcastle Diamonds on Friday.