Speedway: Pumped-up Monarchs can't wait for weekend to begin

Published on Friday 2 July 2010 11:51

EDINBURGH Scotwaste Monarchs are aiming high this weekend in a bid to shoot down their Premier League speedway rivals.

Monarchs are currently still at the top of the table and face Newport Wasps at Armadale tonight before travelling to Wales for the return on Sunday.

Sandwiched in between is a trip to Rye House Rockets tomorrow night, where they will hope to repeat their stunning KO Cup success of last month.

With a maximum of 11 league points up for grabs, Monarchs could give the chasing pack plenty to think about if they can emerge victorious in all three matches.

It's fair to say that Newport will not be considered the toughest opponents Monarchs will come across this season and, indeed, the Wasps are grateful still to be in business having staved off a recent threat of closure caused by dwindling crowds.

However, shareholder Peter Mole stepped in with financial backing to keep the Wasps afloat and they are already planning for the 2011 campaign.

On the track, Newport have struggled for success and four of their cosmopolitan squad are making their Armadale debuts.

Wasps signed Robin Aspegren last week to replace fellow Swede Anders Mellgren, who broke his collarbone riding in his homeland, and the Newport management have high hopes for their latest recruit.

General manager Laurence Rogers said: "Robin is another potential Newport asset, he is extremely keen and has two very good bikes. Anders has had an operation on his collarbone and we are just waiting for it to heal and, hopefully, he will be back in the saddle in the near future."

Monarchs are looking to build on their 54-35 win against Redcar Bears a fortnight ago, but are aware they need to eradicate their sloppiness in frittering away needless points.

They had a high ratio of non-finishers against the Bears, which included conceding a 5-0 advantage to their opponents in heat eight.

Monarchs captain Matthew Wethers, who scored four points for his Elite League side Wolverhampton on Monday, conceded that the Armadale track caused some difficulty early on.

"I think there was some fresh dirt put down in the days leading up to the match," said Wethers. "It did not bind properly with what was already down.

"This meant the surface rutted up and I certainly caught a rut in my first ride, and others were caught out as well. But the track settled down after a few races and we got the win we wanted.

"It's good to be back in action, things have been very quiet for the team lately which is not an ideal situation but we just have to get on with it.

"We are going pretty well, things are beginning to click and it's our aim to remain at the top of the table."

The visit to Rye House is by far the trickiest of Monarchs' three meetings. Their cup triumph was greatly aided by a downpour before the start which robbed the Rockets of the slick surface they crave and are dominant on.

Monarchs boss John Campbell said: "We are looking for another downpour this time, if it's dry and dusty then we could struggle to emulate our cup win."

"If conditions are dry then the match will be decided from the gate, so we need to ensure we make good starts throughout." The Rockets are breathing down Monarchs' necks right now and have recently signed former Rocket Robbie Kessler as a replacement for broken-arm victim Luke Bowen.

But there is an injury doubt over Rockets' free-scoring Swede Linus Sundtsrom.

However, the Hoddesdon outfit are entitled to a guest as Sundstrom became their No.1 rider under the green sheet averages which took effect yesterday.

Monarchs will use rider replacement for Kevin Wolbert this weekend as the German is competing in the semi-finals of the Grand Prix qualifiers in Russia.

Meanwhile, Monarchs have agreed dates for their KO Cup quarter-final ties against King's Lynn Stars.

They will travel to Norfolk for the first leg on Wednesday, 28 July and host the deciding leg at Armadale on Friday, 6 August.