scotchopper

Not really sure how you get Peterborough they only have 1 x 3 point win from 7 away matches in the +/- table they are -3 and although they have 5 matches in hand over Edinburgh they are 23 points behind them. The Monarchs have had some disappointing away results recently but got good points on the board early on and I still expect them to pick up more points when they back to Berwick, Scunthorpe and Newcastle. If they can keep winning at home they should be fine although need big improvements for the play offs as I wouldn't fancy them over 2 legs against the other top teams at the moment. At the moment Glasgow (+15) are streets ahead scoring in all 7 away matches Edinburgh (+8), Ipswich (+8) and Sheffield (+9) are similar so that is the 4 likely to be in the play offs. I wouldn't rule Workington (+3) out as they have only raced 5 away meetings and cookie could pull them through in a few and redcar (+3) are not out of it, the rest need snookers.

Grippy track or not grippy track that is the question..... There was some fantastic passes last night as a result of the grip in the track particularly Sam passing sedgy and Rory the cut back from Ricky in ht13 and the flying Erik Riss looking really good. It's no real surprise that the top 3 want a grippy track. However there were at least 4 riders in the field last night incapable of riding it, even Danny king, Rory schlein and Sam masters all hit the deck in one race and of course the horrendous crash for Mark Riss tells me that it's not possible to keep it that way. Ultimately both weeks the track has been weather affected and we have had a number of weeks this year where the track was super slick because there was no rain for a month so there is no exact science and difficult to get consistency. But ultimately if we are putting in rules forcing teams to have novices at no 7 it means we can't have tracks as grippy as last night. As for the scores monarchs got out of jail last night, Ipswich looked a certainty to get 4 points from the match at heat 6 and I couldn't see where we were getting heat advantages once Mark was out. Both teams threw away points but the two 5-0s killed it. Ricky wells and erik riss looking back to their best so some positive signs but we need then bottom 4 going better than they are to back them up. For those staying that Ipswich would win over two legs are forgetting monarchs led at foxhall until heat 7 so I wouldn't count your chickens yet. Best wishes to mark in what was a horrendous crash, hope you're back on a bike soon

Couldn't disagree more mainly because and we have all witnessed it in the elite league is what happens next year and the year after and the year after. Whilst the current crop has a few riders that will make it, this will decrease next year and the year after. Or you get the ludicrous situation where someone decides which of the riders are allowed to stay at reserve and who is not. I totally agree with bringing in the riders at 2 points making it more likely that they will get a chance, that is a good thing as I do agree I don't want second rate foreigners hanging around beyond their best before date. However the harsh reality is that there are not enough competent no 7s around for everyone. If you are good enough you are old enough and the likes of Hume will get a chance and I'm sure Perks had been given a go before the rule was introduced

As you say it's a huge step up so by definition it will be too big a step for many as we are seeing. All you have proven is that the difference between the league's is too big. tracks in the national league are being prepared for novices and it is not being used to prepare riders for progression, nothing in the sport in this country is. Just give them a bike a team place and away you go..... We are dumbing down the championship instead of trying to produce better riders

Agreed paulco the rule to force teams to track an untried rider is good in theory but the reality is it doesn't work, waters down the product and will lose a lot of lads from the sport. We need to find a way to get more riders in the sport as there is too much doubling up, the alternative is less teams and no one wants that The national league is where they should be learning and only those who are ready and good enough should go up.

A gorgeous night at armadale with Some pretty decent racing and plenty passing especially from max Clegg, who possibly passed a sheffield rider in 5 out of 7 races. A close ending made this a tense encounter but the bottom line is Monarchs gift wrapped a point for Sheffield and should have won much more easily. Mitchell threw away a point in heat 2 Mark got in front of sam for 2 laps in heat 6 which was a shame as I would have loved to see Sam chase down howarth Very poor heat 8 allowing Kurtz to win with his only points. In hindsight should have switched Clegg and Davey Mark then lost to sarjeant in ht10 another soft point, disappointing night for the elder riss. Then we imploded as Ricky couldn't prevent the 6 point tactical, Erik was forced into a mistake by the eratic riding of bjerre conceding a 5-1 and then Sam fell whilst in 2nd place and looking dangerous in ht13 Finally another poor result in a last heat decider as we failed to stop Sheffield getting a point. Excellent race and Sam must have been pretty close to taking the win on the line, many in the stadium thought he had. Fair play to Sheffield for digging in, making very few mistakes (if any) and grinding out a point but this should have been a big win for monarchs. Concerning that the big 2 aren't being dominant in ht 13 and 15, Sheffield gated on a 5-1 in both and although we did get past summers and looked like turning both around into a 4-2 we need to make better gates in these races. If all the missing riders were there this probably would have been tighter so can't complain about sheffield gaining a point but if monarchs want to win 2 leg matches at the business end of the season they need to get their finger out at home.

I disagree, when you say Erik was flying he didn't actually beat any of the top Workington riders and only race win was when proctor failed to get off the start. Ricky beat proctor and sergeant in ht5, passed jorgensen in a brilliant ht11 and beat cookie in ht13. He also has loads of experience at derwent park so right call for me. The riders lined up on the same gates as heat 13 when we got a 3-3 which is what we needed so I couldn't complain. Sam actually made it to the front but stayed too high allowing cookie through so we weren't far away. The bottom line is we started the meeting too slow and you can't keep giving teams a head start. Balance of the team will be better when Sam goes back to no1. Too many last places and too many riders a little bit off form. Workington thoroughly deserved to win and it was the best meeting I have seen at Derwent park. Good passes in early races, heat 11 was fantastic with Mark, Ricky and tj changing places so many times a big surprise in ht13 with Monarchs keeping cookie at the back and in ht14 Mitchell davey with his best ride of the season passing both comets down the back straight. Worst decision of the night has to be the ref in heat 8, campton should have been excluded as both Monarchs were well clear before he fell. Ref bottled it in my opinion.

Sorry was driving when you sent that andonly just noticed. I hear you are sorted so all good.

Did you get someone?

The problem is that you cannot guarantee the last 2 heats would have finished the same if Glasgow got a 5-1 in ht13, for example Sam probably wouldn't have picked gate 1 in heat 15. Picking gate 1 was one of the reasons for the 2-4 he only picked it because of his performance in the rerun. Works both ways Glasgow could have gone on and won by more than 6 but bottom line is that you can't just change the result of one race in the past. In the same way if Ricky didn't drop his chain and we got a 5-1 in heat 11 you cannot guarantee we would have went on to win the match.

There is no pity for an engine failure it is just part of the sport, it's disappointing but you accept it. In the same way as the rerun it is part of the sport, they are not the same as each other but that is the rules so just get on with it. I'm sure Ricky got fined for it so there was a punishment but you cannot award a race after 2 bends. The idea of a staggered start for reruns is an interesting one.

I don't mind changes but 2 things 1. Stick to it 2. Publish them and let everyone know. The lack of information from the bspa about rules changes this year is disgraceful. The first I knew about irr was when Dan Bewley replaced Nike Lunna during a meeting.

I didn't dress it up or defend it i pointed you to a video of your own team manager defending it. I have seen it happen many times for and against my team and accept it is part of the sport. It is a professional foul and it happens in all sports, in many sports fouling is part of he game. It doesn't make it right but I don't agree with awarding the race so we are stuck with it.

You should listen to your own team managers thoughts on that one on the EMTV Friday focus. He basically says he would have expected his own rider to do the same thing. Decent meeting and an exceptional pass from Sam to get us the point. A night to forget for a couple of our boys and our own mistakes cost us the win. But fair play to Glasgow all 7 riders had at least one good race and when it came to the crunch Dan Bewley and Aaron summers won the 2 races at the end. So probably deserved the draw.

hahahaha never read anything so funny, every team has a home track advantage some more than others but it's nowhere near as big an advantage at armadale as you suggest, yawn with 1000% rubbish. cyclone gave you the reason monarchs won most of those 2 leg ties which was because of the result away from home . In the match you pick on as proof in your point Monarchs lost by 7 at Glasgow so even if there was no home advantage at all the Tigers would never have kept that within 7. If you have a good team and great riders Cook, Masters, Sedgmen, etc it makes scores a lot bigger than it would be otherwise because of the quality of the team regardless of the track. What you need to prove your point is look at the seasons where we have had a poor team and find some results that we shouldn't have had. Last season we didn't have a bad team but it wasn't quite as good as the previous 2 seasons and we only won 1 out of 3 ties over 2 legs against Plymouth in the first round of the ko cup. The reason we won that tie is because we only lost by 5 at Plymouth. the reason we lost the other 2 is because we got spanked in the away leg, did Ipswich and Glasgow suddenly have 1000% home advantage?? of course not they were the better teams and deserved to win just as we have been in the past. each to their own but i live within 2 hours drive of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Berwick and Newcastle and I would pick armadale for racing over the other 3 every day of the week. Here's hoping for some great racing tonight and a Monarchs win

My favourite was the Newcastle koc match. The diamonds won by a point at armadale on the Friday, everyone thought they had in the bag but 2 days later monarchs won by 2 at brought park. It also should be said that Edinburgh topped the table comfortably both years as well as winning the play offs. Kind of blows that theory out the water.

Fantastic point for the Monarchs tonight given the 2 Riss boys were missing. Danny Ayres was an excellent replacement for Mark and fair play to Ben Morley getting a vital point in heat 12.

I think Stevie was a bit unlucky last night awkward fall in his first race meant it was a struggle all night but still got up and got a 2nd. Max Clegg made his best gate ever in heat 5 and Stevie ended up stuck behind Mason. In heat 11 was trying hard to team ride Mason and was held up by him and beaten by a great ride by Ricky. If Stevie was in the lead I think he would have kept it. Was never in heat 13 against the 3 best riders on the night. He was never going to score what cookie was capable of scoring but on another night would have scored more. Heat 5 was the only one you can turn round and say was an awful result although he'll be gutted he couldnt lay a glove on Sam or Ricky.

Monarchs well and truly failed their first real test, massive disappointment. Well done to Glasgow and especially young Dan on a convincing win. Was gutted I couldn't make it as had a prior engagement but in the end was better where I was. This weekend has been a wake up call for Erik and ricky, better to get it sorted now than at the business end. just need to get back on the horse as they say. Well played Mark Riss who saved us from humiliation and got to be worried for Max's future now. Hopefully Nike and Sam are ok after their falls. Onwards and upwards

Gutted I am missing this one as it should be a cracker and could be really close. As others have said this is probably the first real test for Edinburgh, we have had a pretty good start to the season and the best thing is that all of the riders (except maybe Ricky) have room for improvement so we are capable of winning this one. We can't have all 7 take a ride to get dialled in like we did at scunny though got to be on it from the start. Hoping this is the night that Max Clegg finally picks up some reasonable points at ashfield. Richie Worrall looked very impressive at the dale last week so Sam and Ricky will need to at their best to beat him but I do fancy them over Summers and Lawson. For me the result is all about Mark and Josh, if they pick up wins like they have done every meeting so far we will win this meeting if Dan and Nike get the better of them we'll struggle. I'm always optimistic so will go 46-44 Monarchs.

What a turn around, huge win for the monarchs. Shame about the scunny riders and hope they're back soon but you can only beat what is in front of you. Every heat winner after race 5.

That's not really fair, riders get hurt on all types of tracks (all shapes and levels of preparation) in all kind of different ways and that was pre air fence. It is terrible to say but accidents and rider injury is unfortunately a nasty downside of our sport but Armadale is not worse than anywhere else. To kind of prove the point as a home fan all we want is a team to turn up with all 7 of their own riders. Unfortunately for young Ryan Blacklock that won't happen this week, speedy recovery to the young lad. As for the meeting I do expect the Monarchs to win comfortably, Doolan, Vissing and Bridger are all capable of challenging the top Monarchs so it is not a foregone conclusion and should get some good races. We still have a few gremlins to work out as guys settle in to the season and another chance for likes of Max and Mitch to really get started.

He beat Monarchs main reserve Mark Riss twice on Saturday and Mark will be out of reserve pretty soon. In the race Mark beat him it took Lewis Bridger 3 laps to pass both Monarchs so I think you are being incredibly harsh on Liam here. The fall in heat one was a bad mistake but I don't think any other number 2s would have scored more than 1 point higher (heat 1) than he did. I hope we look back and say that this was more about Monarchs being good than Bandits being poor, I guess this Saturday will be a good judge. Josh Pickering was way better than expected and looked better on the track in his 2nd and 3rd race than most Monarchs have looked at having been there 10 years. He didn't just win 2 races he won them by a mile and certainly wasn't just hanging on even when it was Doolan that was chasing him. Lewis Bridger - brilliant in heat 10 and won ht15 well but you could argue that him getting dominated by Sam and Ricky in his other 3 races was actually a bigger problem than some of the other riders not performing Liam Carr - As above bad mistake in heat 1 but not much more he could have done Dmitri Berge - unlucky with an engine failure in heat 5 and didn't do a huge amount wrong before being smoked by the Riss brothers in heat 12. Claus Vissing - Again didn't get anywhere near Monarchs top boys but no problem with the rest, fall in heat 15 didn't really matter as the match was lost Kevin Doolan - Great pass of Erik Riss but got nowhere near Picko in heat 11, scored his average which isn't enough at home Danny Gap - Started and ended well but nowhere near monarchs top 4 Luke Ruddick - Tried hard and did well to pass max clegg after 2 poor falls, scored 1 more than expected. Sam - A little unlucky to be stuck mid track supporting picko in ht11 allowing doolan through but perfect in 1,5 and 13. Will be disappointed to have lost out on the bonus point in ht15 but a sold night from the captain Picko - Fantastic couple of rides winning both by a distance, looked like he'd been racing Berwick for years. Will learn from heat 1 exclusion and no real harm done Erik - Some brilliant gates but was lacking speed on the day and won't be happy at being passed twice, a little unlucky in ht3 but made up for it in ht12 finishing with a solid 5-1 Max - Berwick is not his track but still should not be getting passed by Ruddick. One to forget and move on from. Ricky - didn't look 100% comfortable in his first race but still won it and was dominant throughout. Looking a great signing Mark - Looked good and strong all day but running 2 lasts mid meeting raised a concern. Carr chopped off his nose in ht 8 which seemed to motivate him to 2 great rides with his brother. Erik was actually holding him up in ht10, if he was in the lead not sure bridger would have caught him and hopefully not an expensive engine failure in ht14 Mitchell - Beat Ruddick twice and this has to be his target early season as he builds confidence. Overall a decent night at a warmer than normal Berwick with 2 or 3 quality races and a win for the Monarchs. Performance of Josh pickering a big highlight and only thing Edinburgh could nit pick on was missing out on the extra point for winning by more than 6, maybe the ref could have rerun ht15.....

Haha very clever. Would love to be there earlier but got this nasty thing called work that gets in the way. Great track preparation, great racing, great presentation and great team what more could you possibly want......

Don't know if he is a hater but his record is very poor. He might be top of Scunthorpe's average but his armadale average is 5th in their team (and it was fritz first visit) so r/r could have been stronger but paid 5 from no 1 isn't great. Be very poor to skip a meeting so early in the season. Impossible to prove either way but I suspect he'll be fit for tomorrow. If he is unwell get better soon. I hope josh auty and fritz are ok as well, josh was a spectacular off. It was a pretty decent first team meeting of the season with some good racing especially Ricky passing both scorps in Ht11. Josh and Mark looking like excellent backup to a strong top 3 and early days for Max and Mitchell, lots to be optimistic about for Monarchs this season. Will find out more tonight at shielfield