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STELLAR MONARCHS: Justin Sedgmen (guest), Lasse Fredriksen, Kye Thomson, Paco Castagna, Craig Cook (captain), Kyle Bickley, Jacob Hook. AGILIA BEARS: Lewis Kerr (guest), Danyon Hume, Charles Wright (captain), Connor Bailey, Danny King, Jason Edwards, Jake Mulford. Edinburgh's opening league fixture looks like another tough one. Hopefully Sedgy brings his gating gloves and the reserves benefit from the extra confidence big scores in the NDL should give them - plus Hooky's pretty good debut in the Polish U-24 league.

A nice little piece from the BBC when speedway was the 2nd biggest spectator sport in the country and riders were paid £3.40 per point. You also catch a few glimpses of a very young Jamie & Jeremy Luckhurst who would both ride for the Monarchs in the late eighties at Powderhall.

Great to see Cookie back in the blue and gold.

Plymouth v Glasgow shown as Sep 6 on British Speedway website. I don't know when the cut-off date is but I'm sure it will be extended if Plymouth need to get something out of the match.

Decided to watch the stream of this meeting after the Armadale match was postponed, and glad I did. An excellent meeting with lots of great races and an amazing comeback by Redcar to keep the race for the play-offs still alive. Happy to see Adam Roynan riding so well and agree, I thought he would go in heat 14. Scunthorpe still in the driving seat as they have a better points difference and just need to match what Redcar do at Plymouth, but they go first and would need a 7+ win to be absolutely sure of qualifying. Still a chance for both to qualify if they both get 7+ wins and Plymouth lose at home to Glasgow as well as Redcar.

Hugely enjoyable meeting with close, skilful and hard racing from all involved. Great attitude from these young lads, lots of enthusiasm and emotion but highly professional and no messing about at the tapes - they just sat still till the tapes went up then raced as hard as they could. Great to see Ace Pijper involved having watched him in Armadale second-halves from a very young age. Congratulations to the winner, Mikkel Andersen, and lovely to see what it meant to his dad, Brian.

If Plymouth lose both remaining matches they would remain on 29 pts. If Redcar win at Plymouth by more than 6, and win at home to Scunthorpe by less than 7 they would be on 30 pts. If Scunthorpe lose at Redcar by less than 7, and win at Berwick by more than 6 they would be on 30 pts. And Plymouth would be out of the play-offs. Unlikely but possible.

Line-ups from Monarchs website: Friday 19th August: Edinburgh Monarchs v Redcar Bears (Knockout Cup semi final first leg), Armadale, 7:30pm WTF MONARCHS: Sam Masters (captain), Lasse Fredriksen, Kye Thomson, Paco Castagna, Josh Pickering, James Sarjeant, Jacob Hook. AGILIA BEARS: Charles Wright, Jason Edwards, Richard Lawson (guest), Kasper Andersen, Lewis Kerr (captain) Kyle Newman, Jordan Jenkins. That looks a strong Bears line-up with no weak links around Armadale. Great to see Sam back for the home side. Think this will be close.

Fantastic comeback from Monarchs to win and confirm our place in the play-offs. Brilliant team effort led by Josh.

Teams from Oxford website but Sam Masters not able to return yet and is replaced by guest Kyle Howarth. I think Monarchs need at least a point to feel reasonably safe from the chasing pack for play-off qualification. MONARCH OXFORD CHEETAHS 1. Scott Nicholls (C) 8.57 2. Paul Starke 5.71 3. Jack Thomas R/R 5.57 4. Aaron Summers 6.21 5. Troy Batchelor 6.65 6. Cameron Heeps 4.07 7. Dillon Ruml 5.17 Team Manager: Peter Schroeck EDINBURGH WHAT THE FORK MONARCHS 1. Sam Masters (C) 10.60 Kyle Howarth (guest) 2. Lasse Fredriksen 4.00 3. Kye Thomson 7.06 4. Paco Castagna 4.92 5. Josh Pickering 8.67 6. James Sarjeant 3.64 7. Jacob Hook 4.00 Team Manager: John Campbell

Yes. From Bandits website: "The former Berwick number one is currently suspended pending the testing of a second sample. He is named in Saturday’s provisional side but his appearance on Saturday would need to be cleared by the Speedway Control Bureau." It does show Michael Palm Toft in the side, so hopefully that means he will be at both Armadale and Shielfield.

From Monarchs website: Friday 5th August: Edinburgh Monarchs v Plymouth Gladiators (Championship), Armadale, 7:30pm WTF MONARCHS: Richard Lawson (Guest), Lasse Fredriksen, Kye Thomson, Paco Castagna, Josh Pickering, James Sarjeant, Jacob Hook. WESTCOLOUR GLADIATORS: Leon Flint (Guest), rider replacement for Alfie Bowtell, Ben Barker, Michael Palm Toft, Hans Andersen, Ben Morley, Harry McGurk. Richard Lawson guests for Sam. Leon Flint for Kennett, Hans Anderson back but I believe Michael Palm Toft and Ben Barker have still to be confirmed. 3 points a must for Monarchs in their quest for a play-off place. If they ride with the same determination and desire as last Friday, it should be no problem.

Found this on YouTube - Very impressed with the professionalism and transparency

Apparently no live streaming from Glasgow this year (except when they're on British Speedway Network).

Yes, usually a delay but should be available today sometime. Not that I'll be watching it!

NSW 500 Open Championship - @ Kurri Speedway Featuring Sam Masters, Josh Pickering & Jacob Hook. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXceuyD8SSA

Is it not the case that the lowest average you can have is 3.00 - so Jason Edwards would be rounded up to that, which would take the total over 42?

The eyes of the world have been on Glasgow this week as the great and the good descended on the city. Here are some quotes: Joe Biden: " I'm really pleased to be here in Glasgow and pretty happy to take a 10 point lead down to Poole." Greta Thunberg: "Cookie was pure dead brilliant in heat 15, by the way." David Attenborough: "The Tigers (in their natural habitat) done good but it's only half time and it's a game of two halves, you know." Leonardo DiCaprio: "Great job guys, specially Ricky and Broc. I can't make it on Thursday and I hear there's no live stream. That's a bit pish. I thought Poole were a big team?"

I hope you're right and they do decide to go ahead with stream. The tie is now very finely balanced and I'm sure there would be hundreds of Glasgow and neutral supporters who would want to watch. Enjoyable match tonight and the racing pretty good for a cold November night. Got a sneaking suspicion that the Tigers might just hold on.

Poole Pirates Speedway@poolespeedway RESULT | GLASGOW 50 - 40 POOLE The tie is on a knife edge heading into the 2nd Leg of the Grand Final at Poole on Thursday Get your tickets here https://bit.ly/3pu0bF9 Unfortunately there will be NO livestream

Usually about 7.15.

Stream purchased and looking forward to what should be a classic encounter between two evenly matched teams on a great racetrack. As a neutral, and with 2 ex-Monarchs on each side, it's difficult to know who to root for, but I've got to go for the Scottish side and hope Cookie weaves his magic round the Possil Park bowl. A 10 or 12 point victory for Tigers would set up a very interesting second leg.

Yes, that's why Edinburgh have the 25 mile limit. Poole do film their matches don't they? Not sure how easy it would be but why not let Edinburgh stream the match through the Edinburgh website which is already set up for streaming and split the revenue (and make hundreds of Monarchs fans happy to be able to watch their team win the KO Cup )

Weather forecast doesn't look great for Glasgow every day until the 31st and beyond.

Are Poole streaming the second leg? Not many Monarchs fans will be able to make the trip.