Edinburgh entertain Glasgow Tigers at Armadale this Friday and will be seeking to erase memories of that last heat defeat at Ashfield on Sunday. Edinburgh have now raced against Glasgow five times at Ashfield. All have gone to a last heat decider. Edinburgh have won two, a Premier National Trophy match by a two-point margin and a Scottish Cup match by a one-point margin. A Spring Trophy match has been drawn. Glasgow won a Premier League Match last year by a six-point margin prior to the single point win on Sunday. Things were much the same in the latter years at Shawfield with the vast majority of matches being very close and Monarchs winning as many as they have lost.
Monarchs have done much better at Armadale and have won all meetings to date apart from the opening day challenge match in 1997 which Glasgow won and the Cup qualifier in 1998 which was drawn.
This Friday's match is far from a formality. Edinburgh look like being without Ross Brady. Given Brian Turner's current problems, should Ross miss the match it will put extra pressure on Christian Henry who could find himself taking six or seven rides once more.
Glasgow are well equipped for Armadale with James Grieves, now back to form, leading the line. Richard Juul has proved a good Armadale performer in the past notably when guesting for Monarchs against Glasgow in 1997. Les Collins has always ridden Armadale as has son Aidan.
Glasgow are due to change their team on Sunday with, as expected, Mark Courtney replacing his younger brother Sean at number two. This move is made possible by the introduction of the Green Sheet averages.
Mark is returning to Speedway after a 7 year absence. Courtney (38) was a very stylish rider who was tipped to reach the very top but probably never realized his true potential. Mark has recently been released after serving a jail sentence and will be joining his son Scott in the Glasgow team. This makes two father and son combinations in the Glasgow team with Les and Aidan Collins. Mark last rode for the Tigers in 1991 and comes in on a 5.00 average.
So it would appear that Friday's match at Armadale could well be the farewell appearance by our old friend Sean Courtney. Sean, who has had two spells with Monarchs, has had a long career in speedway mostly with the Northern tracks. He is also a regular at Armadale and was acting as a mechanic for Peter Carr in a recent meeting. No doubt the Armadale crowd will greet Sean in the time honoured manner!
Edinburgh will be looking for a win and the bonus point from Friday's match to maintain some respectability in the Premier National Trophy qualifying group.
Workington are running away with the group in much the same way as Newcastle did last year. They have beaten Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Berwick home and away. Their only defeat came at Sheffield in a fixture curtailed by the weather but took the bonus point. Sheffield are probably favourites to go through with Workington to the semi-finals. Monarchs, having taken the bonus point from Berwick, could yet go through should Sheffield slip up.
Latest results and tables are as follows:
Premier National Trophy Results
Premier National Trophy League Tables