Over the past three seasons, no visiting team has given Edinburgh such a hard time at Armadale as Newcastle.
In their first appearance at Armadale the Diamonds beecame to first visiting team to deny Monarchs a victory in a competitive match. They took a 45-45 draw in a cup qualifier after looking likely winners until a Robert Eriksson/Kenny McKinna heat 15 5-1 tied the match. Then a few day later the result was altered to a Monarchs win after it was discovered that Glyn Taylor had inadvertantly used an illegal tyre for his last two rides. Newcastle made amends when they returned in the Premier League later in the season to wreck Monarchs unbeaten home record.
Edinburgh managed to win both the cup qualifier and the Premier League match in 1998 but Newcastle struck again last year. As Monarchs staged their first competitive match full of confidence with what looked a very strong team, Newcastle spoiled the party with a convincing win in the Premier National Trophy qualifier.
The Diamonds had three ex-Monarchs in their side, obert Eriksson and Paul Gould at numbers 1 and 2 and Steven Jones at reserve. All three scored heavily. Eriksson and Gould opened with three successive 5-1s. Gould was on a paid maximum until he ran last in heat 15. Steven Jones also won two heats as Newcastle beat Monarchs 47-43. The absence of Peter Carr and the superior gating powers of Barum tyres were attributed as key factors in this defeat.
Monarchs later recovered from the home and away defeats by Newcastle in the Northern Group Qualifiers to beat the Diamonds home and away in the Premier League Cup. They also edged out Newcastle in the Premier National Trophy semi-final by a single point.
However, the Newcastle bogy struck again when the Diamonds returned in August on Premier League business. Newcastle won this by 50-46 after a dramatic last heat decider. Both teams had used the controversial 'golden double' to secure an 8-1 heat advantage, Monarchs in heat 8 and the Diamonds in heat 14. This left the match tied at 45-45 going into the last heat. It looked like a draw was on the cards with Carr leading but Eriksson and Walsh ahead of Grieves. Then Grieves fell attemting a pass to secure a home win and Peter Carr touched the tapes in the rerun. Blair Scott came in facing Walsh and Eriksson alone and Newcastle secured their inevitable win.
Newcastle currently are bottom of the Premier League. They also finished rock bottom of the Premier National Trophy Northern Group. To make matters worse they were eliminated from the Cup after home and away defeats by Stoke. Despite all this Newcastle probably represent the biggest threat to Monarchs in the Premier League this year. Workington who won at Armadale in the Premier National Trophy have already been seen off and few other teams have the capability to win at Armadale.
While many of the riders who have done damage to Edinburgh in the past have gone, Newcastle certainly retain a number of Armadale specialists. Most notable is Jesper Olsen who is always capable of scoring a maximum if he is in the mood is at second string and is named at number 4. Stuart Swales has always been a steady points scorer at Armadale partners Olsen at number 3. Bjarne Pedersen and Grant MacDonald are at number 1 and 2 and should also form a powerful top partnership. Finally there is new signing André Compton who provided some great entertainment when here with Sheffield last season. The reserves included Monarchs' target Rob Grant and the experienced Darren Pearson.
Monarchs clearly have the firepower to see off Newcastle but if the team are not on top form then a Newcastle win is certainly possible. Bjarne Pedersen, Jesper Olsen and André Compton can all dominate at Armadale if they are allowed to.
The Edinburgh reserves are probably key given that the Diamonds' reserves are probably the vulnerable part of their team. It is hoped that Christian Henry will have fully recovered from the wrist injury he sustained last week.
When Newcastle were beaten 51-38 at Armadale earlier this season, promoter George English came on the tannoy and apologized for the poor performance by his team. He promised changes and vowed that Newcastle would be back at Armadale in the Premier League with a new team and would win! They have made changes with Will Beveridge and Jamie Smith being replaced by André Compton and Rob Grant. It remains to be seen if they can do it yet again.