Edinburgh have signed James Birkinshaw on loan from Workington to replace the injured David McAllan. James is 19 and was born in Sheffield.
He started out with Sheffield in 1997 but switched to Newcastle towards the end of the season. He did a full season with the Diamonds in 1998 finishing with an average of 3.87. He scored reasonably well at reserve but found things more difficult when he moved up to the notoriously difficult number 2 slot.
He moved to Workington at the start of this season and was starting to put together some scores at number 2 when he sustained an injury putting him out for some weeks. In the meantime, Workington made several changes including bringing in Barry Campbell and Darren Groves. He is currently averaging 3.13.
Monarchs have been chasing James for over two weeks and are delighted that he has signed following competition from other teams.
He will make his debut at number 6 against Newport in the Cup second round second leg match this Friday at Armadale. His first away match will probably be the Premier National Trophy Semi-Final second leg at Brough Park a week on Monday. His experience of the Brough Park track could prove very useful to Monarchs.
James has a reputation as a big track rider having appeared for Sheffield and more recently for Workington. His favourite track is Kings Lynn. This might be of help to Monarchs in their remaining Premier League matches at Berwick and the Isle of Wight plus possible trips to Sheffield or Exeter in the Cup. Ironically, his best score for Newcastle in 1998 was 11+1 from five rides away at Arena Essex!