David McAllan made his comeback after knee ligament injuries. David was injured at Swindon on June 10th and had been expected to be out for one year if not for ever.

McAllan did four laps after the meeting at Armadale against the Isle of Wight on Friday and followed this up with six rides for Linlithgow against Rye House at Heatherfield on Saturday. He won his first two rides before losing out to Rye House Number 1: Simon Wolstenholme. He won two further races before falling in heat 15 when in a three way battle for the lead between Simon Wolstenholme and Linlithgow captain Jon Swales. David was down for a while but was helped up and appeared to be walking without any apparent ill effects.

David should be in a position to fight to get his place back in the Monarchs team within the next week or two.

Just as one rider is about to return after injury, another is out. Stewart McDonald took a very nasty fall after clipping Tommy Palmer's rear wheel when attempting to overtake at Armadale on Friday. He lost control and hit the first bend fence. After a delay of 20 minutes he was taken from the track in the ambulance and off to hospital. He appears to have sustained a broken wrist and bruising to the pelvic area. This appears likely to rule him out for at least six weeks if not for the remainder of the season.

McDonald currently isn't even thinking about riding: "Right now I couldn't even sit on a bike, I can hardly walk. The bruising on my pelvis, which has been slightly twisted, is expected to go down within a couple of weeks, but it's my wrist I am concerned with. There is no way I'm going to take any risks, so I'm not sure if I will ride before the end of the season."

"I'm disappointed about the accident, especially as the team are going for so many trophies and it's looks as if I'm going to miss out on some big meetings. However, it's more important to get fully fit before I decide to race again, despite the fact that I'm dying to get back on my bike".

It would appear that Stewart will have to be replaced sooner rather than later. Monarchs can use rider replacement for the moment with extra rides for Ross Brady, Blair Scott, and James Birkinshaw. However, with the cut-off for the September Green Sheets coming after next weeks meetings against Newcastle and Berwick, Blair Scott seems certain to move ahead of Stewart in the averages. This will push Stewart down to reserve and no rider replacement facilities will be available from the start of September. Monarchs will only be able to use a Conference League rider to replace Stewart. No changes in teams are permitted after the end of this month.

Peter Scully is seen by many as the obvious replacement for Stewart. He was squeezed out of the Workington side to accommodate new signing Peter Karlsson. Peter's average of 4.78 is less than the 5.77 for Stewart. He lives in Edinburgh and he is a regular at Armadale. Peter, who last rode for Monarchs in the mid-1990s, has been with Hull, Berwick and Workington over the past three years. His big track experience could be exactly what Monarchs need at the moment with away matches at Berwick in the Premier League and Sheffield in the Cup coming up soon. Peter would come straight in at reserve. This would be a boost to his scoring power. Peter has gone reasonably well at Armadale in the past with a best score of 12 points and an Armadale average of just under six points.

The Monarchs promotion were waiting for a definitive verdict on Stewart before proceeding.