Edinburgh Monarchs host Redcar Bears in the first-leg of the Knockout Cup semi-final and the visitors are on a high having just won the Championship Pairs.
The winning pair of Charles Wright and Lewis Kerr will lead the charge for the Bears but they also have Richard Lawson guesting in place of Erik Riss, former Monarchs’ captain.
There are no obvious weak links lower down the Redcar order, especially with recent signing Kyle Newman introduced at Poole Pirates where he won a heat.
Monarchs are also in confident mood having clinched their play-off place by winning at Oxford Cheetahs in midweek and they may welcome back skipper Sam Masters (pictured courtesy of Edinburgh Monarchs), the top rider in the SGB Championship, only three weeks after a double injury sustained at Armadale.
Monarchs’ heat leader Kye Thomson, who has been prominent in recent matches, said: “We know Redcar and our way round Redcar as well and last year we were able to beat them in the quarter-final for the league so I think we have a good shot of doing the same this time. They are a good team, but I think we can do it.”
Monarchs are bidding to reach the Cup Final for the second season running and the second leg is at Redcar on Friday, September 2.
Friday’s match will be live streamed by the club. Details on www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk
What The Fork 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.
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