Diamonds facing right royal battle
Ludvig Lindgren in the blue helmet on the inside of Workington’s British Champion Craig Cook. PIC: STEVE BROCK NEWCASTLE Diamonds take to the track tonight in a tough encounter with the high-flying Edinburgh Monarchs, and need to get back to winning ways as soon as possible after a 60-36 mauling at Sheffield Tigers last Thursday.
Newcastle will take to their home shale knowing the Monarchs have already achieved a 45-45 draw earlier this season at Brough Park and they’re in fine form as their win at Ipswich on Thursday night showed. They were 12 points down with five races to go but came back to win by a point.
The Diamonds will be boosted by the return to their ranks of local boy Stuart Robson, a former Diamonds No. 1 and captain who has arrived for the rest of the season to cover for the unfortunately injured Lewis Rose. However, team manager George English is under no illusions as his charges face a tricky test.
“On Thursday, we came up against a faster starting home side who’s power we couldn’t match,” he said.
“Once again, we were left trailing at the start and couldn’t bridge the gap. There was plenty of good racing but ultimately we too often found ourselves battling against it from the starts.”
“Tonight will be very tough indeed as Edinburgh have already shown they can go well around Newcastle. Plus, with Robert (Lambert) and Stevie (Worrall) representing Great Britain in Poland on Saturday night we can only hope they arrive feeling fresh enough to race and help us to get a win.”
Skipper Ludvig Lindgren was also in philosophical mood following Thursday’s defeat.
“We knew it was going to be tough on Thursday and so it proved. It just seemed like a standard Sheffield v Newcastle meeting as we never seem to be able to get going around there no matter what side we put out.”
“Tonight, we know it’s going to be super hard. They’ve just won at Ipswich ending their unbeaten home run so they’re riding a wave of confidence whilst we’re a bit down after Thursday.
“But our fans know we will fight to the last point tonight to try and secure a home win.”
It should be a battle royal between the Diamonds and the Monarchs tonight with the sides evenly matched.
Newcastle will be desperate to win in front of their loyal fans and Edinburgh just as desperate as they sit second in the Championship table and look to go top.