Monarchs gear up for busy spell
Table-toppers looking to bounce back after cup exit
The Parsons Peebles Monarchs are gearing up for their busiest spell of the season with six fixtures in 15 days.
But the SGB Championship leaders are relishing the challenge as they look to cement their place at the top of the table and stay ahead of the chasing pack.
The club will also be looking to bounce back after being dumped out of the KO Cup by the Sheffield Tigers last week following a 53-37 second-leg loss.
A successful spell over the next fortnight could go a long way to securing the club’s fifth title since 2008.
A hat- trick of tasty looking encounters with play- off rivals over the course of four days sees the Armadale-based club make the long trip to Ipswich tonight ( Thursday) before hosting the Redcar Bears in the usual Friday evening slot at the Armadale Stadium.
They follow that up with a visit to Newcastle to face the Diamonds on Sunday afternoon before home clashes against Ipswich ( June 16) and Scunthorpe ( June 23) are sandwiched in between a Thursday night journey south to face Redcar ( June 22).
Despite sitting at the top of the standings, Monarchs copromoter Alex Harkess believes there is more to come from his team, especially away from West Lothian, saying: “At the moment we seem to have been performing well enough at home to win matches but not enough away.
“I keep thinking that we’ll get everyone performing at their best and be a really good team but I’m not sure when it is going to happen. We’ll keep working on it.”
Harkess, though, admits that he hopes their away form will be rectified this week with the tough challenges ahead for his team.
He said: “We have three important matches this week.
“We’ve been to Newcastle and done very well and I like to think we will go there and do well again. None of our team should have any fears about going there.
“Redcar at home is no different to any home match because we want to win any time we’re at home. Yes, they have one or two riders who can certainly get round our place but we have to overcome that.
“Hopefully if all, or nearly all, of our riders perform to what we know they are capable of we will be fine.”
The action starts at the usual Friday night Armadale Stadium time of 7.30pm.
For details on ticket prices, visit www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk.