Edinburgh Monarchs take big step towards play-offs with losing bonus point at Leicester Lions

The Edinburgh Monarchs moved up to fourth in the Championship standings after securing a losing bonus point away at top-of-the-table Leicester Lions.

The Scottish side went down 47-42 at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena but have taken a huge step towards securing one of the six end-of-season play-off berths.

Guest Richard Lawson, who was standing in for injured skipper Sam Masters, led the way with 11 points with Josh Pickering also hitting double figures from his five outings.

The Lions have made their home track something of a fortress in recent seasons so it's a big point on the road for the Monarchs.

Josh Pickering scored 10 at Leicester. Picture: Jack Cupido

The hosts were operating rider replacement for young prodigy Dan Thompson, but the Capital septet more than held their own over the course of the meeting and might consider themselves unfortunate not to have taken more from the Midlands.

Australian Pickering, 25, said afterwards: "We were coming here to try and get the three points but Leicester are a very strong side and have a dominant top three. Kyle (Howarth) has been unbelievable all year. I knew it was going to be tough, but we've got a couple of riders who have never been to this track before and if we were to get Leicester in the play-offs, I honestly believe we could do them home and away."

Lions: Morris 14, Howarth 9, Worrall 9, Thompson 8, Mountain 5, Clegg 2.

Monarchs: Lawson 11, Pickering 10, Thomson 8, Fredriksen 5, Castagna 4, Sarjeant 3, Hook 1.