Edinburgh Monarchs call-off leaves Victor Palovaara cooling heels again

Victor Palovaara was left frustrated again as Edinburgh Monarchs’ Championship match at Berwick Bandits was abandoned.
Victor Palovaara is still waiting to make his Monarchs debut second time around. Pic: Ron MacNeillVictor Palovaara is still waiting to make his Monarchs debut second time around. Pic: Ron MacNeill
Victor Palovaara is still waiting to make his Monarchs debut second time around. Pic: Ron MacNeill

The postponement meant Palovaara, signed as an injury replacement for Justin Sedgmen, is still waiting to make his season debut for Monarchs.

The referee delayed the start of Saturday’s clash by half an hour to give the rain that was falling a chance to ease off.

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Respective captains Kevin Doolan and Ricky Wells inspected track conditions before a final decision was taken and much work had already been done on the surface to make it rideable. However the rain, which started 90 minutes before the official 7pm tapes up, continued to fall and the match official called the meeting off with no new date announced.

Monarchs co-promoter John Campbell hopes Swedish star Palovaara will get his long-awaited start for the team this week in the home-and-away clashes against Redcar Bears.

Palovaara, controversially ousted by Newcastle Diamonds after they changed their team prior to the season, has agreed to fill in for Australian star Sedgmen, who broke two bones in his hand when he crashed heavily at home against Glasgow Tigers. But postponed fixtures at Leicester and now Berwick have left Palovaara coolng his heels after arranging for his bikes to be shipped over from Sweden for a second time.

However, Campbell insisted Palovaara will ride for Monarchs on Friday at Armadale after missing the Scottish Open Championship due to commitments in Sweden.

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“Victor will definitely get his opportunity this week because Justin won’t be back, it’s just impossible. Justin doesn’t know what the true extent of his injuries are and is due to book an appointment with a specialist. That is as much as I know.

“So Victor still has plenty of time to turn out for us. Victor is keen and determined to make an impact, and weather permitting, I hope he does so.”

Palovaara first joined Monarchs in 2018 and was a steady performer and also formed a strong opening scoring partnership with team-mate Wells and many fans were disappointed that there was no full-time place for him when the Monarchs team was announced during the winter.