Edinburgh Monarchs cruise past Diamonds to set up Glasgow Tigers quarter-final clash

The damage was done on Tyneside in the first leg last Sunday after the Monarchs returned north of the border with a 49-41 victory.

A depleted Newcastle side arrived at Armadale with just five riders for the return leg, the Diamonds operating rider replacement for No.1 Bradley WIlson-Dean and ex-Monarch Willie Lawson coming in at No.5 for Paul Starke who was suffering with a bout of food poisoning. Read into that what you will.

The hosts had all but sealed their place in the last eight after four races, a 16-8 lead with Sam Masters, Kye Thomson and the impressive James Sarjeant all with race wins under their belts.

Monarchs rider Jaco Hook leads Newcastle's Max Clegg. Picture: Jack Cupido

Former league winner with the Monarchs Matty Wethers was the first Diamond to see the chequered flag in heat five but his team-mate James Wright couldn't find a way past Thomson or Paco Castagna for a heat advantage they so desperately craved.

Sarjeant outfoxed Wethers to take a battling win - his third of the night - to preserve the Monarchs' eight-point lead at the midway point. Crucially, the Capital outfit were 16 points clear on aggregate and home and dry barring a miracle.

To their credit, Wethers and Max Clegg continued to fight for the cause but a 4-2 in heat 11 from Pickering and Jacob Hook increased Monarchs' lead to ten and, with that, a quarter-final showdown with their arch rivals.

A third 5-1 of the evening saw the Monarchs pull 18 points clear 48-30 with just two heats remaining.

Monarchs´ James Sarjeant leads team-mate Josh Pickering and Diamonds’ Willie Lawson and George Congreve. Picture: Jack Cupido

Young Australian Hook rode a fine line to finish with a paid win in the penultimate race before top duo Masters and Pickering compounded the Diamonds misery with another 5-1 to secure a comprehensive 58-32 win – 107-73 success on aggregate.

Sarjeant, Masters and Pickering all finished with paid maximums and will take a lot of confidence ahead of a double header against Glasgow in the Championship next weekend.

Monarchs: Masters 14, Pickering 13, Sarjeant 11, Thomson 8, Castagna 7, Hook 4, Fredriksen 1.

Diamonds: Wethers 10, Clegg 8, Complin 6, Wright 4, Congreve 2, Lawson 2.