Edinburgh Monarchs speed past Scorpions to boost play-off hopes
The Edinburgh Monarchs are creeping ever closer to clinching a coveted Championship play-off berth.
Last night's hard-fought 48-42 victory over the Scunthorpe Scorpions was the club's fourth win on the trot and seventh consecutive victory on home shale in both league and cup.
Both Justin Sedgmen and skipper Paco Castagna turned in exceptional performances to score 15 and 14 (paid 16) respectively, the former unbeaten by an opposing rider in five outings.
However, the team, minus No.1 Victor Palovaara, who is suffering from pneumonia, all chipped in to fend off a dogged Scorpions side, who have stuggled for consistency this season.
Monarchs are now six points clear in third in the race to secure a top-four spot. And with just four league fixtures remaining, the Capital side are sitting nicely with both Redcar and Oxford trying to hunt them down.
Attentions quickly now turn to a crucial KO Cup quarter-final second leg clash against arch-rivals the Glasgow Tigers at Ashfield on Wednesday night. Monarchs are eight points up from the first leg but will be without Swede Palovaara, and compatriot Jonatan Grahn, who is riding in his homeland that evening.
However, Castagna says there is a real air of confidence about the team just now.
He said: "We're in good form and the good thing is we can cover for each other. The team is the goal so even if somebody does bad, we have cover. It's been a while since we've been in the play-offs so I now really feel we deserve our spot. We all feel like that so it's a fantastic feeling. We all know we can get there so we just need to focus on ourselves. It's going to be a busy week next week and I can't wait."
Sedgmen added: "The real reason I didn't do heat 15 is I've felt I've been struggling a bit all year, just not hitting the ground running. I asked John (Campbell) and the other guys to see if I could move to No.3, just to make my nights a little bit easier, and try and gain a bit of confidence round here and it's definitely worked out."