Team boss promises big changes ahead as Edinburgh Monarchs close underwhelming 2019 season

Edinburgh Monarchs bring down the curtain on their disappointing 2019 Championship League speedway season tonight when they entertain Newcastle Diamonds at Armadale in a meeting which fell victim to the weather seven days ago.

Edinburgh Monarchs are keen to end the season on a positive note against Newcastle Diamonds. Pic: TSPL

Promoter John Campbell has promised to right the wrongs of the past campaign, admitting that the current situation “is not something that we are used to”.

Campbell said: “This has been a horrible year away from home and we have been poor visitors everywhere we went.

“I will do everything in my power to change things for the future. It’s not something we are used to at Edinburgh.”

Monarchs hope to bow out on something of a high against Newcastle. The Diamonds, who are through to the Knockout Cup final against their rivals from England’s north east in the shape of Redcar Bears, will make life difficult for the home side. They boast three ex-Monarchs in their line-up in the shape of Matthew Wethers, Steve Worrall and Max Clegg.

However, their real trump card could be 38-year-old Danish rider Ulrich Ostergaard at reserve. Ostergaard is enjoying something of a renaissance for the Diamonds and he has the potential to mop up at the tail end against Monarchs duo William Lawson and Connor Coles.

Three weeks ago Monarchs won their eighth home fixture out of nine when they demolished Sheffield Tigers 58-32, with Sam Masters and former Tiger Ricky Wells both racing to paid 15-point maximums.

Wells said: “It was a pretty convincing win for the whole team, who all rode well and pulled together brilliantly.

“It would be nice to go out on a high against Newcastle, but they are a decent team who won’t make it easy for us.

“We’ll have to work hard.”

Team manager Alex Harkess, while pleased with the scale of the Sheffield victory, said: “It’s been a while since a visiting side have pushed us at Armadale, but the bottom line is we did not make the play-offs this year because of our poor away record.”

Regardless of tonight’s outcome, there is much to ponder then as Monarchs head into the close season and fans will certainly be looking for a vast improvement come spring.