Monarchs' Shield match is washed out at Berwick

The weather proved to be the winner again when Edinburgh Monarchs' opening Championship Shield match against Berwick Bandits at Shielfield Park was called off an hour before the 7pm start time on Saturday night.

A Berwick spokesman explained: “Because Berwick Rangers had played in the afternoon we were only able to put covers down on the bends. The straights, however, were totally drenched. And it was an easy decision for the referee to make after consulting with both respective team captains and team managers.”

Monarchs would have gone into the fixture without their new Swedish racer Joel Andersson, who suffered a nasty-looking fall in the 48-40 victory over a Monarchs 
Champions side at Armadale on Friday night.

The crash happened in the penultimate race. The Swede was able to walk back to the pits unaided but the crash was a sore one.

He was withdrawn against the Bandits purely as a precaution and is expected to be fit to ride in this weekend’s home and away Championship Shield clashes against Workington Comets.

No restaging date has been announced for the Berwick washout.