Redcar v Edinburgh preview

The Redcar “Agilia” Bears finally return to the shale at the Media Prima Arena after a gruelling 597 days away from team competition! The Bears face off against the Edinburgh Monarchs in the return fixture after doing battle on Friday night as the Bears came away with an extremely credible draw at Armadale.

Bears team manager Jade Mudgway spoke to us shortly after Friday’s thrilling draw and had this to say on Friday’s meeting. “Friday night was a nail biter at Edinburgh. The lads fought hard and came away with the draw and it was a great match! Jake Allen was showing everyone why we love to see him ride with his great flat out style showing Sam Masters the way round Armadale. Jordan Jenkins also rode fantastically picking up a massive 5-1 in heat 8 to put us back on track. Also, Michael Palm Toft came good after some mechanical gremlins before the parade and pulled off some great rides in heats 12 and 15. All in all Friday night was a great start to a long season although I was slightly disappointed that we didn’t get that win. The guys all gave us 100% and I can’t ask for more than that and it was a brilliant team performance so early on”. 

Now, moving onto Sunday’s return Jade had this to say ahead of the eagerly anticipated encounter which is also a sell out! “I’m really excited to finally get underway. My heart rate is going to be through the roof! The nerves will be on high alert but our riders thrive on that sort of pressure. I think we are going to have a hard close match, very much like Friday’s fixture but if we can put some pressure on the Monarchs early we can build from there. If Edinburgh do build any momentum during the meeting we will need to hit back hard. We have some riders in great form and riding the crest of a wave, others are still finding their feet but I think finally having our first home match will help in building every rider’s confidence. There is plenty to come and we have it in this team to be one of those great teams. Thank you for your support”.

The Bears will need to be on high alert as the Monarchs have some star quality in their ranks including ex-Bear Nathan Greaves. The Monarchs also include former Newcastle Diamond Richie Worrall as well as Wolves star Sam Masters who have previously shown a liking for the Media Prima Arena track. On the home side of the pits, Charles Wright and Jordan Stewart will be looking to bounce back after having a relatively slow start to their respective campaigns by their high standards whilst James Sarjeant will be looking to show the Monarchs management they were wrong with their decision to dispense of his services ahead of the 2021 season. 

After the main event, the Redcar Cubs take to the shale after a stunning 11-19 6 heat success over the West Lothian Wildcats. The starlet for the Cubs was undoubtedly Becky Weston who rode to a 9 point maximum. The Cubs will be looking to complete a Northern Junior League double over the Wildcats with Kyran Lyden taking the number 1 race jacket in the absence of Alex Goldsbrough who is on British Youth Championship duty. 

 REDCAR “AGILIA” BEARS 

1. Charles Wright       9.35   (Captain)

2. Anders Rowe         4.27

3. Michael Palm Toft 8.18

4. Jorden Stewart     5.74

5. Jake Allen              7.26

6. James Sargent.    3.90

7. Jordan Jenkins.    2*

TM Jade Mudgway 

EDINBURGH “WHAT THE FORK” MONARCHS

1. Sam Masters 9.03 (Captain)

2. Nathan Greaves 4.49

3. Kye Thomson 4.00

4. Josh Pickering 6.98

5. Richie Worrall 8.04

6. Joe Lawlor 2*

7. William Lawson 3.81

TM John Campbell

Redcar Cubs

1 Kyran Lyden

2 Katie Gordon

3 Laylen Richardson

4 Becky Weston

West Lothian Wildcats

1 Lewis Miller

2 Gregor Miller

3 Caydin Martin ( guest )

4 Rico Joyce