Campbell raises the stakes for Monarchs

EDINBURGH MONARCHS chief John Campbell's bullish "catch us if you can" message ahead of tonight's speedway Premier League clash with the Isle of Wight Islanders at Armadale has prompted fears that he's putting his side under too much pressure.

Co-promoter Campbell's confidence is based on the Monarchs' run of 17 victories out of 20 but the championship race has still five months to unfold.

A number of those wins occurred in the Knockout Cup and Premier Trophy competitions and Monarchs have reached the semi-finals of both.

The league, however, is the main target and Monarchs are currently lying third in the table behind Workington Comets and pacesetters Somerset Rebels, who have lost just one match so far. Monarchs have lost one and drawn one.

Monarchs will point out they have matches in hand over the top two clubs but, as Rangers discovered in the SPL run-in against Celtic, that isn't always an advantage. Campbell's decision to throw down the gauntlet is rooted in the frustration he feels that his high-flying side are simply not getting the recognition they deserve from some critics down south.

Campbell is especially irked that, in the Premier League meetings they have televised so far, Sky's punditry team haven't even considered Monarchs as serious title challengers.

Southern bias is nothing new in speedway but to imply that Monarchs have perhaps one hand on the championship flag already, even though the league race is in its early throes, could come back to haunt him.

And, while so far Monarchs have performed magnificently home and away, what happens if things start to unravel for them and they run into injury problems? Their quest for a second league title could quite easily founder.

When Monarchs captured the crown for the first time in their history in 2003, they did it quietly and efficiently, sneaking up on the rails to wrongfoot everybody.

Campbell will now, hopefully, allow his riders' to do his talking on the track.

Meanwhile, skipper Derek Sneddon has rubbished claims that he was set to quit Monarchs unless his partnership with Californian Ryan Fisher was dissolved.

Monarchs are to make a riding order change but claim it has nothing to do with Sneddon's alleged ultimatum. The Falkirk ace, who is suffering from a lack of confidence right now and could conceivably drop down to reserve when the new averages come into effect next month, insists there is no rift between himself and Fisher.

Writing in tonight's match programme, Sneddon said: "As far as me and Ryan are concerned we are still friends. It's fairly obvious our styles don't work well together. We both understand that. There certainly isn't a problem between Ryan and me, certainly not that I'm aware of. Like Chinese whispers someone has heard something and made something out of it. I don't want this to cause upsets in the team because there aren't any.

"Everybody gets on well with Ryan, who is a fun and easy going guy. The trouble is I'm not quick enough for him. And he sometimes has to get me out of the way to get past. It's frustrating for me when I'm not going well, but I understand why Ryan is doing it."

Both William Lawson and Thomas Jonasson miss tonight's meeting due to World Under-21 Team Cup commitments.

Monarchs will use rider replacement again for Jonasson and hope to book King's Lynn's Tomas Topinka as a guest for Lawson.

Lawson, who has been named in the 12-man GB World Team Cup squad, has struck it lucky in the draw for his World Under-21 individual championship.

semi-final. The Perthshire rider has avoided travelling to Croatia and faces the relatively short trip to Rye House for the event on June 15. Lawson has notched up 15 point maximums in the last two weeks at Armadale and will be missed. The Islanders will need to pull something extra special out of their tool box, though, to put a dent in Monarchs' unbeaten home record.

Although the visitors recently dumped Sheffield Tigers out of the Knockout Cup, they have only won a single match away from home and everything points to a comfortable win for Monarchs, who welcome reserve Andrew Tully back into the ranks following his foreign excursion last Friday.