PREVIEW: EDINBURGH v GLASGOW (CAB DIRECT CHAMP P/O S/F)
SCOTTISH rivals Edinburgh and Glasgow clash in a mouth-watering first leg of their Cab Direct Championship play-off semi-final at Armadale tonight (Friday).
The visitors finished top of the table with the Monarchs in fourth place, holding on despite home and away defeats to the Tigers in the closing part of the regular season.
That was one of three successes for Glasgow on their neighbours’ circuit in 2025, with the 47-43 league win matching their result in the Scottish Cup, and they also won 46-44 in the BSN Series. Edinburgh, meanwhile, won 49-41 in the first leg of their MAXiCab KO Cup quarter-final.
But Monarchs skipper Paco Castagna insists it all starts afresh in the play-offs, with Edinburgh at full strength and Glasgow forced into changes.
The Tigers are without Dan Thompson and Villads Nagel who are on SGP2 duty in Vojens. Nicolai Klindt and Simon Lambert come in to guest, whilst Dayle Wood stands in for the injured Max Perry at reserve.
It’s the first time the clubs have met in the play-offs for four years, with Glasgow winning their semi-final in 2021 after a big result at home, whilst Edinburgh were victorious in the 2015 Grand Final.
Castagna said: “We know what to expect. We know how strong Glasgow are and have been this year. They are first in the league and they are not the best in the league by any mistake.
“But on the other side, we were predicted to be low in the league and we have finished fourth. We deserve the play-offs and that’s where we are. We’ve upset a few predictions.
“The club should be very, very happy to achieve the goal which was put in front of us at the start of the year, which was to get into the play-offs, so we should already be happy. Now whatever we do now is extra.
“For me, the main thing is to be strong in the home match and try to get as much lead as we can – first of all of course, get a win!”
Glasgow manager Cami Brown said: “The league championship is the big one. We’ve got to ride well to have a result, to make it a good chance in the second leg to get through, because we want to be in that final.
“We want to try and push to that championship again. It’s going to be extremely difficult. All four teams in the play-offs are all very good.
“I expected Edinburgh to make the play-offs, and they duly did. They deserve their place, and we’ve got to treat them with complete respect. We’ll go there all guns blazing and try and get the right result.”
EDINBURGH: Victor Palovaara, Paco Castagna, Justin Sedgmen, Michael Palm Toft, Kye Thomson, Jonatan Grahn, Jordy Loftus.
GLASGOW: Chris Harris, Simon Lambert, Nicolai Klindt, Leon Flint, Kyle Howarth, Dayle Wood, Freddy Hodder.
SCB Referee: Willie Dishington
*LIVE STREAMING: https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk
