PREVIEW: NEWCASTLE v EDINBURGH (KOC)

NEWCASTLE owner Rob Grant is hopeful of completing a major KO Cup upset when the doors finally open at Brough Park today (Sunday).

The Diamonds host Edinburgh having gone down by just four points in Friday’s first leg at Armadale.

Tero Aarnio steps in for the injured Ben Barker for the hosts, whilst the Monarchs bring in Steve Worrall to race alongside his brother Richie against their former club, as a Polish commitment for Sam Masters takes priority.

Grant said: “All the lads had their moments on Friday and are boosted with that performance and keen to capitalise on that this afternoon and get us into the next round of the Cup.

“Tero is a good choice of guest for us as he knows our track better than most, and had a massive following from our fans, so he’s a good replacement for Ben, and has been scoring points of late after a slightly slow start last week.

“It will be a great meeting today and hopefully we’ll have some celebrating to do later on.”

The meeting is followed by a National Development League clash between the Newcastle Gems and the Armadale Devils.

NEWCASTLE: Tero Aarnio, Adam Roynon, Connor Mountain, Max Clegg, Matthew Wethers, James Wright, Joe Alcock.
EDINBURGH: Steve Worrall, Nathan Greaves, Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering, Richie Worrall, Joe Lawlor, William Lawson.

NEWCASTLE: Max Clegg, Josh Embleton, Kelsey Dugard, Joe Alcock, Ryan Terry-Daley, Archie Freeman, Danny Smith.
ARMADALE: Nathan Greaves, Sheldon Davies, Danny Phillips, George Rothery, Tom Woolley, Lewis Millar, Gregor Millar.