Next up at Armadale are the Gems

NEWS Wednesday 12th May 2021, 11:00am

by Mike Hunter

After a very successful opening night for season 2021, Armadale's Stellar Devils will this Friday face up to Newcastle's young Gems team led by former Monarch Max Clegg.

There's a lot of rising talent elsewhere in the Gems' side with their reserves being Archie Freeman and Danny Smith, both 16, both from Newcastle and both stars of the British Youth Championship in recent times. In short, just what every team in the National Development League wants in their team.

The Stellar Devils will be keen to keep up the good work they started last Friday. Tom Woolley has been amongst the successes of their season so far with 20 points in the two matches against Berwick. Looking forward to Friday he said "I would hope that we could give a good account of ourselves and hopefully win that. We've had two meetings now and they haven't had any so that will help us.

"Obviously Max Clegg is going to be very good round Edinburgh, he's had many a season there so we're not silly enough to think that he'll be easy to beat, I think he'll be very good. But I think if we all work together and be solid like we did last Friday, there's no reason why we can't win."

Team manager Alan Budzynski was happy with the way his team is developing. "They have certainly gelled. And anyone in the pits last week can certainly attest to that. There were several occasions in the course of the meeting where riders were helping each other make adjustments to their bikes.

"We even had instances where riders were offering parts off their spare bikes to others who had broken or damaged parts in the course of their rides. It's certainly great to see such commitment, especially as it's only the second match that they have ridden together as a team.

The Devils will go to the top of the National Development League if they win Friday's match. It's early days.

THIS WEEK'S MEETINGS:

Friday 14th May: Stellar Devils v Newcastle Gems (National Development League), 7:30pm

STELLAR DEVILS: Nathan Greaves (capt.), Sheldon Davies, Tom Woolley, Lewis Millar, Danny Phillips, George Rothery, Gregor Millar.

NEWCASTLE GEMS: Max Clegg (capt.), Josh Embleton, Kelsey Dugard, Joe Alcock, Ryan Terry-Daley, Archie Freeman, Danny Smith.

Live Stream

You can watch Friday's home fixture against the Newcastle Gems live on EMTV. Click below to pre-order your access:

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