Castagna says Monarchs must "stay positive"

EDINBURGH captain Paco Castagna insists his side must “stay positive” ahead of a crunch decider with Poole. 

The Monarchs take on the Pirates in the second leg of their Cab Direct Championship Play-Off semi-final at Armadale tonight, live on BSN (7pm).

The home side face an uphill task to overturn a 24-point deficit from the clash in Dorset on Wednesday night. 

Castagna admits: “It’s a s*** taste you know. We were on it. We had a couple of boys that didn’t jump into the meeting and was struggling. 

“We tried to help, I tried to help. I tried my absolute best for the team. As a captain that’s what you have to do. 

“Heat 15 didn’t quite go our way. We wanted to pull some points back for Friday. But it didn’t go the way we had planned. 

“Head up. We have to look forward and stay positive. 

“We have won meetings by 18-plus points. We’ve done that against very strong teams.

“They are very strong. But they also have riders that don’t like Edinburgh at all. 

“They have heat leaders who go well but also have good meetings and bad meetings. 

“So if all the boys click at the same time, I still believe that we can do it. 

“I wish I could say how much hunger I have for medals with this club.”

“I hope that we can show it on Friday. I hope I can pass it onto the boys and go out and perform.”

ROSS ECO TECHNOLOGIES MONARCHS: Kye Thomson, Jonatan Grahn, Justin Sedgmen, Paco Castagna (c), Dan Thompson, Mitch Cluff, Jordy Loftus.

POOLE WESSEX MARINE PIRATES: Richard Lawson, Will Cairns, Lewis Kerr, Cooper Rushen, Zach Cook (c), Slater Lightcap, Kyle Newman.

Images by Taylor Lanning.