LunnasPerm

I'm genuinely surprised by certain Edinburgh fans' reaction on here. That Monarchs side stank of poor, unorganised, last minute team building which short changed everyone, Tigers fans included, on Sunday. The Armadale press and practice turned into a casting/auditions section for their remaining race jacket. What is supposed to be an event for team building became a competition for places. Barring Masters, who lets not forget was well beaten by Lunna in heat one until his struggling team-mate hit the air fence, unchallenged and with no-one around him, Edinburgh offered little else, other than a half-arsed punt from Wolbert. Barker's broken chain masks a poor afternoon from Riss and Clegg was atrocious. Etheridge caused two races to be stopped and scored nothing. Yes, every cloud has a silver lining, but that performance made Jitendra Duffil's short career seem Hans Nielsen-like. Bewley, as a young man making his way in the sport, I don't want to criticise too much, but suggesting that he was off the pace would be a significant understatement.

I watched a programme on Sky Sports a couple of years ago, it was based on the life of Tai Woffinden. His schedule is hectic, so I can understand why he would want to reduce the volume of his diary. Doing so at the expense of the British Final is a bold move, but it's that ruthlessness that makes him a world champion. On that note, how many Australians ride in their national championship?

Attended my first speedway meeting in at around five years this afternoon, returning to Ashfield to watch the Scottish derby. Ashfield, or the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium, as it's now referred to, has changed significantly since I was last there. It screams professionalism. On the track, it was seven Tigers versus one Monarch. In speedway, there aren't the salaries nor beauty of time to say "never mind, one match". Apart from Sam Masters and to a much lesser extent, Kevin Wolbert, that's is a half-hearted Edinburgh side. Erik Riss' uninspiring afternoon was mislead thanks to Ben Barker's mechanical mishap whilst, if I'm being honest, Jye Etherdige and Dan Bewley looked like they were sitting on a bike for their second and first times, respectively. As I said, I haven't been to the speedway for a while, but I've been keeping an eye on the social media element to it Edinburgh's team building during pre-season, whilst normally impressive, looks to have been completely unorganised. On a more positive note, having the benefit of seeing the pits in all their glory through the stadium's new set-up, that Glasgow side, to a man, were motivating and assisting one another through the heats. Summers was outstanding and Worrall was on-form, but I was disappointed by Lawson, from whom I expected more. Lunna and Barker, had it not been for misfortune, would have extended the winning result. Danny Ayres is someone speedway has been crying out for. A born entertainer. By the way, I couldn't think of a name, so I went for this one. I have no preference to Nike Lunna, I'm a bit old for favourite riders, but went with this.