Berwick V Edinburgh Championship 08-04-17 7-00pm

[topsoil]

Josh a revelation ..just needs to get his elastic bands fully wound for heat 1..

Biancas other half imperious and lightening from the gate.

Sam rode well but struggled from the coffin box trap 1. Unlucky in 11 to get picked off mid track, whilst trying to assist Josh.

Mark looked sharp and deserved to score more.

Erik improved as meeting went on and Mitch beat opposite number onceand got a gift in heat 4..2 points are fine.

max is a worry..no sign of improvement on big tracks, slow out gate and into corners...even when trying to jump 14, he penalised himself and mark in trap 3.

still 3 points most welcome.

For Berwick...Bridger`s ride in 10 as good as Ive seen there since Cookie, if he gates better should win more than he loses, Doolan capable of big rides but might struggle in 13 and 15, against opposing big guns, and Viss and gapp good value and tried hard.

The snail and Liam struggling, with the latter needing a spell at reserve.

 

Good luck next Saturday of course...but I fear for you. We should get mid 50s next Friday and the Tigs might do similar on Sat.

Can't see Berwick getting more than 30 next Friday. Only Bridger (don't know if he's been to Armadale before), with his liking for technical tracks and to a lesser extent Doolan are effective there.

 

Unless there is a turn around in form I'm expecting another very tough night next Saturday.

[happyvalleywoolerman]

The good bits were Lewis B who is a great and imaginative signing and Dany Gapp plus the fourth big crowd out of four on a nice night plus some spirited racing on a good track but the bad bits were losing, the form of Liam and Dimitri, both of who we know can do so much better and the obvious failure of having two people on the grass talking to each other not the crowd.

[crescent girl]

I wasn't there, so I can't comment on meeting.

 

But for those who demand instant changes, bear in mind that you have to have a better-scoring, equal-earning, lower-average rider available to step in before a knee-jerk change is instigated.

 

Also, you must have two British riders in your team at all times.

 

Don't panic, we're not doomed.

Edited April 9, 2017 by crescent girl

[Bandit59]

At this moment in time dont know when we will see another Bandits victory not today, Friday,or even next Saturday big up to young Luke some of the others in the team need to take a good look at their performances last night.Bridger and Dany the only 2 to get pass marks from me. Thought Liam had new engines ?.Well done to Edinburgh on their win knew what we were getting with Masters and Wells but young Josh Pickering was excellent.Its all right having big crowds just now when its local derbies who bring a large number of supporters how many will turn up later in the season?

I wasn't there, so I can't comment on meeting.

 

But for those who demand instant changes, bear in mind that you have to have a better-scoring, equal-earning, lower-average rider available to step in before a knee-jerk change is instigated.

 

Also, you must have two British riders in your team at all times.

 

Don't panic, we're not doomed.

As you said you were not there it looked like we are doomed wont finish in top 6

[crescent girl]

Top 4, pal...... Not top six any more!

[crescent girl]

Both leagues have same averages and same rule-book now... Which is certainly not to the ex-Premier League's advantage in any way.

Edited April 9, 2017 by crescent girl

[Fromafar]

Top 4, pal...... Not top six any more!

Maybe he was just pointing out that we won't finish in the top 6!!!

[allthegearbutnaeidea]

Maybe he was just pointing out that we won't finish in the top 6!!!

At this rate top 8 would be an achievement...

[Normski]

Always disappointing to lose at home no matter who the opposition is. Think we all knew Wells & Masters would score heavily but Mark Riss has improved massively from 2016 and Pickering what can you say superb for his 1st time on our track. Still early days but with lots of tough fixtures coming up we need to improve sooner rather than later. Was good to see another healthy crowd and some decent racing with Bridger's 3rd to 1st race outstanding.

[alang]

Instead of talking about possible team changes even before averages change should someone not be looking at why some riders are not doing as well as expected.The way Liam rode at end of last season was totally different to the start of this one.Presumably he hasn't forgotten how to ride the bike so is it the track/his bike or engine/confidence.Same with Dimitri who in the past has flown round Shielfield for other teams.Claus started off first two meetings almost unbeatable out of the gate but now looks a good bit slower.There has to be some reason why Berwick riders consistently are outgated on their own track and why their bikes seem slower than the opposition.Is the team spirit not as good as we are constantly told?If,as he said on microphone last night,the team manager said Berwick riders were outgated in almost every heat then why was he not up at the tapes to see what was going wrong and giving advice based on his experience.Does riding and travelling abroad take too much out of riders and they are not really committed to any one team.If there are underlying problems with track/bikes/set-ups/confidence then unless these are sorted then what is the point of team changes.Any new riders will just get involved with the same problems.Over to you, promoters and team manager

[Fromafar]

Instead of talking about possible team changes even before averages change should someone not be looking at why some riders are not doing as well as expected.The way Liam rode at end of last season was totally different to the start of this one.Presumably he hasn't forgotten how to ride the bike so is it the track/his bike or engine/confidence.Same with Dimitri who in the past has flown round Shielfield for other teams.Claus started off first two meetings almost unbeatable out of the gate but now looks a good bit slower.There has to be some reason why Berwick riders consistently are outgated on their own track and why their bikes seem slower than the opposition.Is the team spirit not as good as we are constantly told?If,as he said on microphone last night,the team manager said Berwick riders were outgated in almost every heat then why was he not up at the tapes to see what was going wrong and giving advice based on his experience.Does riding and travelling abroad take too much out of riders and they are not really committed to any one team.If there are underlying problems with track/bikes/set-ups/confidence then unless these are sorted then what is the point of team changes.Any new riders will just get involved with the same problems.Over to you, promoters and team manager

I think for a lot of riders nowadays( not just Berwick) it's just another day and another meeting.Stay safe there is always another day,it has been pointed out many times that there are bigger pay days riding abroad.

[allthegearbutnaeidea]

I think for a lot of riders nowadays( not just Berwick) it's just another day and another meeting.Stay safe there is always another day,it has been pointed out many times that there are bigger pay days riding abroad.

Yet Kev and Liam, two of the poor performers so far this campaign don't have another team anywhere.

[Fromafar]

Yet Kev and Liam, two of the poor performers so far this campaign don't have another team anywhere.

Kev is getting his 7/8 points and is not going to get much better although not getting as many points at home as usual,Liam has got a lot to prove in speedway IMO and has had a poor start to the season in the Team proper which is a big ask.

[DSC67]

Really looking for Liam to kick on this year , the no2 race jacket is always a big ask for any rider , perhaps a spell back at reserve might help if him and Danny switch when the new green sheets come out

[allthegearbutnaeidea]

Kev is getting his 7/8 points and is not going to get much better although not getting as many points at home as usual,Liam has got a lot to prove in speedway IMO and has had a poor start to the season in the Team proper which is a big ask.

Kev's not just thinking about racing for the first season in a long time as he has his testimonial to think about, in my opinion Liam talks himself up far too much and needs to concentrate on what is happening on the track more than talking about what he is going to do on the track

Really looking for Liam to kick on this year , the no2 race jacket is always a big ask for any rider , perhaps a spell back at reserve might help if him and Danny switch when the new green sheets come out

He seems down on power which is worrying, he's no where near Dany at the moment, both home and away and him going to reserve next month (if he does) would make the team even worse in my opinion.

[alang]

Really looking for Liam to kick on this year , the no2 race jacket is always a big ask for any rider , perhaps a spell back at reserve might help if him and Danny switch when the new green sheets come out

But he's not beating the reserves he's riding against at the moment so how is a spell at reserve going to help?Equally think Danny would struggle at No.2.The two are too similar.

[Bandit59]

Top 4, pal...... Not top six any more!

Didnt say play offs pal

[scotchopper]

But he's not beating the reserves he's riding against at the moment so how is a spell at reserve going to help?Equally think Danny would struggle at No.2.The two are too similar.

 

He beat Monarchs main reserve Mark Riss twice on Saturday and Mark will be out of reserve pretty soon. In the race Mark beat him it took Lewis Bridger 3 laps to pass both Monarchs so I think you are being incredibly harsh on Liam here. The fall in heat one was a bad mistake but I don't think any other number 2s would have scored more than 1 point higher (heat 1) than he did.

 

I hope we look back and say that this was more about Monarchs being good than Bandits being poor, I guess this Saturday will be a good judge. Josh Pickering was way better than expected and looked better on the track in his 2nd and 3rd race than most Monarchs have looked at having been there 10 years. He didn't just win 2 races he won them by a mile and certainly wasn't just hanging on even when it was Doolan that was chasing him.

 

Lewis Bridger - brilliant in heat 10 and won ht15 well but you could argue that him getting dominated by Sam and Ricky in his other 3 races was actually a bigger problem than some of the other riders not performing

Liam Carr - As above bad mistake in heat 1 but not much more he could have done

Dmitri Berge - unlucky with an engine failure in heat 5 and didn't do a huge amount wrong before being smoked by the Riss brothers in heat 12.

Claus Vissing - Again didn't get anywhere near Monarchs top boys but no problem with the rest, fall in heat 15 didn't really matter as the match was lost

Kevin Doolan - Great pass of Erik Riss but got nowhere near Picko in heat 11, scored his average which isn't enough at home

Danny Gap - Started and ended well but nowhere near monarchs top 4

Luke Ruddick - Tried hard and did well to pass max clegg after 2 poor falls, scored 1 more than expected.

 

Sam - A little unlucky to be stuck mid track supporting picko in ht11 allowing doolan through but perfect in 1,5 and 13. Will be disappointed to have lost out on the bonus point in ht15 but a sold night from the captain

Picko - Fantastic couple of rides winning both by a distance, looked like he'd been racing Berwick for years. Will learn from heat 1 exclusion and no real harm done

Erik - Some brilliant gates but was lacking speed on the day and won't be happy at being passed twice, a little unlucky in ht3 but made up for it in ht12 finishing with a solid 5-1

Max - Berwick is not his track but still should not be getting passed by Ruddick. One to forget and move on from.

Ricky - didn't look 100% comfortable in his first race but still won it and was dominant throughout. Looking a great signing

Mark - Looked good and strong all day but running 2 lasts mid meeting raised a concern. Carr chopped off his nose in ht 8 which seemed to motivate him to 2 great rides with his brother. Erik was actually holding him up in ht10, if he was in the lead not sure bridger would have caught him and hopefully not an expensive engine failure in ht14

Mitchell - Beat Ruddick twice and this has to be his target early season as he builds confidence.

 

Overall a decent night at a warmer than normal Berwick with 2 or 3 quality races and a win for the Monarchs. Performance of Josh pickering a big highlight and only thing Edinburgh could nit pick on was missing out on the extra point for winning by more than 6, maybe the ref could have rerun ht15.....

[Fromafar]

He beat Monarchs main reserve Mark Riss twice on Saturday and Mark will be out of reserve pretty soon. In the race Mark beat him it took Lewis Bridger 3 laps to pass both Monarchs so I think you are being incredibly harsh on Liam here. The fall in heat one was a bad mistake but I don't think any other number 2s would have scored more than 1 point higher (heat 1) than he did.

 

I hope we look back and say that this was more about Monarchs being good than Bandits being poor, I guess this Saturday will be a good judge. Josh Pickering was way better than expected and looked better on the track in his 2nd and 3rd race than most Monarchs have looked at having been there 10 years. He didn't just win 2 races he won them by a mile and certainly wasn't just hanging on even when it was Doolan that was chasing him.

 

Lewis Bridger - brilliant in heat 10 and won ht15 well but you could argue that him getting dominated by Sam and Ricky in his other 3 races was actually a bigger problem than some of the other riders not performing

Liam Carr - As above bad mistake in heat 1 but not much more he could have done

Dmitri Berge - unlucky with an engine failure in heat 5 and didn't do a huge amount wrong before being smoked by the Riss brothers in heat 12.

Claus Vissing - Again didn't get anywhere near Monarchs top boys but no problem with the rest, fall in heat 15 didn't really matter as the match was lost

Kevin Doolan - Great pass of Erik Riss but got nowhere near Picko in heat 11, scored his average which isn't enough at home

Danny Gap - Started and ended well but nowhere near monarchs top 4

Luke Ruddick - Tried hard and did well to pass max clegg after 2 poor falls, scored 1 more than expected.

 

Sam - A little unlucky to be stuck mid track supporting picko in ht11 allowing doolan through but perfect in 1,5 and 13. Will be disappointed to have lost out on the bonus point in ht15 but a sold night from the captain

Picko - Fantastic couple of rides winning both by a distance, looked like he'd been racing Berwick for years. Will learn from heat 1 exclusion and no real harm done

Erik - Some brilliant gates but was lacking speed on the day and won't be happy at being passed twice, a little unlucky in ht3 but made up for it in ht12 finishing with a solid 5-1

Max - Berwick is not his track but still should not be getting passed by Ruddick. One to forget and move on from.

Ricky - didn't look 100% comfortable in his first race but still won it and was dominant throughout. Looking a great signing

Mark - Looked good and strong all day but running 2 lasts mid meeting raised a concern. Carr chopped off his nose in ht 8 which seemed to motivate him to 2 great rides with his brother. Erik was actually holding him up in ht10, if he was in the lead not sure bridger would have caught him and hopefully not an expensive engine failure in ht14

Mitchell - Beat Ruddick twice and this has to be his target early season as he builds confidence.

 

Overall a decent night at a warmer than normal Berwick with 2 or 3 quality races and a win for the Monarchs. Performance of Josh pickering a big highlight and only thing Edinburgh could nit pick on was missing out on the extra point for winning by more than 6, maybe the ref could have rerun ht15.....

Was surprised Ht 15 was not rerun.

[cyclone]

Was surprised Ht 15 was not rerun.

 

The Reg is :

"15.5.2 Where a Referee stops a heat, and the leading Rider has completed at least 2 laps, then s/he has the sole discretion to either order a re-run or award the heat based upon the positions when it was caused to be stopped; Riders, other than the one disqualified being advanced one place"

 

Bridger had completed 2 laps before the red lights came on.

 

Same thing happened at Armadale on Friday when ht2 was awarded.