Monarchs 51 Tigers 38

A bit of a thumping at Armadale tonight for the Tigers, but I'd be delusional if I thought it was going to be any other way. One problem seems to have been the abscence of of the Shane Parker magic. Not sure if fitness is a problem (God!, I hope not!) or if it's just a bit of close season rustiness, but eight points from the main man has got to be a bit of a disappointment. Trent, Robert and Lee all did their bit I suppose, but we needed another heat leader and Andreas Bergstrom, guesting for the injured Ross Brady seems to have had a honker of a night, not to put too fine a point on it. Wasn't there myself, but I'm guessing he was expected to pick up more than three points............ ("~)

The two new lads had very contrasting fortunes. Josh racked up six points, though going by the descriptions of the races, he was maybe a little lucky to pick up some of those. That's speedway though, and I hope he picks up from where he left off tonight. Mitchell on the other hand had a horror show. Two falls and a last place getting his season off to the worst possible start. I hope his confidence won't take a knock from this, I hope he just gets his head down and forgets the disasters. I believe he's an extremely good rider, but without confidence even Shane Parker would struggle. He missed the Aussie Championships this year, unlike Josh, and I'd say this hasn't been ideal for him. In hindsight, it's possible he should maybe have started at No7 instead of Josh. It's a moot point really, once the first greensheets are published, I think Lee Dicken will move into the body of the squad, leaving the two young Aussie sparring partners to find their feet at reserve.

The confidence of the new boys needs building, not trashing, I'm confident that both of them have the ability to increase their averages this year and do the business here in Britain in the next few seasons. As a wise man once said "I get knocked down, but I get back up again..........."

Look forward to seeing y'all at Ashfield on Sunday. The weather looks to be holding out and hopefully the track will be just fine.

Full meeting report here

Courtesy of the Glasgowspeedway.com Cheers folks!

If anyone can add anything to the above, perhaps correct some mis-aprehensions or conclusions I have come to, feel free to stick it in the comments box and I shall ammend the post at a later date. It's a bummer not being there to draw my own conclusions..............