The track was very wet from overnight and morning rain, and although I was there before 4pm, I didn't see any water being added. It did seem a bit greasy and this probably made passing more difficult. I thought we caught Sheffield cold in the early stages and were able to twice build up a ten point lead, but Sheffield always looked to be capable of catching us up, and being able to use Tai Woffinden four times in the last six races (including the superheat) was hugely to their advantage - although fair play to their team manager for reading the situation rightly.
I didn't think Birmingham's Team Manager made any blunders. He might have made a couple of late changes but these probably wouldn't have affected the final outcome.
In my opinion, the superheat spoiled the meeting. What is wrong with a drawn match anyway? Both clubs and their supporters would have gone home happy with a draw, so why ruin things for half of them with a daft rule that very few people ever wanted introduced in the first place? (That's not sour grapes, and I congratulate Sheffield on their win which I think they perhaps just about deserved, but I was delighted with the size of the crowd which was a great relief and was well deserved by a promotion which has worked so hard to keep speedway in Birmingham, and by the enthusiasm displayed - made so much better by Sheffield's happy and noisy contingent.
This I think, justifies the gamble to move up to the Premiership, and will hopefully lead to more entertaining meetings like this one.