leander 495 Posted June 5, 2021 7 hours ago, Wee Eck said: Not sure what went wrong for Edinburgh tonight but just as well Kyle Howarth was a poor guest for Newcastle. At 36-36 after heat 12, Edinburgh were unlikely to lose as they should power to 5-1s at home in 13 and 15, which proved the case. The score that really shows what happened is the last places: Edinburgh won that 10-5. James Wright might have been top scorer for Newcastle, but he didn’t really beat anyone that he shouldn’t have. It was the strong overall scoring by Newcastle that kept this close with a special mention due to Adam Roynon on what I’d guess was his first meeting at Armadale for a very long time. Edinburgh management will have expressed their disappointment at the performance of some of the team so the return leg is likely to be a different story. I’d expect an aggregate Edinburgh win unless Newcastle can field a competitive number one. Even then, it’s likely to be close. Not quite sure how you figure that. He beat everyone except Masters and Worrall, who were a class apart, including Pickering twice. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wee Eck 703 Posted June 5, 2021 2 hours ago, leander said: Not quite sure how you figure that. He beat everyone except Masters and Worrall, who were a class apart, including Pickering twice. Just my view. James Wright is a former Premier League Riders Champion and former Scottish Open Champion so, although coming back from retirement, he’s no novice. Edinburgh last night were two heat leaders, four also rans and a non-scoring reserve. Wright beat non scoring Wooler twice, Greaves once, was 1-1 with Thomson, 2-1 against Lawson, who often tails off as the meeting goes on and 2-0 against Pickering, one being when Pickering fell. So that’s really just once. James was in good form on a track he knew well, so should have been expected to do well when 4 of the Monarchs were struggling. Had they ridden to previous form, he wouldn’t have done so well, in my view, hence my conclusion that seems to have upset you. The second leg will be interesting. If these four Monarchs race according to normal form, I doubt James will do as well. But that’s only my opinion. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotallyHonestJohn 3,078 Posted June 6, 2021 13 hours ago, Wee Eck said: But that’s only my opinion. Bit slanted Eck Wright is a couple of meetings back after an extended lay off... it's no different to when Willie Lawson made his come back and to be fair he's not set the world alight... James done pretty well up there considering... Regards THJ 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wee Eck 703 Posted June 6, 2021 6 hours ago, TotallyHonestJohn said: Bit slanted Eck Wright is a couple of meetings back after an extended lay off... it's no different to when Willie Lawson made his come back and to be fair he's not set the world alight... James done pretty well up there considering... Regards THJ It was my opinion, maybe badly phrased, that, although James was top scorer, it was the whole team that came through on the night. The expectation was that Newcastle would struggle at Armadale but they produced a great result. If you look at the headline numbers, it could be taken that the reason why Newcastle did so well was because of James, but actually, James simply did his job well. He didn’t beat either of Edinburgh’s top two, but managed to get amongst the points by beating riders who simply didn’t perform. Anyway, it’s looking as if the teams collective efforts on Friday will come to nothing as the Monarchs have come out with all guns blazing this afternoon…. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TotallyHonestJohn 3,078 Posted June 6, 2021 1 hour ago, Wee Eck said: It was my opinion, maybe badly phrased, that, although James was top scorer, it was the whole team that came through on the night. The expectation was that Newcastle would struggle at Armadale but they produced a great result. If you look at the headline numbers, it could be taken that the reason why Newcastle did so well was because of James, but actually, James simply did his job well. He didn’t beat either of Edinburgh’s top two, but managed to get amongst the points by beating riders who simply didn’t perform. Anyway, it’s looking as if the teams collective efforts on Friday will come to nothing as the Monarchs have come out with all guns blazing this afternoon…. Aye ya not wrong... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites