26.05. Tigers v Aces - league

[Speedtiger 327]

2 hours ago, TTT said:

What's happened to Matej Zagar?

He’s passed it and inconsistent. 

 Great win by Tigers, they wanted it more than Aces. 

[Rob B 1,245]

2 hours ago, Jonny the spud said:

That’s the problem with looking fabulous "on paper"….. you don’t race on paper. 

Nothing won in May either. 

[stevebrum 6,819]

It’s pretty easy to see why Sheffield are ranked outstanding favourites for the title this year.

By far the strongest 1-7 this season. Aces not even close. 

[Col 850]

Firstly congratulations to Sheffield Tigers on a superb team performance, if anyone didn’t rank the Tigers as favorites before tonight, they surely must now and they did so without their top two being particularly impressive - Ellis conceding the only 1-5 of the night & Holder was passed superbly by Fricke in heat 13.

After a poor first ride Musielak was easily quickest rider on show, typical gate & gone Pole, because when he didn’t gate in his opening ride he was nowhere, thereafter he was untouchable and I’m convinced he will make a mockery of his 6.2 starting average.  Suspect many will regard him as the signing of the season when trophies are dished out.

Howarth, Mountain & Nielsen all did more than you’d expect.

The only place to start with the Aces performance is Fricke, how can someone who wins the Warsaw GP concede 5-1’s in his opening two rides in this company?  At least personal pride saw him improve but 1 heat win is not enough from a number 1.

Next up could be the other participant in those Tigers 5-1 which put the Aces 8 points behind, but no that can wait.  The enigma that is Brady Kurtz is next for criticism.  Just as it looked like the visitors might get back into the meeting following the only 5-1, Zagar comes in as a TS after winning heat replacing Blodorn, partnering Kurtz.  After an eternity of leaving his bike idling at the tapes the start-marshall has to point out his chain has come off.  One good ride when he lowered the colours of Cook & Holder.

I’ve criticized the two Aces Aussies first because as captain & #1 they set a shoddy example, but next up is Brennan,  Harsh maybe as he is a rising star but he was as anonymous as Fricke in those two 5-1’s. He made the gate a few times, yet left the other riders the freedom of Owlertons quick wide outside on the first turns.  Most notably Howarth in rerun of heat 14, when Brennan decided it would be more useful to clamp Wright to the white line!

It is Blodorn’s second visit to Owlerton, but it is widely regarded that Sheffield have the weakest reserve pairing in the league (that's what happens when you sign such a good top 5).  1 point.  Most 4 point Brits would have done more

The engine room…. I’m pretty sure Zagar gave up after heat 9, Kurtz chain came off, when he’d agreed to a TS off gate 4. Outsmarted Howarth that heat, then succumbed to a similar move when Nielsen passed him a few heats later.  

Wright is the only BV rider that might be satisfied with his performance.  Might, definitely not should

Edited May 27, 2022 by Col

[Spiderman1 182]

2 hours ago, Speedtiger said:

He’s passed it and inconsistent. 

 Great win by Tigers, they wanted it more than Aces. 

Should of kept Allen,foolish

[Charlieboy 412]

6 hours ago, Col said:

Firstly congratulations to Sheffield Tigers on a superb team performance, if anyone didn’t rank the Tigers as favorites before tonight, they surely must now and they did so without their top two being particularly impressive - Ellis conceding the only 1-5 of the night & Holder was passed superbly by Fricke in heat 13.

After a poor first ride Musielak was easily quickest rider on show, typical gate & gone Pole, because when he didn’t gate in his opening ride he was nowhere, thereafter he was untouchable and I’m convinced he will make a mockery of his 6.2 starting average.  Suspect many will regard him as the signing of the season when trophies are dished out.

Haworth, Mountain & Nielsen all did more than you’d expect.

The only place to start with the Aces performance is Fricke, how can someone who wins the Warsaw GP concrete 5-1’s in his opening two rides in this company?  At least personal pride saw him improve but 1 heat win is not enough from a number 1.

Next up could be the other participant in those Tigers 5-1 which put the Aces 8 points behind, but no that can wait.  The enigma that is Brady Kurtz is next for criticism.  Just as it looked like the visitors might get back into the meeting following the only 5-1, Zagar comes in as a TS after winning heat replacing Blodorn, partnering Kurtz.  After an eternity of leaving his bike idling at the tapes the start-marshall has to point out his chain has come off.  One good ride when he lowered the colours of Cook & Holder.

I’ve criticized the two Aces Aussies first because as captain & #1 they set a shoddy example, but next up is Brennan,  Harsh maybe as he is a rising star but he was as anonymous as Fricke in those two 5-1’s. He made the gate a few times, yet left the other riders the freedom of Owlertons quick wide outside on the first turns.  Most notably Howarth in rerun of heat 14, when Brennan decided it would be more useful to clamp Wright to the white line!

It is Blodorn’s second visit to Owlerton, but it is widely regarded that Sheffield have the weakest reserve pairing in the league (thats what happens when you sign such a good top 5).  1 point.  Most 4 point Brits would have done more

The engine room…. I’m pretty sure Zagar gave up after heat 9, Kurtz chain came off, when he’d agreed to a TS off gate 4. Outsmarted Howarth that heat, then succumbed to a similar move when Nielsen passed him a few heats later.  

Wright is the only BV rider that might be satisfied with his performance.  Might, definitely not should

Actually he didn’t gate and go in the other 4 he went round the boards and squeezed past the aces pair in one heat the same as jack holder did   Fantastic bit of riding   Then he pulled away to win by a distance   Great signing. 

[Bald Bloke 3,281]

11 hours ago, Col said:

 

After a poor first ride Musielak was easily quickest rider on show, typical gate & gone Pole, because when he didn’t gate in his opening ride he was nowhere, thereafter he was untouchable and I’m convinced he will make a mockery of his 6.2 starting average.  Suspect many will regard him as the signing of the season when trophies are dished out.

 

I think your bang on there.. In his 3 league meetings so far he has averaged 9.15.

Edited May 27, 2022 by Bald Bloke

[Bagpuss 10,757]

13 hours ago, Col said:

Firstly congratulations to Sheffield Tigers on a superb team performance, if anyone didn’t rank the Tigers as favorites before tonight, they surely must now and they did so without their top two being particularly impressive - Ellis conceding the only 1-5 of the night & Holder was passed superbly by Fricke in heat 13.

After a poor first ride Musielak was easily quickest rider on show, typical gate & gone Pole, because when he didn’t gate in his opening ride he was nowhere, thereafter he was untouchable and I’m convinced he will make a mockery of his 6.2 starting average.  Suspect many will regard him as the signing of the season when trophies are dished out.

Howarth, Mountain & Nielsen all did more than you’d expect.

The only place to start with the Aces performance is Fricke, how can someone who wins the Warsaw GP concede 5-1’s in his opening two rides in this company?  At least personal pride saw him improve but 1 heat win is not enough from a number 1.

Next up could be the other participant in those Tigers 5-1 which put the Aces 8 points behind, but no that can wait.  The enigma that is Brady Kurtz is next for criticism.  Just as it looked like the visitors might get back into the meeting following the only 5-1, Zagar comes in as a TS after winning heat replacing Blodorn, partnering Kurtz.  After an eternity of leaving his bike idling at the tapes the start-marshall has to point out his chain has come off.  One good ride when he lowered the colours of Cook & Holder.

I’ve criticized the two Aces Aussies first because as captain & #1 they set a shoddy example, but next up is Brennan,  Harsh maybe as he is a rising star but he was as anonymous as Fricke in those two 5-1’s. He made the gate a few times, yet left the other riders the freedom of Owlertons quick wide outside on the first turns.  Most notably Howarth in rerun of heat 14, when Brennan decided it would be more useful to clamp Wright to the white line!

It is Blodorn’s second visit to Owlerton, but it is widely regarded that Sheffield have the weakest reserve pairing in the league (that's what happens when you sign such a good top 5).  1 point.  Most 4 point Brits would have done more

The engine room…. I’m pretty sure Zagar gave up after heat 9, Kurtz chain came off, when he’d agreed to a TS off gate 4. Outsmarted Howarth that heat, then succumbed to a similar move when Nielsen passed him a few heats later.  

Wright is the only BV rider that might be satisfied with his performance.  Might, definitely not should

I think its fair to expect more for Brennan after recent performances but hes a young lad and the bulk of the blame has to be pointed at the three heat leaders, eighteen points from them when the others managed that collectively is pretty poor. 

[Col 850]

Just now, Bagpuss said:

I think its fair to expect more for Brennan after recent performances but hes a young lad and the bulk of the blame has to be pointed at the three heat leaders, eighteen points from them when the others managed that collectively is pretty poor. 

My only real criticism of Brennan is the first corner he chose to ride in heat 14 after making a cracking gate.

[mikebv 10,235]

56 minutes ago, Bagpuss said:

I think its fair to expect more for Brennan after recent performances but hes a young lad and the bulk of the blame has to be pointed at the three heat leaders, eighteen points from them when the others managed that collectively is pretty poor. 

Three heat leaders of that level should be scoring a minimum 28 points off a collective 14 programmed rides (which includes Ht15 as most weeks 2 out of the 3 should be in it).....

And that is still "only", an 8 point average being achieved by each of them...

You would realistically expect 30 or even more from those three, which then takes the pressure off the rest of the team, as 12 more points (just 3 each off the other four), gets you a bonus point away, and 16 more points (just 4 each off the rest), gets you three points at home..

Wrights performances this season should really be the "difference maker", rather than him just basically ending up delivering what one, or sometimes more, of the other three, are failing to do.. 

[GeneralMelchett 455]

14 hours ago, Col said:

Firstly congratulations to Sheffield Tigers on a superb team performance, if anyone didn’t rank the Tigers as favorites before tonight, they surely must now and they did so without their top two being particularly impressive - Ellis conceding the only 1-5 of the night & Holder was passed superbly by Fricke in heat 13.

After a poor first ride Musielak was easily quickest rider on show, typical gate & gone Pole, because when he didn’t gate in his opening ride he was nowhere, thereafter he was untouchable and I’m convinced he will make a mockery of his 6.2 starting average.  Suspect many will regard him as the signing of the season when trophies are dished out.

Howarth, Mountain & Nielsen all did more than you’d expect.

The only place to start with the Aces performance is Fricke, how can someone who wins the Warsaw GP concede 5-1’s in his opening two rides in this company?  At least personal pride saw him improve but 1 heat win is not enough from a number 1.

Next up could be the other participant in those Tigers 5-1 which put the Aces 8 points behind, but no that can wait.  The enigma that is Brady Kurtz is next for criticism.  Just as it looked like the visitors might get back into the meeting following the only 5-1, Zagar comes in as a TS after winning heat replacing Blodorn, partnering Kurtz.  After an eternity of leaving his bike idling at the tapes the start-marshall has to point out his chain has come off.  One good ride when he lowered the colours of Cook & Holder.

I’ve criticized the two Aces Aussies first because as captain & #1 they set a shoddy example, but next up is Brennan,  Harsh maybe as he is a rising star but he was as anonymous as Fricke in those two 5-1’s. He made the gate a few times, yet left the other riders the freedom of Owlertons quick wide outside on the first turns.  Most notably Howarth in rerun of heat 14, when Brennan decided it would be more useful to clamp Wright to the white line!

It is Blodorn’s second visit to Owlerton, but it is widely regarded that Sheffield have the weakest reserve pairing in the league (that's what happens when you sign such a good top 5).  1 point.  Most 4 point Brits would have done more

The engine room…. I’m pretty sure Zagar gave up after heat 9, Kurtz chain came off, when he’d agreed to a TS off gate 4. Outsmarted Howarth that heat, then succumbed to a similar move when Nielsen passed him a few heats later.  

Wright is the only BV rider that might be satisfied with his performance.  Might, definitely not should

Pretty fair summary that - my first meeting at Owlerton for a few years now - Fricke was the same at Ipswich the other week ran two lasts in his first two rides then improved.

Tigers looked good no real weak links - they also from what I could see where prepared to take a risk or two at the first bend and either ride it wide or go for a blocking move, it seemed to me on more than one occasion Fricke had the chance to go outside at the first bend someone part blocked him and he seeemd to not follow it through.

I hoped for a bit more passing too, by my reckoning only about 3-4 genuine after the first bend passes - still it was good to be back and the crowd seemed well up on my last visit which was Tigers V Newcastle in 2015 (I think)!

Edited May 27, 2022 by General Melchitt
spelling!

[wtf 621]

My concern for Belle Vue is that too many times Fricke in particular goes missing in the first part of meetings. Sure he gets going in the later stages and his scores over the whole night don't look too bad, but by then, often the meeting is lost. Your #1 sets the tone for the meeting. in 3:4 home meetings Belle Vue have conceded a 5:1 in heat one. He needs to be more competitive in Heat 1. That would be a concern. Brady goes missing on occasion too. Can be very inconsistent. Wright does seem to be the only one who even if he doesn't have speed or the perfect set up will actually fight and not give up.

[4thbender 382]

On 5/25/2022 at 7:55 PM, TTT said:

Belle Vue look like the real deal to me now.

Do they still look like the real deal? looks more like a dud deal to me.

[TTT 1,207]

35 minutes ago, 4thbender said:

Do they still look like the real deal? looks more like a dud deal to me.

Not anymore they don't. I've way overrated them tbh. 

HL's have been a huge let down. Fricke has been very poor for a GP rider, Kurtz has been very inconsistent and Zagar would be a perfect fit for our Dad's Army side going by his performances in the engine room this season. 

Charles Wright has been good though.

[4thbender 382]

16 hours ago, Col said:

Firstly congratulations to Sheffield Tigers on a superb team performance, if anyone didn’t rank the Tigers as favorites before tonight, they surely must now and they did so without their top two being particularly impressive - Ellis conceding the only 1-5 of the night & Holder was passed superbly by Fricke in heat 13.

After a poor first ride Musielak was easily quickest rider on show, typical gate & gone Pole, because when he didn’t gate in his opening ride he was nowhere, thereafter he was untouchable and I’m convinced he will make a mockery of his 6.2 starting average.  Suspect many will regard him as the signing of the season when trophies are dished out.

Howarth, Mountain & Nielsen all did more than you’d expect.

In your critique of the Tigers' performance you completely omitted to mention the performance of Cook. This was by far and away his best performance in blue and yellow and his 8 +3 after 4 heats made him top scorer. He was fully deserving of his extra ride in heat 15. He seems to actually be enjoying his stint at Sheffield and even acknowledged the crowd's cheers on the 4th bend after his win in heat 8. 

Top points for sheer guts go - as usual - to Kyle. I reckon he's the best captain in the league. He may lack the finesse of a Holder and the panache of a Musielak, but for 150% commitment to the team cause he can't be faulted. He's the engine room of the team and Damien should give him a contract for life.