Praise for Bullets, especially Ace

There was some very good racing in the first meeting of the new season at Armadale tonight, the home heat leaders were in very good form, but the majority of the plaudits certainly have to go to the very impressive Berwick Bullets (52-38 winners) and in particular, spectacular 15 year old debutant Ace Pijper.

The Grant Henderson Tankers Bullets took the lead in heat 2 and gradually extended it during the evening, not allowing the home side a single race advantage.

Stellar Devils' manager Alan Budzynski was naturally disappointed but added "We kept ourselves in with a chance until near the end. Willie Lawson was amazing and Tom Woolley was very good, but there were too many first night nerves. I'm sure we can go down to Berwick next week and do a better job."

It was a very cold evening and the first heat took a while to complete, but the rest of the match was raced through in not much more than an hour to allow the fans to head off to get thawed out. That was surely appreciated.

In that opener Kyle Bickley broke the tapes and Kieran Douglas became entangled in them, switching machines then switching back. Referee McGregor probably gave him some leeway with the time allowance but that was fair enough as it was not really his fault. When the heat got under way again, it was a tremendous ride from Bickley to come from 15 metres and pick off the men in front, catching Danny Phillips on the last lap.

That was quite a start but heat two was perhaps even more notable, with Ace Pijper in his first ever league match, rocketing from gate 4 and winning in the fastest time of the night. Everyone watching will have felt they were looking at the start of something big. "I surprised myself" was Ace's only comment at the end of the night.

Eight of the next ten heats were shared but the big problem for the Devils was that they just could not get an advantage. The closest they came was heat 3 in which the home riders Tom Woolley and George Rothery crossed the line ahead of their rivals, but during the heat Rothery had a big loss of control and impeded Greg Blair. For that his exclusion light came on.

There were some excellent battles for race wins between the heat leaders, and further back in the races there was generally a good tussle going on for the minor places as well. Woolley lost out to Bickley after passing and re-passing in heat 5, Lawson had to come from the back a couple of times and there was something worth watching in the great majority of the heats.

The problem for the Devils was that their backup riders, whilst not out of things, were regularly losing out in these important battles for the minor places and that's what allowed the Bullets to gradually pull clear.

Lawson dropped just the one point to Bickley (heat 11) and gained revenge in heats 13 and 15. Tom Woolley just lost once until the final heat in which he finished at the back. Danny Phillips contributed decent points and new signing Josh Embleton looked solid and will surely contribute well as the season goes on.

The other three team members scored just a single point each so they will have to overcome these opening night nerves and step things up.

For the Bullets there was success throughout the side. Greg Blair and Luke Crang gave strong backing to top man Bickley but everyone else was scoring well, with only two last places all night.

In years to come though it is likely the meeting will be remembered as the debut of sensational Ace Pijper.

Tough Task In Store For Devils

This Friday evening sees a welcome return to the Lothian Arena of "The Speedway". With the Monarchs not in action until the following week, it's the Armadale Devils who take to the track to get season 2022 off and running.

I almost called them the new-look Devils but as can be seen from this latest line-up, very little about them can be described as "new". No fewer than five of the septet who gave such an encouraging account of themselves a year ago are back to bolster a line-up that, if anything, looks stronger and better prepared for the rigours of a competitive division.

It is to be hoped that, free from the stop-start disruption that marred much of last season, Danny Phillips, new skipper Tom Woolley, George Rothery and brothers Gregor and Lewis Millar will all benefit from being able to gain the type of momentum an unhindered fixture programme is bound to offer.

All five have shown how capable and, indeed, entertaining, they can be. Now they have a real chance to hone their skills and increase their averages with more regular action.

The two empty slots that came up for grabs due to Nathan Greaves' retirement and the departure for pastures new of Archie Freeman have been filled by riders with widely differing backgrounds.

Hailing from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, 25-year-old Josh Embleton spent last season in the National Development League with the local Gems until their untimely demise part-way through. He has previous experience with Birmingham and Stoke in 2018 and, in 2019, the Leicester with whom he enjoyed League and Knock-Out Cup success as part of the Lion Cubs' double-winning side. Josh is likely to operate at no.2, starting with an average of 4.83.

Completing the Devils line-up is a rider of vast experience who needs no introduction to fans of the Blue and Golds. At 35, Perth-born William Lawson has been over the course a few times, and now he's back as Armadale's second heat-leader on a starting CMA of 7.82.

Apart from his anticipated ability to consistently pick up point at NDL level, Willie can hopefully use his many years in the sport to help bring on the team's younger riders.

The loss of Newcastle Gems and Eastbourne Seagulls during last year's title race left the NDL with only six clubs battling for silverware. Yet it was an unenviable set of circumstances that the organisers did well to make the best of. As the campaign concluded, Mildenhall Fen Tigers were crowned worthy champions with Armadale finishing fifth (or second bottom depending how you look at it).

However, had the Devils managed to fulfil their final meeting at Kent and emerge victorious, a far more impressive third place finish would have been the reality, and that would have been a remarkable achievement for a team so long away from regular league speedway.

For Friday's opener, we welcome last season's NDL runners-up, the Berwick Bullets, and we couldn't have had a tougher test to begin the new campaign. Much like the Devils, Berwick II are on similar lines to last year's team, with skipper Kyle Bickley, Kieran Douglas, Ben Rathbone, Greg Blair and Mason Watson all continuing their stay at Shielfield.

Augmenting this extremely strong outfit, are a couple of familiar names, again with contrasting back-stories. 31-year-old Luke Crang had the briefest of spells with Edinburgh last term after returning to the sport following a lengthy hiatus.

Finally, at no.7 for the Bullets is an exciting young hopeful whose development has probably been tracked as closely by fans at the Lothian Arena than anywhere else. Son of current Berwick Bandit, the incomparable Theo Pijper, 15-year-old Ace Pijper has had an amazing amount of faith bestowed upon him by the Newcastle management and it will be interesting to witness where his career goes from here.

So it's all systems go for an epic opening meeting and a thrilling season from start to finish.