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| | BIRMINGHAM boss Sam Ermolenko says the elements were against his side throughout their curtailed 37-23 home defeat against Oxford on Monday.
In a fixture called off after ten races due to rain, the Curtis Sport Brummies slipped to a sixth straight loss in all competitions against a side who had won just once on their travels previously this season - also at Perry Barr.
The hosts were able to produce just one race winner - and even that came in the shape of guest Luke Becker when he teamed up for a 5-1 with Freddie Lindgren in the opener.
Ermolenko admits he’s struggling to put his finger on where things are going so badly wrong for his team of late - but agrees they have not been good enough.
“To find the recipe to win a lot of races has been very difficult,” he said.
“Unfortunately captain Stevie (Worrall) wasn’t available and he’s a solid guy.
“We bought in Luke Becker and he started off ok but to consistently get around a track that he’s not familiar with is hard and Freddie is still learning the thing.
“We were fighting the conditions last time we were here and today it was the elements.
“We just weren’t getting out of the starts and we didn’t really have the opportunity to race the track when the rain started coming and it kind of spoilt it for both sides.
“We still had a chance but the rain took the best of it.
“When we were here two weeks ago that was difficult enough when the boys couldn’t do it; the track seemed to play its part and they weren’t good enough to be able to attack that and they couldn’t defend it.
“We couldn’t get any race wins to be able to use them if we needed to and then when we went to King’s Lynn (last Thursday), who would’ve thought that Sedgy (Justin Sedgmen) and Piotr (Pawlicki) would’ve been top scorers?
“When the riders come to the track, they seem to be ok until we see that they’re not.
“We were thinking tonight could’ve been the turnaround point but the weather’s beat it.
“For whatever reason, our guys weren’t trapping when the rain started coming, they were having to chase the high line which got dangerous and you race until you can’t race and the track became unraceable.”
The league now takes a break for the Speedway of Nations with the Brummies back in team action on Monday, July 22 (7.30pm) when they host champions Sheffield.
There is speedway at Perry Barr next Monday (July 15, 7.30pm) however with the latest round of the British Youth Championships taking place in the second city.
BIRMINGHAM 23: Luke Becker 5, Justin Sedgmen 5, Fredrik Lindgren 4+1, Piotr Pawlicki 4, Wiktor Lampart 2+2, Leon Flint 2+2, Tom Brennan 1. OXFORD 37: Erik Riss 9, Maciej Janowski 8+1, Chris Harris 7+2, Charles Wright 6+1, Rohan Tungate 4, Drew Kemp 3, Ashton Boughen 0. Abandoned after Heat 10 (rain) - result stands
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