THIS was the perfect start for Lynn Stars on Wednesday with an emphatic win over the reigning league champions.

They even gave Edinburgh a 10-point start, but pulled that back after just six races and duly went on to secure the Premiership Trophy.

But there were some anxious moments for team boss Rob Lyon and the club management as four of the riders hit the deck at various stages of the meeting, with teenage sensation Darcy Ward leaving the stadium battered and bruised.

Lyon admitted: "Yes, it is heart-in-the-mouth time when you see the riders go down, but hopefully we've come through it and Darcy will be okay for our match at Stoke on Saturday.

"All in all it was a good work-out for the boys and there was some hard racing in a meeting that had a bit of an edge to it."

Ward's spectacular style certainly caught the eye, but the main plaudits went to new-signing Chris Schramm and dependable skipper Tomas Topinka, who both notched paid maximums and formed a powerful one-two partnership at the top of the riding order.

After reeling off four straight wins Schramm had to work hard in Heat 15 for his maximum prize, coming from the back to pick off Edinburgh's Ryan Fisher on the final bend to join the fast-starting Topinka at the front.

Lyon commented: "Chris was awesome tonight – and what more can we say about Tomas?"

He was also pleased with the early form of the new trio of Christian Henry, Emiliano Sanchez and Jan Graversen, who each had wins or paid wins to their names, and came through unscathed despite some fourth bend crashes.

But it was Ward, the Australian Under-21 champion, who had a particularly eventful debut, opening with two race wins and ending the night with two heavy falls when he over-cooked it – perhaps through sheer youthful exuberance.

Stars: Tomas Topinka 12+3 (five rides), Chris Schramm 14+1 (five rides), Christian Henry 6+1 (four rides), Kozza Smith – rider replacement, Emiliano Sanchez 10+2 (five rides), Jan Graversen 6+1 (five rides), Darcy Ward 10+1 (six rides).

Edinburgh: Ryan Fisher 11 (five rides), Aaron Summers 2 (four rides), Thomas Jonasson 9 (five rides), Andrew Tully 4+1 (four rides), Matthew Wethers 1+1 (four rides), Michael Rajkowski 6+1 (five rides), Sean Stoddart 1 (four rides).