Champions one season, relegated the next. Birkenhead though bounced back from that SL29 shocker to secure a return to the top flight at the first attempt, before finishing a creditable fifth in division one in SL31. Promoter Glyn Hughes will be expecting his Bombers side to come on again in the year ahead, a challenge for the title already expected from most in the camp, despite the loss of Pairs Champion Tomas Forsman in pre-season. The 26 year old Swede—who ended last season on loan at Greenhill—has moved on to Nottingham in full swap deal, which means Hughes goes into SL32 with the same top four that finished the last campaign at the Merseyside Arena; Kristian Norgaard, Philipp Weber, Mikhail Smirnov and Mario Koch. A wise decision it seems, given the quartet are all averaging above eight in pre-season, Koch especially in fine form, with the German youngster scoring a maximum 14+1 from second string in the Bombers 54-36 win over Stepps this week. Hughes’s moves in the transfer market may have been mainly restricted to outgoings from the squad, but the one incoming rider into the septet has been a perfect fit, Latvian’ Aleksandrs Zirnis hitting the ground running following his arrival as part of the deal which saw Forsman switch to the Red Knights. Zirnis, who is just 22, is averaging over three points in excess of his 4.72 GSA in the warm-up fixtures, meetings that Birkenhead have won all four of to date, a record which takes them to the top of the form guide ahead on points difference of the only other side with a 100% record, defending league champions Timperley.