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Rye should have moved back to the middle tier. Saturday night racing with more local derbies is a no brainer really. The team is too old and too expensive, coupled with the awful facilities at hoddesdon, it's a recipe for disaster.

In Poland the tail doesn't wag the dog, unlike in the UK where riders certainly take the pee. Only have to go back to the Holder/Batcholar situation at Kings Lynn v Poole meeting last season. Would those 2 Aussies have tried that on in Poland ? I think not.

Ivan totally changed the fortunes of Newcastle Speedway in the early 60's. He burnt up the Aussies during the winter, and we could not believe that Mike Parker would go for him and get his signature. Not only that, but Ivan asked for and got passages to the UK for him, Raye and the 3 children for which Ivan was forever grateful for. He always respected Parker for it, money was never a problem between them, but his desire to reach the top split them apart. After his first WC with the Diamonds, there followed moves to Belle Vue, Exeter and of course Hull. He never forgot the Diamonds, getting his main mechanic Gordon Stobbs from us and his wife Margaret, who were with Ivan and Raye for the rest of his career and afterwards. He always showed his interest in fellow Kiwi's, visiting us every year especially when Mark Thorpe and David Bargh were riding for us. He usually came up unannounced when he came over for the WSRA dinners, appearing after the start and disappearing before our meeting finished after seeing everyone he knew. In 2010 he came up for his book signing, and I asked him and Gordon if it was possible for Ivan to visit my training school on the Sunday afternoon. He already had 4 events to attend but Gordon said he would do his best. Sure enough, halfway through the session in walks Ivan and Gordon, and he proceeded to give advice and take over the rest of the session. Photos are on the Newcastle Training group Facebook page, as well as some individuals who have posted their photos on their own Facebook pages. The early signs of his illness were there the previous evening, when Raye kept Ivan on script with his great stories. We will never see such a great rider as him again, although Tony Rickardsson came pretty close. RIP IVAN, the rider that changed speedway for the better

Just the same at Monmore. Late arrivals at the tapes still gardening while the start er trying to get them to line up. Waste of time changing the rule unless all tracks have a count down clock.

So it's either Sergei "I'm still riding" Darkin or Henning "Showtime" Bager. Keep on teasing, flagrag

Some close fast racing with a sprinkling of passes, not up to the usual NSS standard but nonetheless good entertainment. Grajczonek and Kildemand the best of the bunch for Poole. The two Poles did enough to show they will outscore their artificial averages. Kurtz and Sundstrom were poor and Shanes had a bad night. But as others have said, it is early days and too much shouldn't be made of one disappointing performance. Bewley was again very impressive, it's difficult to believe that it is only two years since his first competitive race. Fricke continued his good form and Cook was solid. Tungate was poor but did show some signs of improvement in his last two rides. Bjerre did as I expected and had a decent night but Worrall would have scored significantly more. Starke and Grappmaier also scored less than Drozdz and Etheridge did against Swindon. Those claiming we wouldn't be weakened can now see just how wrong they were. Overall, an excellent result for a weakened Aces team against the team expected by many to be dead certs for the title.

A soul destroying, festering sore of a meeting. That one was enough to kill your enthusiasm for a season before it even starts. After watching lots of fast, vibrant, modern speedway from Poland so far this year on the TV, this one was like a trip back in time to the seventies. And Monmore is generally one of the better tracks to visit in the Premiership!!

Well that put to bed the nonsense that r/r for Stevie hadn,t weakened us, Stevie would have been in double figures considering how he was going, Tungate as I expected was a passenger, and Gappmaier did nothing. If I was a Poole fan id be gutted, should have taken us to the cleaners, I'm just happy to have won the meeting with a vastly under strength team.

What a simple and great tribute to the best speedway rider of all time. Sincere condolences to his family R I P Ivan

Gavan why don't you shut the f***k up , they have only had two matches, that's 4 points, come to think of it how many have Ipswich, if I was you I would be more worried about them

Jesus Christ 10 heats into the season and the glory supporter wants a change already.

I fail to see why it's any concern as to who is involved because it's Coventry's business - maybe the poster is just setting up a case to get people to have another go about something. The bees are on track and looking good - be nice if people were just satisfied to watch their progress and not pick all the time.

Heading amended to the new date for this match.

Correct. I wouldn’t let 2 average performances put Poole fans off just yet there’s room for improvement. Just think of the team Poole could have had of the kept good young Brits like Howarth, Newman and Ellis. Was looking forward to a match report

In Business the thing that brings in you in the least amount profit is given the least amount of time and effort. Understandable I would suggest.

This meeting has been rearranged for Tuesday 24th April - 8pm start

When looking at the team the Rebels have got, they are totally reliant on Doyle. He has to score big for them to be competitive. Last night Leicester were firing on all cylinders and were way too strong. Leicester will have harder nights than this, but well done on a thumping win....

Well that points dropped for the Pirates against a pretty poor Belle Vue. Nothing will ever become of that Bewley fellow.

I only got to see him at Oxford (he scored a max) and in 1975 for the diamonds re-opening (beat Jim McMillan 3 times) Luckily got to meet the great man in 2010 and his wife Raye at Brough for his book signing Greatest rider ever RIP Ivan and thoughts with Raye and his children

Cracking start from the team on what could have been a banana skin given lack of practice. It does very much look like Rye are going to struggle away and maybe even at home at times as Nicholls and Harris are only going one way. Brilliant start from Jacob at No 1, I have little doubts about him at home. If he can take that confidence to the away tracks maybe he can surprise me. I hope he does! Great to see Kyle Howarth get a maximum. This is one rider I will hold my hand up and say I got it wrong. I wasn't impressed at all when we originally signed him as I didn't think he'd ever adapt to Monmore. He most certainly has and I love to watch him race when I get the chance. Promising looking start from Ashley Morris too.

Sheene, Knievel and Mauger. If you grew up in the 70's you couldn't help but love motorcycles thanks to those three gods. Its an honour to be able to follow the Diamonds and see where one of those Legends was born. Rest In Peace

That has gone unnoticed but not by me. Dirty move that. Totally unlike josh.

A poor showing from the Rockets tonight. Let's not have any excuses about the riders needing to blow away the cobwebs, the Wolverhampton side came into this much colder than our riders, Kennett aside. It'll be interesting to see what excuses are wheeled out for this one.

First trip to Newcastle and was a bit shocked was expecting a bit of a dump the way some go on but i thought it seemed a decent set up. Track was a bit patchy to start but first meeting and dodgy weather so wasn't too bad. A few decent races, I'd be happy enough with it being our track

Like you say no one can judge any track at the moment so when conditions improve everyone will see how the remedial work handles and if it improves the awful bumps. I hope it does as I used to rate the Poole track highly.