womble53

The incident started before he lifted, at the time of the lift, his and Garcia's bikes were already entangled. As it happed right in front of me I had a pretty good view of what led up to the lift & crash. As I said it's all about your viewpoint.

Think you'll find the point of CB's post is not about the curfew, rather the fact that in 7 of the 12 heat's, including the rather harsh exclusion for Tom ​Bacon in the Heat 8 crash, the Rebels were only able to track one rider. Hollow victory?........Yes/Maybe/No, make your choice. It's all about from which direction your viewpoint comes.

Why would it be about that, hasn't done Jake Allen & Bradley Wilson Dean any harm, as both have had spells in the main body & at reserve this season...........Not really about a 'Bonkers' rule as you put it, more to do with signing the right riders in the first place in my opinion.......Just saying!

Think you'll find that Brady only initially signed for a month, to get some meetings under his belt when Poole were short of fixtures, and ended up staying a little longer, until Plymouth found a replacement, so no not odd at all really

Oh, the irony of getting your arse in your hand over something and nothing............Peterborough !!

You are clearly out of touch! Allen was due to join Berwick LAST YEAR, not a few years ago, and his non-appearance had nothing to do with his development, it was down entirely to the visa nonsense in place at the time. The only difference in his development was another season on the Australian circuit, he was essentially the same rider when Somerset signed him, as he was when Berwick were interested. So yes he was a gamble. Of course Garry would have done his homework, but that doesn't mean that they were any less of a gamble. Let's take Jake Allen as an example. Garry would have watched a lot of video and talked to other riders about Jake, and obviously the signs were good enough for him to take the decision to sign him, but that doesn't make him any less of a gamble. How many times have you seen a rider arrive in the UK with a massive reputation, and totally bomb out in British speedway, I can think of quite a few. You can watch all the video you like & talk to riders, but at the end of the day you are looking mainly at a rider who is operating in his comfort zone and listening to opinions. They can only be a rough guide, the rider still has to adapt & feel comfortable. Every year I travel to the continent and watch riders who look really good in their own environment, but could not hold a candle to, and would struggle even at NL level. Then you have others, who are clearly a cut above the rest. For instance Romano Hummel, who I believe has the potential and ability to make a really good rider, but's who first attempt at PL racing ended because he was outside his comfort zone, in that he apparently, according to Berwick's Press release, couldn't cope with being away from home and his family. So taking someone from the other side of the world, could bring with it a multitude of problems........so once again, yes, Jake in particular was a gamble, but gladly one that has worked out well for Somerset

Almost certain he wasn't eligible to get into the five (top 4 plus reserve) for the event. As Wright was in the top four of the team's averages, and at the time the teams had to be declared, BWD was above Jake in the official Greensheets, putting him in the reserve spot. Pretty certain that was the way the rules were framed for the team make up. Now that Charles has been withdrawn due to an ankle injury he picked up last night, BWD moves up into the top 4 to replace Charles, and Jake moves up to reserve for the meeting.

Not according to these forecast Gresh, looks like a fine evening. BBC Weather Accuweather 1 Accuweather 2 Hope they're all accurate

Paul's fall was due to a chain failure.

Thanks Dave, saved me a lot of typing

Same old rubbish trotted out again, as it was in 2013. There have been 10 running's of the event at the Oaktree, and only two winners for Somerset in all that time, not what you'd call a strangle hold on the competition, or a massive home track advantage is it. You could have run that meeting anywhere tonight, and I almost guarantee you'd have had a similar result. Somerset didn't win because the meeting was held on their own track, they won it because they were by far the best pair on the night, were on a different level to the rest, and deserved to win it

He withdrew from his last two rides last night, suffering with his should, which I believe he injured in a fall in Heat 14 of their home match against Ipswich last week

Just a quick point of information on that one. During the discussion in the break at Heat 5, I believe Garry May asked the referee to let the riders take them off, but was denied the request, as they are a safety measure. (Hands, fingers, feet and spokes etc.)

No our Willowman isn't a Steward Gresh, he was just stood next to the errant panel at the time, and 'Dealing with it' on his part entailed stopping it falling on his bonce, and those of the others stood in that area. For the record, like you that's how I also read his post, as the fence panel came adrift after Cook's fall as far as I recall

Tonight's meeting at Plymouth has been Postponed due to bad weather http://www.somersetrebels.co/news.php?extend.1742 http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/forecast/gbvn9cv4h

At their upcoming challenge match a week on Friday (17th June), Somerset are offering fans, or want-to-be Team Managers, the chance to experience the job first hand, for a night. Judging by a great number of posts on here, there are plenty of people who think they can do the job better than the current team manager of their particular team, so here's a chance to put their money where their mouth is and give it a go. Wonder if there's anyone out there who is up to the job? Why not find out how good you are? http://www.somersetrebels.co/news.php?extend.1737.

I totally understand Sarah, my comment was meant to be tongue in cheek, but it was late & I forgot the emoji......now rectified

I know some bids have come in, but I'm a bit surprised that with the number of people on here who seem to think they know better than their team managers, there haven't been a lot more.

No Shads, Somerset already have a ready made successor to Mr May, he's called Garry Day, and was introduced to the Rebels by Peterborough. He has a 100% record this season

It's local Derby time in the League Cup this weekend, as no one else has started the thread, here goes

It was Gold Cup day & I had been working in Cheltenham, as I did every year for the Festival, and arrived through the gates just as it was being called off

It's local Derby time in the League Cup this weekend, as no one else has started the thread, here goes Reverse fixture at the SBA Saturday

His engine seized, and the bike stopped so quickly, that it snapped his forks, and gave him a real hard fall into the air fence. This extract comes from the match report sent out today on the Somerset website: Heat 8 almost spelt disaster for Somerset when their flying Kiwi reserve Bradley Wilson-Dean came to grief in a big way on the final bend when challenging Workington’s Matt Williamson for the lead, Wilson-Dean’s engine seizing on him, the suddenness of this causing the front forks to snap, sending him careering into the air-fence. Thankfully, after some on-track attention, Wilson-Dean was able to get to his feet and walk back to the pits, but it was a different story for his bike, which was looking decidedly the worse for wear, with a bent frame adding to what will be a hefty repair bill for the young New Zealander.

And 2011 when we won Witches 42 - Rebels 51

The local weather forecast for Edithmead today was for thunderstorms at 11am, noon, 3pm & 6pm, so with that and the storms earlier on in the week, it's no wonder the promotion made an early call to postpone the meeting. Better that than opening the gates with potential thunderstorms throughout the day, including one due just an hour and half before start time, then having to abandon it with all the riders having travelled from various parts of the UK, and a stadium full of people. I live further down the M5, and we have had really heavy and prolonged downpours all day, any of which would have prevented the meeting taking place, if they had happened at the OTA. I know for a fact that the Somerset promotion don't make decision like this lightly, and if they thought that the weather was going to improve, it would have been on. As Drew said......'Damned if you do, and Damned if you don't'