Great Central

Report courtesy of Nigel Nattrass. Mildenhall Stadium 18th May 2014 MDL MK Knights 25 Long Eaton Invaders 11 Despite a spirited performance on a scorching hot afternoon, Long Eaton Invaders were unable the halt the charge of in-form league leaders MK Knights, who collected a victory which was not quite as comfortable as the scoreline might suggest. On the short and tight West Row circuit, this match was as much about gating as anything else, and quite simply the Knights were much sharper away from the tapes, but the margin of victory at the chequered flag was never very wide. MK 1. Jez Pestell 332* = 8+1 2. Niall Strudwick 2*00 = 2+1 3. Sam Chapman 2*33 = 8+1 4. Danno Verge 313 = 7 Long Eaton 1. Lee Geary 121 = 4 2. Layne Cupitt 002 = 2 3. Alex Wilson fx20 = 2 4. Lee Springthorpe 11*1* = 3+1 Ht1: Pestell, Strudwick, Geary, Cupitt 57.5 5-1 / 5-1 Ht2: Verge, Chapman, Springthorpe (Wilson fell, ex) 57.6 5-1 / 10-2 Ht3: Pestell, Wilson, Springthorpe, Strudwick 58.1 3-3 / 13-5 Ht4: Chapman, Geary, Verge, Cupitt 58.6 4-2 / 17-7 Ht5: Verge, Cupitt, Springthorpe, Strudwick 58.3 3-3 / 20-10 Ht6: Chapman, Pestell, Geary, Wilson 58.7 5-1 / 25-11

Malcolm, a great team effort last night by all and I hope that we get a few more supporters there next Saturday to see what is growing into a strong team. I hope that James recovers in time for next Saturday since he has been going well. My wife who was doing the updates was confused by the events in heat 2 where James came 2nd and appeared to be excluded. The PA was not very good, and neither were the announcements, so she didn't get to hear why? Anything to offer? Martin

Mr Vasey must also be off colour since I haven't ever known him to be this "quiet", either that or Great Yarmouth has floated away into the North Sea without anyone telling us!! Don't like the sound of a short shower tonight since they can often turn into downpours in this hot weather.

Great effort which shows what can be achieved when necessary. I thought that the track held up really well with no signs of the previous problems.

Mike, I do share your frustration with the lack of useful information on the BSF with regards to amateur speedway. At one time it was all held up to date in one spot but now you have to search and join all these differing groups to get all the latest messages. I didn't even realise that the STR had a Facebook page. People keep saying that it is the way to go but in my view it is a retrograde step and is very difficult to "interpret". Martin PS Sorry to hear about your broken ribs but at least you managed to get the Stoke v KL meeting delayed until you are fit to drive longer distances.

Nathan Greaves rides his home matches on Tuesdays.

Rules from the SCB handbook indicate that a RR can be used for Tom but not for Matt. FACILITIES In the NL the eligible reasons for a Facility is extended to cover any other reason, eg. Work, school, holidays etc. a) Any Absent Rider (if on EL duty) G (who must be in a NL Line-Up) or RR Absent #1: G (who must be in a NL Line-Up) or RR c) Absent Rider (2 – 5): RR d) Two Absent Riders (2 -5) 1 x RR and 1 x G (Team Manager discretion) e) all other Absentees **: any Rider not in a NL Declaration and whose MA does not exceed NL 3.00

And safely. That journey for Steve is about 200 miles which makes it tight to get there on a Bank Holiday Monday.

Mike, many thanks for posting these. It really is a labour of love for you and I know the frustrations that you have in trying to get the complete picture of what happened. Your efforts in trying to provide a full record of all 2nd half meetings are very much appreciated. Martin PS I hope that all those riders who took a tumble at Buxton yesterday in their MDL match are ok.

Jon certainly looked much better today at Buxton and got better as the match went on. Ben Wilson is also starting to find his racing speed again after such a long time off the bike.

After all the troubles with the track, the 1st meeting of the season went well for the Potters, although made slightly easier by the withdrawal of Brandon Freemantle and Benji Compton. The track rode well, although a little patchy in places, but there was plenty of shale on it, not something that is common these days. It should produce some good racing once it beds down a bit more. Appeared to be a decent sized crowd after the delayed start to the season and good to see that some Kent fans made the long trip north to support their team.

Not a problem. It is not helped by Sky commentators not being up to speed with the draft riders but nobody can be expected to know everything..

Lewis Rose started league riding in June 2012 and Lewis Kerr started in June 2010. All details are available on that wonderful website speedwayresults.com which holds rider records back to 2009.

Mike, thanks for the meeting scores. The result was a bit closer than I thought that it would be. Martin

Mike, KL have Josh Bailey, Alec Wright, Adam Kirby and Ryan Kingsley. The Long Eaton Invaders have Lee Geary, Adam Shepherd, Lee Springthorpe and Sam Woods. Martin

According to BSPA website the meeting is OFF

Thanks for the results. It looks like BV were really up against it last night.

Mike, Here are the heat details but I couldn't find any race times: Ht 1 Lamb, Ruddick, Deans, Basford F/X 3-3 / 3-3 Ht 2 Bickley, Douglas, Freeman, Wright 3-3 / 6-6 Ht 3 Lamb, Ruddick, Deans (3 riders only) 3-3 / 9-9 Ht 4 Bickley, Douglas, Freeman, Wright 3-3 / 12-12 Ht 5 Lamb, Ruddick, Deans (3 riders only) 3-3 / 15-15 Ht 6 Bickley, Douglas, Freeman, Wright 3-3 / 18-18

I knew that mining had taken place near the stadium but didn't know any details. It must be hoped that it isn't to do with those collieries since that could be a real big issue and of course with all the winter rain, some very strange things have been happening underground this year. I am not taking sides on this issue but it sounds like all the obvious things have been tried and with good weather last week, Dave and his crew would have been optimistic of success and it must be really frustrating for them not to be able to sort it. Frustrating of course for the riders as well who are now lagging behind most clubs in fixtures run.

Good points made in your post. Because the reports indicate that it is very localised, could it be ground water bubbling up in that area? The whole area must be riddled with old underground workings and if it is ground water then it could be costly to fix.

Paramedics are always paid by the home team so what are you implying. It really doesn't matter if the paramedic knows anything about speedway or not, he is there to give a judgement on how fit the rider is to continue. In this case, at the time of the injury Adam wasn't fit to continue.

And that is why I added the words "one can only presume that it is more difficult to enforce than it seems." You have indeed explained the practical way to get round it although it is always dubious paying cash in hand to anyone however if all the NL promoters signed up to it at their AGM, then the rule can be enforced by a code of conduct.

Totally agree and it should be enforced. Mileage rates also. Any other money such as proceeds from sponsorship and 50:50 raffles should be totally separate from that paid by the clubs. Hopefully that would stop the have/have not situation occurring and then riders would go to the teams who they believe will be best for their development and not who pay the best rates. It seems simple to run like this but since it hasn't happened so far, one can only presume that it is more difficult to enforce than it seems.

You are right. I am not much of a football fan but there must be a lot of football clubs with houses nearby and those stadiums on a match day are the source of a lot of noise. Are they next on the agenda?

I am sure that both Ben and Chris will appreciate your best wishes. Thank you.