cyclone

Assume Jake Allen was unavailable as he was the obvious guest choice for the Lions at Ashfield. If Cook does not experience the mechanical problems he had on Saturday, then he together with Rasmus Jensen are likely to go through the card on Tuesday. Likewise the Glasgow reserves should outscore their Lions counterparts who enjoyed a 9 - 2 advantage at Beaumont Park. I also cannot envisage Worrall scoring as much as guest Lawson's 11 on Saturday. Therefore expect Tigers to comfortably win by more than 12, and even if it went to an aggregate draw, who would bet against Cook & Rasmus Jensen winning the initial Golden Heat for Glasgow?

IMO Glasgow, with Rasmus Jensen as currently the best rider in the CL, & Vissing riding better than ever, will be the title favourites. Stewart Dickson's choice of guests for Richie Worrall over the two legs will be crucial, and I would guess, if permitted ( given the loose wording of SCB 18.1.9), he might go for Jake Allen/Lewis Kerr at Ashfield, & Richard Lawson for the home leg).

IMO Cook & Jensen are the red hot favourites based on their current form, with Somerset likely to be their main rivals. The other semi-finalists if Howarth is now fit enough to ride with King, I reckon will be Sheffield, together with Leicester

Ever thought that it depends on how long it takes to recover from injury &/or when the medics advise it is fit to resume? Cameron Heeps recently was still unfit to ride for Edinburgh at Somerset on a Wednesday, but resumed at Ipswich the next day. Still I suppose it gives some an excuse to girn

Looks like you wont have to wait long - taken from tonight's Official Edinburgh website:- "Sheffield Tigers visit Armadale this Friday in a Championship match postponed just over a month ago. Forecast is good and the Staggs Bar Monarchs should have their full septet available – Ricky Wells has missed Poole's matches this week but is intending to ride on Friday." Unless of course he aggravates his injury again on Friday

Good News - announced on Monarchs website, x-rays confirm Cam no broken ribs, but he is in pain due to bruisng

Bit harsh, he was leading heat 4, when on the last lap, he locked up and came down. Cameron then hit Garrity's bike which acted as ramp to propel him through the air, a la Freddie Lindgren. into the air fence. It looked like CW might have smashed in to his own handlebars, and it was subsequently announced as resulting in apparently a possible broken rib. To be fair it was a simple fall by Garrity, and nothing reckless about Jason's riding, who immediately went over to apologise to Cam. Despite the scoreline, there was some decent racing, with Garrity inflicting Masters only defeat in the final race. Although Garrity's travel problems are a source of irritation and criticism, when he is on his game on the track, he is well worth watching.

So still no one able or willing to provide video evidence of either heats 3 or 4 to let us judge for ourselves whether or not the description of "torrential rain" was accurate or not?

The match report I read stated:- Heats 3 and 4 were raced in torrential rain causing difficulty for the riders to see with the meeting referee refusing to pause for the thunderstorm to pass over. A track inspection was called for following heat 4 purely to create time for the rain to stop and to allow the fallen water to soak into the surface. A sensible course of action which allowed racing to improve upon resumption. As the video clip you refer to is heat 8, any chance you can provide similar video evidence for either heat 3 or 4 in order to debunk the claim of torrential rain during these races?

Where were you viewing the race? You either did not have a clear view of Phillip's making contact with Coles front wheel or you suffer from Geordie hallucinations. The only garbage on here is the tripe your spouting , re the incident and your "expert" analysis of the track. You're not George English's love child btw?, as he was predictably also girning about the ref, as he has done on several visits to the Dale, when his team fail to deliver.

Was standing at top of terracing next to hospitality suite on bend 4 & had perfect view, and Phillips definitely swiped Coles front wheel when he dived inside. Not in a position to have a close view of what happened re Lawson's fall & whether Clegg moved at start, but the elevated ref's box does provide better sight lines of the circuit. I reckoned we needed at least a 20 point lead to stand a chance of reaching the final, given our poor away performances and Heeps failing to record a win/paid win in the previous Shield match at Brough. The bonus of having Clegg returning to reserve also strengthens the Diamonds, given he will inevitably replace Phillips in at least one of his programmed rides.

Having scrutinised the 2019 SCB Speedway Regulations, under 23 A : Penalty Guidelines for Meeting Referees, the following is stated:- "When a rider, Official or Motorcycle is unfit (including failing a drug or alcohol test), suspended, unlicensed or does not comply with the Regulations, then disqualification of the rider / Motorcycle from the Meeting may be mandatory. When a rider is disqualified from a Team Event due to failing a pre-meeting Alcohol or Drug test, or non-compliance to the Silencer, Tyre or Carburettor Regulations, then no Facility nor replacements are permitted in any Programmed rides". IMO this unambiguously means that neither r/r nor a Junior Rider replacing Howard should have been permitted for the programmed rides of the Monarchs number 3. I accept that this would have probably killed off the match as a close encounter for those, like myself, in attendance. Had Monarchs actually won, then Glasgow would have been fully justified to then appeal the result, which the SCB would have been obliged to overturn. For the record I am a Monarchs fan, without a "win at any cost" attitude.

IIRC there are non prescription over-the-counter medicines that do contain ingredients deemed as performance enhancing substances. However according to this link re Night Nurse:- http://www.theathlete.org/banned_drugs/night-nurse.html "This Product does not contain any banned substances according to the IOC, therefore this product can be taken in accordance with the Manufacturers guidelines." So it would appear that can be ruled out.

Well this comment on heat 12 in the Live Updates, imo sums up Oor Wullie's "professional" approach this Season:- "Smith passes Lawson on run in to the finish line after Lawson's bike slowed and start smoking." He seems reluctant to invest in decent equipment and Monarchs fans have to suffer watching him chugging around on his untrustworthy "bag of nails" home & away. No doubt he has ability, but appears to have zero commitment. Think we've reached the stage to call time on him, even if it means bringing in a third tier replacement such as Connor Coles.

Appears that track is in good nick on FB & forecast is for warm & dry weather also. No changes to published field has been announced

I would assume that the participating riders in the Peter Craven Memorial Meeting held at BV on 30th March would be paid. Included in those appearing were Justin Sedgmen (Edinburgh) & Broc Nicol (Sheffield). I believe that JS is riding under a CL- only visa, and perhaps MC member Damien Bates can clarify if Nicol is also riding under a CL -only visa If this is correct, what is the difference between Masters riding in a paid Individual meeting in a League not covered by his visa at Edinburgh, to that permitting Nicol & Sedgmen to do so at Belle Vue?

I would assume that the participating riders in the Peter Craven Memorial Meeting held at BV on 30th March would be paid. Included in those appearing were Justin Sedgmen (Edinburgh) & Broc Nicol (Sheffield). I believe that JS is riding under a CL- only visa, and perhaps MC member Damien Bates can clarify if Nicol is riding under a CL -only visa also If this is correct, what is the difference between Masters riding in a paid Individual meeting in a League not covered by his visa at Edinburgh, to that permitting Nicol & Sedgmen to do so at Belle Vue?

Tigers are to be congratulated on their initiative in recruiting a potentially hot prospect, in Connor Bailey, on a 2pt GSA. I'm sure any other clubs fans, including my own, would have been excited at such a move. Such a similar move was done by the Tigers a few years back when they brought in Nick Morris, and look how well that turned out to be.

Believe it's ok @ armadale, & should still be, given greyhound racing has ceased there now. IIRC they're not allowed at Ashfield - a guy who used to take a couple of rare breed dogs a few years ago, apparently was barred for disputing this. No doubt a Tigs fan can clarify whether or not dogs are permitted. A friend used to have to keep his dog in the car when he went to Berwick, as they were banned because of an incident where a child was apparently bitten.

We should have emptied Lawson before his GSA plummeted from 4 to 3 as now, the likes of the Aussie 4 pt free agents, List & MacDonald cannot be signed as direct replacements. It was apparent from the opening matches that Oor Wullie is quite happy to turn out on crap equipment and after seeing the same thing in his late 2018 comeback, the Monarchs management still seem paralysed from making a change. Re Sedgmen, given his poor performances in the UK in 2018 and his indifferent performances in Oz during the Winter, I was surprised he was Monarchs first confirmed signing for 2019 on a starting GSA that he was/is unlikely to reach, and thereby made it difficult to track two 7+ heat leaders as most other ambitious teams have done. If it's the same team on Friday, expect Berwick to brush us aside without too much resistance.

Chessell could well pick up a point in ht 2 if Lawson is still on board the "bag of nails", "expertly" tuned by his pappa , given Danny Phillips relegated Oor Wullie to fourth in the same heat, last week Considering Starke's top scoring performance for the Tigs in the Scottish Cup at the Dale in the last home meeting of 2018, imo he is a better choice at no. 5 than Vissing. Expect Glasgow to win by more than six, with Cookie scoring a five ride max (full or paid).

Despite the optimistic propaganda appearing on the Monarchs website, on the basis of the poor performance of four of the Monarchs team on Friday, imo, the Monarchs will get thrashed by 20+ today at the EWR. Unless Wells suddenly gets in the groove and Andersson recovers from being "unwell" on Friday , it may well be Pickering & Heeps who will provide the main scoring for the Monarchs. Given Sedgmen had a couple of meetings already under his belt before Friday, he looks like a rider who is on a downward spiral. Re Lawson, it appears he has not made any significant investment in upgrading his uncompetitive 2018 kit, which was evident on Friday as he continued to lose ground to others on the straights. Given his father also is still mechanicing for him, I doubt if he is really treating riding Speedway seriously

Workington Sheffield Somerset Scunthorpe

Well based on the final NL Green Sheets for 2018 , Ruddick was 6.67 compared to Glasgow's Joe Lawlor on 6.61 I realise that averages can be misleading, but unless you were watching Ruddick riding everywhere, week in, week out, rather than trust your assumption, I'll wait & see how he actually does. Certainly HalifaxTiger on this forum rates him and he probably attended more 2018 UK domestic meetings than anyone else on the BSF.

Victor Palovaara intimated that he was keen to return to the Championship in 2019, after his short stint with Edinburgh. As far as I can see, he has not been contracted to any Polish club in 2019. Given he was decent with the Diamonds previously, might be worth a punt again.