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Steve Shovlar

Kent v Poole 27/7/21 6.30pm

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My first ever visit to Sittingbourne and a real pleasure all round. We arrived at 3pm, found the stadium then decided to head over to Leysdown on the isle of Sheppey to see if this little seaside resort was as bad as I remembered it last time I was there years ago. In fact it was worse!  A street full of amusement arcades and candy floss. Lots of overweight to obese people scoffing the pies and pizza, kids running amok and I spent £2 in 2p’s over 30 mins on the cascade thingimy. In the end I was struggling to spend it as the 2p’s kept dropping out! 

We watched from the shore as a massive thunderstorm floated across Sheppey and headed towards Southend across the water, then headed back to Sittingbourne to get something to eat before entering the stadium. A nice stadium in a huge industrial estate. The council imposing an 8.30 curfew is frankly ridiculous. But the stadium can hold probably as many as Belle Vue and although it needs a tidy up and some fresh paint, deserves bigger meetings. 

No parade or practice laps for the riders. Straight out for heat one. Poole gated on a 5-1 in heats 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.  Yet at the end of heat 4 the scores were 12-12. 
Heat 1 and Pirztes gated. But Nichols held it tight to squeeze up the inside of the Poole boys off bend 4 to take the win.

Heat 2 and Pirates gated, leading by 50 metres down the back straight. A nailed o 5-1? Nope. Wright binned it into the fence. You know what happens in a rerun? Kent gated. Hume git between the pair and was challenging Morley but clipped his back wheel, which allowed Gilles through.

Heat 3 and Pirates gated but Starke kept the pressure on and got past Worrall. Ge couldn’t quite catch Neilsen.

Heat 4 and Poole gate. But Heeps manages to get last Hume after the youngster messes up bend 4 lap 2.

Heat 5 and Starke penalises himself at the tapes and the Pirates are away. But the ref sticks the red light on straight away! Really if a rider jumps then pulls back as the tapes go up it’s his error. In the rerun Starke gated but Schlein was having none of it and reeled him in to a great pass.

Heat 6 and Kent gate, but King was determined and after blasting around Nicholls on lap two he caught and ladt Morley on the final lap.

Heat 7 and Morley gates but Worrall reels him and and in lap three blasts through down the back straight. 19-23.

Heat 8 and Poole gate but Thomas messes up on bend 4 allowing Gilles through, then messes up again to allow Hurry through. Danny Hume away and gone.

Heat 9 and Starke gates. Pirates fill minor places but again Wright dumps it into the 4th bend fence. Race awarded. 26-28

Heat 10 and an almighty battle between Worrall and Nicholls. No quarter given and Worrall came out on top. 

Heat 11 and Hume comes in for Thomas. A tough first bend sees Hume battling down the back straight with heeps but the youngster will not back down, joining Schlein for an impressive 5-1. 29-37.

Heat 12 and tac sub time. In comes Nicholls to partner Starke. Starke gates but the 2 pirates Worrall and Hume hold off Nicholls fir the 4 laps. 32-40

Heat 13 and Schlein gates, blocks both Kent riders Nicholls and Heeps and clears off. King messes up the first bend lap 2 and tails off.

Heat 14 and a big 5-1 from Neilsen and Hume to seal the match and the 4 points for Poole.

Heat 15 and King makes up for his zero 2 races earlier with a win and thrilling face off with Starke. 38-52.

In the end Poole were far to strong for Kent, who battled hard but were lacking firepower through the team. Starke was excellent value, backed up by Nicholls and Morley, but after those three there was little else. 

But the meeting had so much going on. Thrilling races, passing in all but one heat. Really a great meeting in front of a decent crowd.

Rider of the meeting? Danyon Hume. Paid 13 and best Scotty Nicholls in the process. He is going places.

Home by 11.15 pm. A good day.

 

 

 

 

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9 hours ago, BobC said:

Take a bow Danyon Hume. Brilliant tonight. 

Bob myself  and a few Leicester/ Birmingham fans on the forum were saying this over two years ago just how unlucky Danyon had been.His career started brilliantly at Ipswich and he ended up with quite a high average which often hampered his chances of getting a spot in the Championship.He had a great year at Birmingham interrupted by injury ironically at Poole but had a good year average wise.After not getting a spot at Championship level he had a great spearhead year with Ellis Perks at Leicester and was superb all year but limited rides came to him at Championship level.It was so frustrating when the likes of Bickley/ Smith ( ect) were getting prolonged runs in championship sides and the likes of Castagna at Birmingham were taking up spots yet Danyon was being frozen out.Now i believe he is at the right club and with Middlo helping him along he should keep improving i imagine the home crowd love watching him ride as he adds excitement.Hope he stays injury free and carries on how he is doing if the Pirates can get Cook back they will be in the mix for sure this year.

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On 7/25/2021 at 11:32 AM, blueherb777 said:

Poole will be firing on all cylinders after the Leicester win.

Can only see a Poole win...something like 40-50?

Pity Kent don`t have a new heat leader in place and will Heeps be back (too soon?).

 

 

Close with score!

Sounds like some decent Speedway,but looks like Heeps coming back too soon.

Wonder if new signing will make much difference to results?

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1 hour ago, Sidney the robin said:

Bob myself  and a few Leicester/ Birmingham fans on the forum were saying this over two years ago just how unlucky Danyon had been.His career started brilliantly at Ipswich and he ended up with quite a high average which often hampered his chances of getting a spot in the Championship.He had a great year at Birmingham interrupted by injury ironically at Poole but had a good year average wise.After not getting a spot at Championship level he had a great spearhead year with Ellis Perks at Leicester and was superb all year but limited rides came to him at Championship level.It was so frustrating when the likes of Bickley/ Smith ( ect) were getting prolonged runs in championship sides and the likes of Castagna at Birmingham were taking up spots yet Danyon was being frozen out.Now i believe he is at the right club and with Middlo helping him along he should keep improving i imagine the home crowd love watching him ride as he adds excitement.Hope he stays injury free and carries on how he is doing if the Pirates can get Cook back they will be in the mix for sure this year.

Excellent post Sidney. I must say one thing though. You are preaching to the converted!

I lived in Devon for the last 10 years, recently moving back to Poole. Plymouth was my regular fix for speedway.

Ive always liked Danyon. Good value for money efforts round Plymouth. So much so, if I was working and he was appearing, I would finish work early to be able to get there in time. A genuine favourite of mine.

I was extremely pleased when Poole signed him. Told all who would listen that hes a very underrated rider. Very fast, good style, good equipment and a smashing chap to chat with. All he needed was a chance. Apart from his home debut, where he failed to score, he has exceeded most peoples expectations. Not mine! Last night he was excellent, unlucky not to score more in fact.

He is my favourite Pirate. He has endeared himself to the Poole faithful very quickly. Even Middlo has commented that he loves working with him as hes always smiling and that his enthusiasm spreads throughout the team. Long may that continue.

 

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Ok we were well beaten by a superior side,but the racing  was top class,,kents main problem is their gating ,apart from Ben Morley,s two lightening starts where he battled with  two of Pooles top guns ,,and a couple of good gates from Paul Starke who had an excellant night and deserved his Kent rider of the night award , the are not gating ,,even Scotty has to do all his work from behind ....there were flashes of what he can do from Cameron Heeps ,but with that injury he is not getting the points that are needed from a no 5,,,,,Paul Hurrys improvement of last week was not there tonight,,So the team still have big problems to overcome and i am not sure it is going to be possible...Pooles rider of the night was Danjon Hume who took a couple of races to get going and then realed of 10 points from his last four outings..The track at kent is the best it has ever been and this is reflected in the racing which is the best it has ever been...

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Couple of things from last night. No center green commentator. All we got was some muffled announcer who we gave up trying to understand what was being said. Couldn’t hear the race times and rider changes. The announcer shows little to no enthusiasm and there is a distinct lack of atmosphere. The fans don’t make any noise and tepid polite hand clapping is not what this sport is about. The presentation severely lacks. A center green presenter whipping up a crowd is what is needed.

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11 hours ago, Steve Shovlar said:

My first ever visit to Sittingbourne and a real pleasure all round. We arrived at 3pm, found the stadium then decided to head over to Leysdown on the isle of Sheppey to see if this little seaside resort was as bad as I remembered it last time I was there years ago. In fact it was worse!  A street full of amusement arcades and candy floss. Lots of overweight to obese people scoffing the pies and pizza, kids running amok and I spent £2 in 2p’s over 30 mins on the cascade thingimy. In the end I was struggling to spend it as the 2p’s kept dropping out! 

We watched from the shore as a massive thunderstorm floated across Sheppey and headed towards Southend across the water, then headed back to Sittingbourne to get something to eat before entering the stadium. A nice stadium in a huge industrial estate. The council imposing an 8.30 curfew is frankly ridiculous. But the stadium can hold probably as many as Belle Vue and although it needs a tidy up and some fresh paint, deserves bigger meetings. 

No parade or practice laps for the riders. Straight out for heat one. Poole gated on a 5-1 in heats 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.  Yet at the end of heat 4 the scores were 12-12. 
Heat 1 and Pirztes gated. But Nichols held it tight to squeeze up the inside of the Poole boys off bend 4 to take the win.

Heat 2 and Pirates gated, leading by 50 metres down the back straight. A nailed o 5-1? Nope. Wright binned it into the fence. You know what happens in a rerun? Kent gated. Hume git between the pair and was challenging Morley but clipped his back wheel, which allowed Gilles through.

Heat 3 and Pirates gated but Starke kept the pressure on and got past Worrall. Ge couldn’t quite catch Neilsen.

Heat 4 and Poole gate. But Heeps manages to get last Hume after the youngster messes up bend 4 lap 2.

Heat 5 and Starke penalises himself at the tapes and the Pirates are away. But the ref sticks the red light on straight away! Really if a rider jumps then pulls back as the tapes go up it’s his error. In the rerun Starke gated but Schlein was having none of it and reeled him in to a great pass.

Heat 6 and Kent gate, but King was determined and after blasting around Nicholls on lap two he caught and ladt Morley on the final lap.

Heat 7 and Morley gates but Worrall reels him and and in lap three blasts through down the back straight. 19-23.

Heat 8 and Poole gate but Thomas messes up on bend 4 allowing Gilles through, then messes up again to allow Hurry through. Danny Hume away and gone.

Heat 9 and Starke gates. Pirates fill minor places but again Wright dumps it into the 4th bend fence. Race awarded. 26-28

Heat 10 and an almighty battle between Worrall and Nicholls. No quarter given and Worrall came out on top. 

Heat 11 and Hume comes in for Thomas. A tough first bend sees Hume battling down the back straight with heeps but the youngster will not back down, joining Schlein for an impressive 5-1. 29-37.

Heat 12 and tac sub time. In comes Nicholls to partner Starke. Starke gates but the 2 pirates Worrall and Hume hold off Nicholls fir the 4 laps. 32-40

Heat 13 and Schlein gates, blocks both Kent riders Nicholls and Heeps and clears off. King messes up the first bend lap 2 and tails off.

Heat 14 and a big 5-1 from Neilsen and Hume to seal the match and the 4 points for Poole.

Heat 15 and King makes up for his zero 2 races earlier with a win and thrilling face off with Starke. 38-52.

In the end Poole were far to strong for Kent, who battled hard but were lacking firepower through the team. Starke was excellent value, backed up by Nicholls and Morley, but after those three there was little else. 

But the meeting had so much going on. Thrilling races, passing in all but one heat. Really a great meeting in front of a decent crowd.

Rider of the meeting? Danyon Hume. Paid 13 and best Scotty Nicholls in the process. He is going places.

Home by 11.15 pm. A good day.

 

 

 

 

I'd be interested to hear your overall opinion as a neutral on both your trips to Leicester and Kent . How do the stadiums ( cost , atmosphere , facilities + viewing positions etc ) , racetracks and standard of racing compare against each other ?  

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1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Couple of things from last night. No center green commentator. All we got was some muffled announcer who we gave up trying to understand what was being said. Couldn’t hear the race times and rider changes. The announcer shows little to no enthusiasm and there is a distinct lack of atmosphere. The fans don’t make any noise and tepid polite hand clapping is not what this sport is about. The presentation severely lacks. A center green presenter whipping up a crowd is what is needed.

 

1 hour ago, Steve Shovlar said:

Couple of things from last night. No center green commentator. All we got was some muffled announcer who we gave up trying to understand what was being said. Couldn’t hear the race times and rider changes. The announcer shows little to no enthusiasm and there is a distinct lack of atmosphere. The fans don’t make any noise and tepid polite hand clapping is not what this sport is about. The presentation severely lacks. A center green presenter whipping up a crowd is what is needed.

 Totally agree some of us have been complaining on here  for a long time about the PA SYSTEM IT IS TERRIBLE,,,,They have not used a center green presenter and would the sound be any better if they did,,??

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2 hours ago, BobC said:

Excellent post Sidney. I must say one thing though. You are preaching to the converted!

I lived in Devon for the last 10 years, recently moving back to Poole. Plymouth was my regular fix for speedway.

Ive always liked Danyon. Good value for money efforts round Plymouth. So much so, if I was working and he was appearing, I would finish work early to be able to get there in time. A genuine favourite of mine.

I was extremely pleased when Poole signed him. Told all who would listen that hes a very underrated rider. Very fast, good style, good equipment and a smashing chap to chat with. All he needed was a chance. Apart from his home debut, where he failed to score, he has exceeded most peoples expectations. Not mine! Last night he was excellent, unlucky not to score more in fact.

He is my favourite Pirate. He has endeared himself to the Poole faithful very quickly. Even Middlo has commented that he loves working with him as hes always smiling and that his enthusiasm spreads throughout the team. Long may that continue.

 

Great post,  when mentioning Danyon and the supporters who supported him i missed out Sings 4 speedway ( sorry) .He has seen alot more of Danyon than me and he always gave him a good shout.Danyon's main asset for me is his personality a dream rider to have as a teammate old school in that respect.My only worry is not to expect to much everyweek and for him to override by  over trying chuffed another Brit is climbing the ladder i really like Danyon, Thompson x2, Flint, Palin, all riders who have a future.

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Delighted to hear that first and foremost the racing at Central Park was good! Its a strange phenomenon that whats often needed is for  the away team to be better to negate the home advantage or the 'lesser' riders to gate and let the 'better' riders chase them. Equally delighted to hear than Danyon had another good night and that Ben Morley rode so well. Both of these riders have been rattling around on the fringes for a while and seems crazy that Hume wasn't snapped up by a CL side sooner whilst Morley must be in prime spot for Kent rider of the season at present. Two hugely likeable riders and im delighted that the successes are matching their efforts.

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1 hour ago, Fullmax said:

I'd be interested to hear your overall opinion as a neutral on both your trips to Leicester and Kent . How do the stadiums ( cost , atmosphere , facilities + viewing positions etc ) , racetracks and standard of racing compare against each other ?  

Leicester is a basic stadium compared to a purpose built stadium at Sittingbourne which no doubt could seat a couple of thousand fans compared to the temp stands at Leicester. No doubt Sittingbourne could do with a tidy up and lick of paint. Doesn’t look like it has been touched since it was built and there are tractor parts laying around on the first bend.  But where is the money going to come from Swale Council clearly don’t like speedway to force draconian conditions on the club.

Racing between the two meetings was chalk and cheese. Leicester was a race to come out of the first bend leading. There was no hiding place at Sittingbourne where there was passing in every heat bar one. I had been told passing was at a premium at Sittingbourne but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Perhaps it was in NL level but last night was the most passing I have seen in a meeting in many years. If it was filmed, this is worth watching.

Cost wise it was £20 last night for adults and a program. Viewing was very good. Perhaps the track could have been a bit bigger and closer to the main stand. Leicester’s track is bigger but little passing.

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1 hour ago, waco said:

 

 Totally agree some of us have been complaining on here  for a long time about the PA SYSTEM IT IS TERRIBLE,,,,They have not used a center green presenter and would the sound be any better if they did,,??

Why don’t the promotion invest in a couple of speakers placed on the dog track facing the main stand? It was like listening to someone with cotton wool in their mouths. Awful. And why not advertise for a center green announcer? A good DJ with a knowledge could do the job and it wouldn’t cost the Earth. What about approaching Kevin Coombs at Eastbourne? Not too far to travel and would improve the product 1000%. 

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31 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Delighted to hear that first and foremost the racing at Central Park was good! Its a strange phenomenon that whats often needed is for  the away team to be better to negate the home advantage or the 'lesser' riders to gate and let the 'better' riders chase them. Equally delighted to hear than Danyon had another good night and that Ben Morley rode so well. Both of these riders have been rattling around on the fringes for a while and seems crazy that Hume wasn't snapped up by a CL side sooner whilst Morley must be in prime spot for Kent rider of the season at present. Two hugely likeable riders and im delighted that the successes are matching their efforts.

Hume seems to have been constantly overlooked in the past, with clubs faffing about with the Jack Smiths. He was there to be picked up but no club fancied him until Matt Ford grabbed him for this season. I must admit I knew little about him but he has been a revelation. He can pass. He is not afraid to keep the throttle open and is fast out front. Last night he was miles clear in heat 2 when Wright fell and in the rerun was caught Morley’s back wheel trying to pass which caused him to lose second to Gilkes. Without Wrights fall he would have ended up paid 15.

He is still a reserve though and could well up with just a couple of points in another meeting. But he has potential and any young Brit improving in the sport is only a good thing. It will be interesting how he gets on tonight against the Thompson twins and Zane Kennedy.

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Must say I agree almost entirely with SS and his assessment.

Having been there a couple of times each season since they opened, that was probably the best meeting I have seen there. PA has never been any different.

Inconsistent refereeing. Starke clearly moved in one race, punishing himself. Rerun, no warning. Another race, KIng made a blinding start, rerun, King warned. In the rerun, Nicholls moved far more than either King or Starke and the referee lets it go. I was sat directly in front of the refs box, who had the window open. I asked what he was doing? The reply was 'Im paid to do my job, you are just a fan'.

I feel for the Kent fans. Very likely to collect the wooden spoon, but please hang in there. To be able to watch Nicholls and Starke each week is value for money. Gilkes will come good and young Mulford in the background, you are heading in the right direction.

Whispers I heard last night was that there are 2 new riders pencilled in from 1st August. No names mentioned though.

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