Islander15

He's born to English parents and has lived in France pretty much all his life, including now I believe. He's declared as the Islanders' number 8 and has appeared in about 3 or 4 meetings this season averaging around the 5 point mark. I'm not definitely sure of his age, but he was originally in the British under-19 final.

Im sure there will be. I'll be making the thread later on. Come on you Islanders!!

I agree with your reasoning, but if KL were warned, would they come back next year? Even more so if they were to start on a deduction. Something though does need to be done, to try and make it a level playing field for stand-alone and second teams. If the deadline was extended to Saturday, then IOW and Rye House could overtake Stoke (putting them 5th). Extending it to Wednesday, would mean Stoke could reclaim a play-off spot.

Probably because when the deadline was extended, whoever decided it thought that Stoke would have enough points (which they have) and didn't consider the possibility of a late charge from Rye. Good on 'em though!

I think everyone agrees this should be sorted on the track, but you do have to ask yourself why haven't these meetings already been ridden? I'm sure if you ask any of the riders involved, then there may well be extraordinary circumstances this season, but if they miss out on at least 2 extra pay days, and possibly a league title because of logistics then I'm sure they wouldn't be happy.

The table have Scunny in 4th at the moment, so presumably them because they have more race points. Seems that only Scunny have been told that the cut-off date is now the 19th

What's the likelihood they do a Stoke and take a rider who already has a club!

Yes, you're right. It surely doesn't take much to put the date of the deadline on the table page of the BSPA site alongside the leaue scoring system.

BSPA site confirms that Scunthorpe have a play-off spot, so it must be before the Isle of Wight's next meeting (KL away) on the 19th. I still think it's the 16th, which means 1 meeting before the dead-line for Stoke and that's tonight, a draw is all they need but it is against Mildenhall. If they lose, what's the odds on their meeting with Rye House, at home, getting rushed in??

Anyone know the exact date of the play-off deadline? If it is the 16th, like I was told, then 2 points for Scunthorpe tonight will guarantee themselves a play-off spot, as the Saints have a better race difference than the Islanders and our final meeting against King's Lynn away isn't until the 19th. The Isle of Wight can still take a spot however, if Stoke lose at home to Mildenhall tomorrow. But it does seem farcical that a whole season can pass, and the relative lack of meetings in the NL, and clubs can't fit all their meetings in!

Thanks Aaron

Looks like the Islanders will be giving a debut to Steven Jones, signed to replace Kyle Hughes. I remember him failing to score for Newport last season & only lasting one meeting as a consequence, but did pretty well 'guesting' for the Saints earlier in the season.

What's Stoke's obsession with changing their 3 point riders? I've lost count of how many they've had now! And I thought Ross' scores were improving anyway, as you say Vog I hope he sticks at it.

The British Junior Championships recommence this Sunday. Any idea of the admission and if the Islanders' new signing Adam Ellis is riding? And while I'm here, has anyone got any info on him? I saw he won the last event at Eastbourne but hasn't ridden in any other round.

The Heathens have new averages but because Tom Perry was missing on Tuesday he doesn't. James White-Williams now lines up at reserve alongside Darryl Ritchings. And Roynon is averaging 11.70! Seriously?!

What a strange day! First we lose a reserve to his retirement (I hope whatever you've decided to go forward doing works out for you Dan), then lose another to injury (best wishes Gary), before losing a third after he apparently walked out. I'd love to know what really happened. And that's the second year in a row we've lost our #7 to injury at West Row. That was our third away meeting this season & with our 4 home meetings, gives averages that I've worked out to be (I read somewhere that you always round down, but I'm not sure. The figures in brackets are home / away): 1. Danny Warwick 8.11 (8.57 / 6.85) 2. Kyle Hughes 6.57 (6.66 / 5.42) 3. Ben Hopwood 6.26 (6.44 / 6.00) 4. Aaron Baseby 5.33 (5.50 / 5.14) 5. Paul Starke 5.15 (5.75 / 4.34) 6. Gary Cottham 4.80 (5.33 / 3.55) 7. Dan Stoneman 3.00 (He's only ridden twice away, otherwise 4.40) With a team total of 39.22, the injured Gary & retired Dan could be replaced by Marc Owen & a 3.00. Not sure how Owen is though, and the recovery period for a collarbone.

I believe you're right Steeplejack, you can be excluded for not making an attempt to race. The time of nearly 80s told you something but I doubt it would have been much better had Warwick's bike not given up. Not a positive evening so I don't want to say too much more than I did on the updates page. Though Jef, on the face of it Baseby's 8+1 was his best in an Islanders race jacket & an impressive away score, but disect it and who did he beat? Only Carr & Walter (excluding fallers and team-mates), 2x 3.00 riders. It does seem to be a tale of our NL campaigns, disappointing away defeat followed by a call to get back to winning ways at home.

The British semi has been called off, so assuming this beats the weather, does that mean Birks will be able to ride? It gives him enough time to get his gear to Stoke but do the Potters have to stick to their declaration for today which has McKinna in?

Not as yet! The Islanders are at full strength but the Potters are missing their top 2 so I'd expect a line-up like this: Stoke Potters 1. Adam McKinna (G) 2. Richie Worrall R/R 3. Tony Atkin 4. Ross Walter 5. Jaimie Pickard 6. Liam Carr 7. Ben Reade Isle of Wight Islanders 1. Kyle Hughes 2. Ben Hopwood 3. Danny Warwick 4. Aaron Baseby 5. Paul Starke 6. Danny Stoneman 7. Gary Cottham Stoke's rider replacement can be taken by Atkin, Pickard, Walter, Reade or Carr. Before I knew of Birks' absence (British semi) I thought a point was possible but now, if I'm honest, we should be targeting 3 points! If you don't beat a side missing their top 2 when are you going to beat them?

Teams have now been confirmed on the BSPA website Group A Rye House: Jason Garrity, Ben Morley, James Sarjeant & Luke Chessell Isle of Wight: Kyle Hughes, Ben Hopwood, Gary Cottham & Paul Starke Stoke: Ashley Birks, Richie Worrall, Tony Atkin & Ben Reade Dudley: Tom Perry, Ashley Morris, James White-Williams & Byron Bekker Group B King's Lynn: Brendan Johnson, Lewis Kerr, Adam Lowe & James Cockle Mildenhall: Daniel Halsey, Lewis Blackbird, Cameron Heeps & Stefan Nielsen Buxton: Robert Branford, Adam McKinna, Luke Priest & Dean Felton Scunthorpe: Steve Worrall, Tommy Fenwick, Tom Young & Max Clegg Looking at those teams, all 4 in group A look stronger than any in group B apart from maybe Mildenhall. Despite the question mark over Heeps' fitness I still expect them to make the final, probably by winning the group, but I'm unsure on the other team. My best guess is Buxton. From A Stoke should (!) walk the meeting & I would say Dudley too with Roynon, so I think us Islanders might do well. But where's Warwick?

Anyone know the admission costs for this meeting? Thanks

I think you've misunderstood the 'not eligible to guest rule'. It applies to PL teams who need a guest for their weaker reserve (say Heeps tomorrow) or when a rider is missing for a reason not being injury, internationals etc (eg. Gathercole had a longtrack meeting so missed Plymouth's home tie on Friday). I'm pretty sure those riders can still guest for other teams in the NL if they want to. PhilK where does Baseby fit in? Guest for Heeps & R/R for Jacobs. Good luck if he's in.

Hopefully no postponements then That's roughly 3 months yet the Islanders' new averages won't come into force until 27th July! Any idea if National Trophy meetings count towards official averages?

On Sunday the Islanders make the trip up to deepest darkest Derbyshire to tackle the Buxton Hitmen. Hopefully we can come away with at least 3 points on my first trip to Hi-Edge, anything less & I think I'll be a bit disappointed on the trip home. But above all please let there be no injuries!! As to the teams I'd like to see Baseby at #2 for us & for some reason Starke doesn't score as well at #5. Last year he averaged 6.22 at #1 then moved to #5 & his average fell to 5.89. And we have a secret weapon at reserve, not forgetting Danny in the best form of his Islanders' career! Good luck boys :D Hitmen 1. Robert Branford 2. Richard Andrews 3. Luke Priest 4. Dean Felton 5. Adam McKinna 6. Michael Neale 7. Ryan Blacklock Islanders 1. Kyle Hughes 2. Ben Hopwood 3. Danny Warwick 4. Aaron Baseby 5. Paul Starke 6. Danny Stoneman 7. Gary Cottham Any weather updates on Sunday morning would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. #RICO

Cheers bob & greyhound. Not a bad meeting tbh, I will certainly be back. Warwick was simply superb & hardly put a foot wrong all afternoon. All the other Islanders contributed significantly with Stoneman filling Cottham's role impressively in the opening exchanges before he arrived. On that, anyone know where he was? Just stuck in traffic?? Hughes recovered well from an unimpressive start & I'll admit that I expected Hopwood in heat 15 but Kyle proved he was worth the spot. While Starkey visibly felt he was poor in his first race but looked a lot more on the pace afterwards. As to the Hitmen Branford may have suffered 2 punctures but had he have finished in those positions he would have only got 2 more points, and I would have expected more than 10 from him. Blacklock looked good value& was unlucky to fall 4 times. Whilst Deano had his gating boots on and like Ben was unlucky to not make heat 15, Priest seemed to lack desire when not in front. An important 4 points now hopefully we can push on this season.