MattJ81

I would hope that Matt Willy is in Cradley's plans after his progress over the last few years, and with him just becoming a Wolves asset it would make sense for him to get some more laps around Monmore. I like Lee Payne, he will be a huge asset to the team he signs for (or stays with!). I think Boxall's PL average rules him out of the NL, though I think the Holt is nailed on after not being released to sign for Buxton last year Good to see BV back in the league, I will be looking for the fixtures to see if I can get a visit to the new stadium in this season

That's a good question, I'm not sure he ever became a Cradley asset (no doubt the question would have been asked) but I couldn't say about any other team

So Lynn have captured the signature of Nathan Greaves: http://www.kingslynnstars.co/2015/12/02/young-stars-snap-up-greaves/ Great signing, sorry to see Nathan leave Cradley. He is at least a point and a half better than his average shows even at this stage so should have a good season with the Young Stars Hope he can stay free of injury

Not sure we'll see too many challenge meetings with the number of available Monday's at Monmore but fully agree it is good value With regard to riders to be honest I hope that Ash gets a PL place for his sake, which unfortunately would mean no NL but PL is where he needs to be really at this stage. You would imagine Max and Matt with the Wolves link will be there and Nathan should be a cert with his current low average. Was impressed with Mike Neale last season and with Tyler Govier being at the Poultec training school he may be worth another shout. Having said that you could make a good case for Moggo to be back, who also impressed last season and then you have the same team as last year! Which would be fine by me but I'm sure won't be the case Anyway, it's just nice to be having these conversations with a team left to support

Yes I believe there have been over the (many) years, and there was a site in Oldbury that was as close as anywhere to being pushed ahead with - though that was probably 17 or 18 years ago now. Incidentally that site remains derelict but I think it has just been announced that a retail park will be going on there, assuming I have my locations correct. I think at one stage Sandwell council were more responsive than Dudley, not that they could be much less responsive really, but there doesn't seem to be any discussions publicly ongoing. Edit: Regarding the Trust, I hope that this is not coming too soon for the them to deal with bearing in mind it is a brand new organisation. I know there are some very capable and very enthusiastic people involved so hopefully they can ride to the rescue

It's strange, he seemed to just catch the fence which I guess would indicate as you say that his footrest caught it - we stand on the entry to the first bend and look straight down the straight at that bend and the amount of times that you could swear a rider is about to clip that fence is amazing (unfortunately a few times this season they have - Mikey, Nathan and now Max have all come a cropper there). I was amazed that Max jumped up so quickly after the crash, adrenaline I suppose. As you say it could have been a lot worse, hopefully just bumps and bruises and a few days rest should sort it. Thankfully his bike missed everyone else as it bounced across the track

Thanks, that had slipped my mind. Seems I'm not a very good cynic after all

The cynic in me says the nature of the injuries is just about sufficient to ensure the Brummies can book the best available guests (Jack PB is a fantastic prospect) even though Wilson completed all of his rides in the recent under 19 championship. Brummies reserves scored 11 last night and both looked impressive - I would say they probably scored perhaps 6 or 7 more than Wilson and Banks would have in the meeting. Having said that Brummies were the better side as they have been all season and especially after losing Clegg in his second ride there was only ever one result on the cards. Brummies were quicker generally out of the gate especially early on so no real complaints over the result. Neale had I think his only real off night of the season, which says a lot of the progress he has made. We'll just have to win the cup instead

It becomes the second leg rather than the first, so rather than tonight and next Weds the fixture is next Weds and the one after that (fingers crossed) so it pushes things back by a week. Unfortunately I'm not sure there is now enough free Wednesdays to fit in all of the meetings that may be required for Cradley and Birmingham, which could pose a problem

With Mike's average it would have been only Ritchings (the one higher), Mogridge and Harris who could have taken the R/R rides I believe. As you say after Moggo's first ride I marked all of the others as R/S rather than R/R. Luke was struggling so you can see why Moggo was used, although by his seventh ride he looked shattered and his bike didn't make it round either! Buxton were very good value for their victory and look a tidy team with the addition of Carr. Jack looked very stylish and fingers crossed will continue to develop as he has so far

Wasn't aware of that but good news if they agree, gives more flexibility whatever the setup in future

Matt was listed as captain in the programme and also had the column that is usually Clegg's though so it seemed premeditated

Dunno, the season does seem to have petered out a little but last nights crowd was still decent (if not massive like some have been). Certainly the older Cradley fans will have seen us in the bottom half of the league more than the top half of the league over the years so I can't think it's just that. Just seems to have gone a little flat for whatever reason, I can't put my finger on it. Perhaps as Shads says people are longing for a move up, and I think if we could have remained at Monmore it would have been looked at this season but it is not possible to run both Birmingham and Cradley at Perry Barr unless they are both in the NL with the restriction of 1 meeting per week. Birmingham have made noises about moving up into the PL which would effectively leave Cradley homeless unless Monmore were back on the table. This assumes that the league structure remains in it's current form of course. There are also some fans who dislike Perry Barr enough to stay away more often than not Actually getting onto the meeting it was fairly enjoyable, a shame that Max got held up but it can't be helped (thanks to Tom Perry for rushing across at the last minute even though in the end he wasn't required). Impressed again with Mike Neale who has come on leaps and bounds this season and nice to see Aaron Mogridge on form - that's 14 rides in the last 2 meetings and he will be a busy boy for the rest of the season I would imagine. It's not often you see a rider start 15m back and be leading the race by the end of the first lap either! Strange that Matt Williamson was captain last night rather than Max, unless I have missed something somewhere

Saw Jack ride for Kent (I think) at Birmingham, vs Cradley. He was taking an awful lot of speed into the corners, certainly more than many other reserves and once he had a few laps he seemed to handle it round the bends too. He was unluckily excluded in what should have been an all 4 back but was also injured in the incident and took no further part. Certainly looks to have a bright future, fingers crossed for him

Tweet from Nigel Pearson to say that the crowd last night was the biggest since the re-launch of the event in 2011. Club took out adverts in 5 local papers and pushed hard on social media, with other busy local accounts getting the message out too (including a West Brom FC account). Kids for free and £13 for adults probably helped as well as the bostin weather for the night. Enjoyed the meeting, its rare you see such a dominant performance in an individual meeting but Ellis was awesome last night. The pass on Ashley Morris was sublime and he rarely looked troubled. With regard to being too good for the NL, I would agree that Ellis probably is especially with how the league was weakened this year by the reducing points limit. However he has got to ride and as he didn't have a PL place it makes sense for him to go into the NL and it has been a great move for Birmingham, plus his presence can only be a good thing for the other riders in many ways. The comparison with Clegg I wouldn't agree with, last year Clegg was a third heat leader (albeit in a stronger league). He has really grown into the lead man role this season but at the start of the year you could never have argued he was too good for the league, and I would hope that he is able to ride in it for at least another season after this one depending on the make up of the leagues next season while growing further with a PL side.

I don't think anyone wins a season long league competition without an element of luck along the way, especially in this sport and at this level (and this season where riders of a certain average/quality are in short supply). However if Birmingham win the league they will have fully deserved to do so Matt Willy is ruled out tonight which does make it a harder task for Cradley but I still think we can go close. Our reserves should outscore the Brummies and if Max and Ellis can match the big scorers we should be able to pick up points in the middle order Should be a cracker anyway and hopefully a very large crowd to go with it, weather looks decent and dry too.

I'm not sure how Cradley could have "pulled a stroke"? The only rider he could replace would be Mike Neale who has been doing very well and is very well thought of by fans and club alike, as far as I can see. Mike is due back in a few weeks time so I don't see what Cradley had to gain, though I'll admit I am not up with all the rules and whether him being unattached would have any significance while Mike was out

Update on Facebook from Adam Extance is that he had to withdraw from last nights meeting while gusting for Cradley due to excessive knee pain despite wanting to ride on until his knee surgery. He will be taking the rest of the season to rest and get fixed up All the best to him and hope he can come back next year 100% fit!

Not sure if Luke is feeling the effects of his crash at Mildenhall, he had a nasty one and seemed to be under-par against Birmingham last week. Hopefully the rest will do him good, if he can get some MDL rides it would help a lot. Good luck to Tyler, I think he perhaps overtried on his debut but looked fast and should compete well with the Stoke reserves. Unfortunately can't make it tonight, first one missed this year, but it should be a steady win for the Heathens I think. Last time only Payne and Phillips put up proper resistance and I'm not sure much will change this time around. Hope it keeps dry for everyone!

Perks will get there, he had some engine troubles earlier in the season and then an injury which held him back but recently he has started picking up good points again. He will be at reserve this month but should be back in the main body next month and will hopefully kick on from there With regard to Zak and BWD I have been really impressed with both this season, last week Zak was on fire and posted some incredibly quick times and I would say one of the most impressive rides I have seen this season was BWD's first race at Perry Barr where he found a line to pass (I think) Greaves that nobody else had used on his second lap of the track. I would like to think that they will both (along with Perks) end up as EL riders, both have plenty of time on their side and are in the right place to develop. Certainly hope they continue their current rate of progress

There has been a thread started in the PL section for this meeting (as it is at Somerset) Ash Morris has been added to the Cradley team, I'm guessing in place of Morley?

Ash Morris is now in the Cradley team for tonight - in for Morley, at a guess?

Yes it did surprise me, Nigel Pearson listed the following on Facebook last night: Clegg 9.38 Williamson 8.62 Greaves 7.08 Mogridge 5.67 Neale 4.96 Perks 4.93 Harris 2.95 (3.00) Which means a guest and R/R for as long as Neale and Greaves are in the top 5 and out injured (hopefully not too long in Mike's case) I'm not good at these things but is there a cut off this month for July averages?

Both number 6's fell in Heat 2, Govier was able to continue but suffered another fall and an engine failure before having to withdraw. Phillips was a nastier fall and he withdrew after that heat. Kirby did everything that he needed to do in as much as he beat Harris whenever they met (I think) and also popped out in Heat 14 for the match sealing 5-1 with the massively impressive Watknecht who went under 60 seconds a couple of times and lowered the fastest time of the season It said in the programme last night when the averages change Ellis Perks will go back to reserve following his struggles recently, which may be good timing with having to cover Nathan's rides with R/R and Perks just hitting some form again. July is quiet with fixtures so if Mike Neale can make it back within a few weeks things may not look so bad, especially as Nathan's average is due to go up giving more options for R/R.

To be honest I'm not sure how many Cradley fans will be at this one, this is the third meeting in a week including a trip to Mildenhall on Sunday and the team is essentially a Cradley select due to availability/injury (though I agree it is a real shame we couldn't find a rider to fill Nathan's space rather than use R/R) I haven't been to Somerset for some years though, and I had planned to take the kids at some point so it's a definite maybe for me at present. Really good to see the Exeter name back on track in a full meeting - fingers crossed it is a step towards a full return