JamesB

I hope it works out that way, we get to see some speedway and you don't have a wasted journey. BBC weather app still mirror's Ms Kirkwood's forecast with heavy rain in the afternoon and light rain until about 8. Fingers crossed.

BBC national weather bulletins.

Having just listened to Ms Kirkwood, I can't see this happening. Her prediction is heavy rain all afternoon.

So, that''s a meeting every three days for Workington and every three and a half for Edinburgh and that's without rain off's. Challenging!

You're probably correct, however I think Workington still have ten meetings and Edinburgh nine to fit in before the cut off date. That feels quite a challenge particularly if the weather deteriorates in the north. Anyone know when the cut off is?

I was going to say that this is another must win meeting with the added requirement of zero points for Berwick, however if the BBC seaweed service is to be believed then the weather is going to win. Anyway, we live in hope.

Well that was unexpected but very welcome. No more mistakes at home and the play offs are actually looking possible which is amazing considering the early part of the season.

That's brilliant.

With such a decent crowd, hopefully the Benevolent Fund raised a big chunk of money. These lads put their life and welfare on the line week in and week out for our entertainment (I know they enjoy doing it) with the vast majority making little money for the risk. The Benevolent Fund needs as much support as we can give it.

Very important win and a decent meeting to watch. We didn't get outgunned at reserve which was a positive and some solid scores from all apart from Heeps. He had one of his poor gating nights again which means he ends up over trying and makes mistakes. Great performance from Nicholls and Lawson once again proved his liking for Foxhall but he didn't have enough support. It looked to be a really decent crowd which is also encouraging in these difficult times for speedway. Louis deserves a lot of credit for making the changes when he did.

This one is about as close at it gets to a must win. The top five need to be on top of their game. Ellis will be good, Lawson generally likes Foxhall but hopefully the Lawson of Monday night turns up and Morris doesn't normally like Foxhall. I'll take a win by any margin as it doesn't really matter if Lakeside pick up a point.

I like that idea, it's the only option that seems remotely attractive.

A very good win, made even better by getting the extra point in H15. Back in contention for the play off's but really must beat Lakeside next Thursday. The changes have worked. Although net/net it's only a couple more points, importantly the top 5 are scoring consistently which means that we can carry the reserves to a degree. This wouldn't have happened with Hartel/Jeppesen in the team.

Based on what I saw tonight, I hope he is paying us for the pleasure of having a few laps around Foxhall.

Well, it was a win but I really can't decide what to make of the performance. You can probably argue that without the changes we may well have lost that but surely Lakeside will be a much stiffer test which is worrying. Was that a much better performance than the Bears have been putting in this season or were we apart from Riss just too inconsistent again at the top end. What can you say about Wallinger - I never thought I would see a worse rider than Karol Baran in a Witches team but I did tonight. Was there really no thrusting young buck riding in the NL who was prepared to jump at the chance of six meetings in the CL to prove that he could cut it at that level? I know Drew Kemp was riding around on his own but he looked considerably quicker than Wallinger.

If it’s effective from the 15th can’t he ride in the Glasgow meeting on the 16th rather than joining after that meeting?

Great, thanks.

Somewhat surprised at the scale of the changes, but you can no longer accuse Louis of not making changes early. As much as I like Mountain, it is obvious that Foxhall just doesn’t suit him and there is no way that he was ever going to get in to the main body of the team based on his home form. He needs a different home track and good luck to the lad. I suspect that Louis saw in Jeppesen a rider who was so slow out of the gate that he has to over try and get ragged. I just don’t see how you can give that much of a head start to the competition. Wallinger is a strange move, but as has already been said there were probably not too many who would want such a short gig. The Wallinger/Kemp scenario feels like getting ready for 2019. When I suggested Kemp for the injured Hume a couple of weeks ago, people who know the regulations far better than I thought this was not possible due to when his birthday falls. Has something changed or has Louis got it wrong again?

I go every week that I can, so you can put me in the Lemming category if you want. I am intelligent enough to recognise and understand that speedway in this country and particularly this season is an absolute mess and that the administrators who run the sport (and I use those last words very loosely) really are shambolic and are potentially killing the sport in this country. As I say, I go to Foxhall most weeks for two reasons: 1. I enjoy it. 2. Most speedway clubs must be on a financial knife edge and I wouldn't expect the Witches to be excluded from that. If enough people stay away from Foxhall then ultimately it must become financially unviable for the promotion. I would rather pay my money in the hope that speedway continues at Foxhall for the foreseeable future rather than lose the club that my father first took me to watch in 1970 (at an extremely young age!)

I agree. I don't think the play off's are out of reach just yet.

When your 1&5 score 12 points between them from 9 rides away from home, then there is only ever going to be one result. Wallinger was only ever going to score if someone fell off, but the rest can hold their heads up and a thank you to Wethers for a good performance as a guest. Hopefully, that has put to rest any thoughts of signing Worrall as a replacement for King.

This is going to be a long one.......... Firstly, I really do have a lot of sympathy for Louis. He has clearly made a real effort over the last two seasons to try and put together a very competitive team only to be hit again and again by injuries. I know it's speedway and injuries happen but I am really struggling to remember anything like we have experienced over the past two seasons in my many years of watching speedway. Secondly, Jeppesen - the lad clearly is a tryer and did look to have some speed when he finally got to the first bend but how can any speedway rider expect to be successful when they are that slow from the tapes, you can't give that type of head start to anyone who is semi decent? This also applies to Heeps. I have never ridden a speedway bike and I am happy to be told by those that have that I am talking out of my rear end, however, certainly in modern speedway the start is extremely important. I would guess that a quick start is all down to your reaction times. I accept that some people naturally have better reaction times than others but reaction times are something you can work on and improve through exercises. Do speedway riders do this? Thirdly, I am sure I read before the season started that IRR would come into effect this season even when a team was already operating r/r. If that's correct, how was it supposed to operate for Jeppesen tonight in H14? Of the riders below his average, Mountain was already in the heat and Hume had already withdrawn from the meeting. The rider with the average above him (Heeps) was already operating as r/r with Covatti able to take one of his rides, which he did. If r/r is operating for the average above the injured riders does that mean that only those with a lower average can take IRR rides or can any of the riders allowed to take the r/r rides also take the IRR rides? Grateful, if anyone can explain how the IRR rule is supposed to operate in these circumstances. Finally, what happens tomorrow night at Edinburgh. I assume that both Hume and Jeppesen will not be fit and we already have a guest for King. I presume we are allowed two other guests plus r/r.

I wasn't advocating Worrall for us merely speculating. He didn't really perform as expected before and personally I would rather continue with r/r if Worrall is being looked at.

If Schlein, Covatti and Nicholls score well, then Witches by 10 but it could very easily be very tight.

I am not sure that actually strengthens Glasgow. Cook will I am sure score a few more than Worrall but equally Geeaves will score less than Kerr. I like Greaves and he did a great job for the Witches but as a reserve. Effectively, Glasgow now have three reserves. Next stop Foxhall for Worrall as a replacement for King?