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SteelShoe

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Posts posted by SteelShoe

  1. Posted · Edited by SteelShoe

    9 hours ago, szkocjasid said:

    Can't say I feel sorry for the management, they could have made changes, but stuck with them. While that's commendable giving riders the opportunity to ride themselves back into form, it also means the management must take the blame for not strengthening up when they had the chance.

    They chose loyalty / development over success, but for that reason can't feel sorry for them, because it was thier choice.

    For the same reason if Oxford dropping Dugard costs them the league title (could have meant Scott & Clouting at reserve) I'll commend them for choosing to run with a 7 man team, but wouldn't call them unlucky if it didn't work out.

    The promotion have chosen loyalty in sticking with certain riders, when I say I feel for them its in the context that this loyalty hasn't been reciprocated by improvements in attitude, determination, riding ability and more especially in Luke's case mechanical reliability.

     

    • Like 1

  2. Posted · Edited by SteelShoe

    Turned into a lovely afternoon down at Northside. It was great to welcome the Belle Vue Colts their fans and the neutrals that made the effort to support us today thank you.

    Hope the Belle Vue fan that took ill just before start time is okay.

    Connor Bailey showed today what an accomplished determined racer he his rapidly developing into. It was great to see him get his max and regain the track record into the bargain. He was well supported by Luke Harrison another young rider who is coming along very nicely. Unfortunately the absence of Ace proved too big a hurdle to overcome a Belle Vue side that with the exception of jack Shimelt were solid throughout.

    Not quite sure why Comets didn't go with R/R at No 2 again today. Like has been stated already I found myself feeling for Andrew , Steve and all the team at Worky Speedway with regard to the performances of the Skipper and Harry M  not just today but throughout the season. Surely the guys know that the consistently poor form they have shown for whatever reason  has an impact on attendances and ultimately the promotion who have worked tirelessly to bring the sport back to Workington at unknown personal cost. I would like to think they have apologised for their showing over the two meetings where they scored 7 points between them from 18 rides.

    • Like 5

  3. Posted

    18 minutes ago, Neila said:

    Should be an interesting meeting today, track should ride good, belle Vue  back at full strength,  Comets put on a good show last night at the NSS   a very enjoyable meeting,  BUT the riders need their gating shoes on ,as last night all  struggled to gate, and a couple of riders were very off the pace!!! Losing 3-4 points off your last year's average says it all really  !!!

    Anyway rant over speedways back at the northside arena UTC :D

    Unfortunately most of our riders have been slower from the gate than the opposition and yes a couple of riders have been unexpectedly but consistently disappointing.

    • Like 1

  11. Posted

    4 hours ago, paul84 said:

    Just came up short today, tough track to pass on. Well done to our lads for their efforts today hopefully we can get the aggregate point on the return leg.

     

    Plenty of noise from the travelling  Comets fans!

    Big well done all you fans that made the journey, Sittingbourne is a long way from Workington . I was thinking about doing both meetings but the forecast for Saturday knocked it on the head for me personally.

    • Like 3

  12. Posted

    Disappointing from a Comets perspective but probably a fair reflection of just where we are as a team.  Again it appears that Comets were generally outgated something which has been all too evident in our home fixtures.  We didn't win a race until heat 12 then won the last 4, unfortunately we also ran a lasts in 3 of those heats so failed to take a heat advantage. 

    Ace had an off day but you can't knock a rider who falls or gets excluded trying to pass an oponent. Connor seemed to get properly dialed in later in the meeting and won heat 15 passing both home riders on the last bend. 

    Guest for Kent Matt Marson from Belle Vue had a good 10 point return for the Royals. Not bad for a guy on a 5.81average but disappointing from a Comets point of view.

  13. Posted

    17 hours ago, arnieg said:

    Club Statement about the GoFundMe

    I would like to ease your minds about the GoFundMe that was started this week.

    The history behind the request is this. I am the main sponsor of the club. Last august, as some of you may remember, I had to have heart surgery because of a disease called Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy.  At the time, I also owned Iwade Garage, who you will recall as being the teams title sponsors in 2021 and 2022. Due to staffing problems, and then combined with my cardiac issue, it was necessary to give back the lease on the garage as the time being spent in the workshop drew me away from my actual job - Consulting Chief Security Officer.  

    In December my mum Ros, who many of you will have seen on the gate with her dog Grace, went into hospital, where she had open heart surgery.  After complications she finally came home in June, but the visiting and staying on top of the medics who didn't listen, it meant I was further diverted from my day job. 

    We came into the 2023 season without a named title sponsor - because this year its fallen to me personally.

    Normally, a home match sets you up financially for the away leg, but we have two away trips coming up, and the abandonment of the Oxford match at home, and the subsequent home match taking a lesser gate as fans used their re-entry, means that the clubs bank account was severely depleted. The need to purchase the tyres for the remainder of the season added to the financial woes. My priority is always to ensure that our riders are paid promptly - for without them, we do not have a club.

    As I haven't been working as much in the last 8 months, then my reserves were also depleted. Although I am back consulting, it takes time for clients to settle their invoices. 

    The support that those who have contributed to the GoFundMe has given the club is heartfelt, and I thank each and everyone of you for that support. I am also greatful to every paying fan who comes to our home matches, and I ask you to get behind the club and come along to as many meetings as you can, and give the riders the support to urge them on to win. 

    We have six matches left, and the fight isnt over for the Royals. However, I need to do what my cardiac consultant tells me, I need to ease up a bit, I will need at some point in the future more surgery, hence my words in the programme recently. Its not just me that puts hours into running things, my whole family helps. Many of you know my mum from the main gate, who as I said has been very ill recently and still has a long road to full health, Andrea who helps on the gate and helps massively behind the scenes too, and my son Drew from the sweet stall. Drew is planning to head off to University in September, and Andrea has another operation coming up at the end of this month. I have kept The Royals going for two years post Uncle Len but we are unable to commit as much time going forward. Therefore if anyone is interested in coming on board  then please do speak to me.

    Good luck with everything you have going on especially your health.

    • Like 1

  14. Posted

    9 hours ago, Marksman said:

    It would be very likely only be around 5% (40-50) people who would go to both to be honest, Reds may well get 1000 with it being the first game back in a higher league. But take away the Macclesfield and 2 Play Off attendances and the average gate would be around 600 people.

    I wouldn't say they'll be much impact at all, with Kent not being the most attractive oppostion and likely no away fans, it would never be the largest gate of the season anyways.

    A decent crowd against BV Colts on bank holiday weekend and a bumper gate for the NL riders championship will see off a very sucessful comeback season off the track.

    This post is pretty much on the money. I support the Reds, the clashes are unfortunate but we will be at the speedway. Plenty of opportunity to see the Reds during the upcoming season. UTC !

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    3 hours ago, sandking072 said:

    Would anyone have the race times for this meeting please? Thanks in advance.

     

    1. 56.3   2. 56.8   3. 56.6   4. 56.8  5. 57.0 

    6. 56.9   7. 57.4   8. 57.8   9.58.5  10.58.3

    11. 58.3  12. 59.4  13. 58.7  14. 58.5

    15. 60.0  16. 60.2  17. 59.2  18. 59.3

    19. 61.0  20. 59.5

    SF1 60.0   SF2 58.4  Final  58.1

     

     

    • Like 1

  16. Posted

    2 hours ago, Phil The Ace said:

    First time visitor yesterday and what a true ly magnificent set up. Built a great track and the. Just keep adding to the structure season in season. Perfect way to start a project. 
     

    Racing was good. View was excellent. Moved to bend 2 for the semis and final. Huge mistake. God it was windy and cold there lol. 
     

    what’s gone wrong with Harry mcgurk. That was so sad to see. That’s not the rider than left the aces. Looked very low on confidence like his heart was in it. 
     

    Ashton boughen though. What a talent. Honestly. Not been this excited about a youngster since dan Bewley. Kid is going to the very top. And I’ll stick my neck on the line and say that the next SWC in 4 years he will be in the team 

     

    I’ll end by saying keep up the good work Workington, you have a positive future as long as the sport I. General sorts the mess out

    Thanks Phil for the positive comments. Strong south-westerly wind yesterday. The back straight and turn 3 offers shelter to wind based around a westerly direction. We could see that the trees on starting gate side were really getting blown around. 

    Agree with what you say about Ashton , wev'e seen him 3 or 4 times at Worky this season and he looks a great prospect for someone so young.

    Re your comment around Harry, unfortunately that is the only Harry the Worky fans have seen hence the reason he has dropped nearly 5 points off his average.

    Looking forward to the meetings against the Colts, looking at James Pearson, Jack Smith and Sam Hagon whom has already impressed at Worky then a feast of entertainnent could be in store.

     

     

     

    • Like 2

  17. Posted

    7 minutes ago, topaz325 said:

    I think a move to championship racing would. be disastrous.for the Comets at this stage.

    On the fence re this one, there are a number of variables including degree of sponsorship that may influence any decision. The project is still very young and no doubt there is still plenty of work to do in further development of facilities so i tend to think it will be NDL in the shorter term

    Like Neila mentions no one knows what the structure of speedway will look like next season. Huge doubts about long established clubs such as Peterborough (land sold for housing) and Wolverhampton (non-renewal of lease) are just two clubs who look unlikely to be at tapes next season at least. It may well be the remaing Premiership and Championship clubs will have to amalgamate to form a British League ?.

    The NDL is a development league and i admit to having been very impressed with most of the young riders i've seen this season. It would be great to see more young riders stepping up and more teams joining the structure because the entertainment and skill level has generally been high.

    The slight issue i have with the NDL is that there are not enough fixtures for supporters and also for riders who are not riding in other leagues.

    • Like 1

  18. Posted

    22 minutes ago, Neila said:

    Had a rough head count imo 300-350, but when I was at Edinburgh the other week the head count was 175, and about 40 comets fans,

    as for next year who knows what is happening in speedway at all levels 

    Yeah crowd down today which was a shame as the racing was generally of a very good standard.

    • Like 2

  19. Posted

    Thoroughly enjoyable afternoons racing, 23 heats done and dusted in around two and a half hours so well done to all concerned. 

    Young Ashton Boughen set a new track record in heat 1 in a time of 56.3 seconds knocking 0.2 seconds off Connor Bailey's previous best. The first 6 heats were nearly all sub 57 seconds and this may well have continued if the initial track moisture levels were maintained. Ashton generally looked the faster rider  throughout the meeting, his semi final 2 winning time was 1.6 seconds faster than that set in semi final 1 an indication. It was great to see him pulling his celebratory wheelies.

    Other riders to catch the eye were Steve Boxall who never looked like a rider who had given up the sport 5 years ago, Max Clegg, Jack Smith, Nathan Ablitt  and Max Perry. 

    Best Comet on show was Sam McGurk who very nearly made the final and may well have done so with a better start from gate 4 in the semi. Young Elliot Kelly showed signs of regaining his early season form and looked like making the semi final after riding the outside line to get to the front in his last heat only to put the bike down on the exit to turn 4.

    Harry failed to beat an opponent and his struggle to find form continues.

    Personally i thought the Grand Prix format worked well and at £15 for 23 entertaining heats was good value for money. Thanks to all those who took up rider and heat sponsorship in so short a time. I noticed heat 3 had been sponsored by a certain Kauko Nieminen.

    Thanks to ref Craig Ackroyd who kept the meeting moving along nicely.

    It was good to see Comets legend Carl Stonehewer in the crowd.

    Special mention to Steve Lawson, the track was smooth  as the proverbial babies bottom.

    Didn't stay for the World Cup Final showing as this didn't start until 7pm rather than the usual GP start time of 6pm.

     

    • Like 2

  20. Posted

    4 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said:

    Certainly not surprised that Luke or Harry have dropped (although didn't expect the alarming extent) Ace virtually holding his average is success considering he was a 3.00 newbie last season. Whats most stupid is that Sam has put over 1.5 points on his average, Harry has shipped nearly 5 from his and yet Harry will more than likely get signed up first next year.

    Think Harry would have show much more to secure a place next season should Comets go NDL again.

  22. Posted

    On 7/24/2023 at 11:06 PM, 1Tsunami said:

    Once he knew he was expected to be at Worky in the maiden season, I suppose he asked Top dog in wages thinking it couldn't be refused. I was pleased and not surprised that they picked the best riders they could get, but unfortunately some have not justified that faith for whatever reason. It was thought the Comets team could go through the season undefeated this season at home, but fortunately despite their home losses the gate seems to be holding up with some cracking meetings,

    I think you're quite right re the Comets team. If Harry McGurk and Luke Crang had just maintained their starting average Comets current team average applicable from 1st august would be  48.47 not 41.25 which would easily be the highest in the league. Harry has dropped 4.84 and Luke 2.39. Ace has dropped a small 0.23,  the rest of the riders have increased their starting averages with Luke Harrison increasing his by 3.77. 

    • Like 1

  23. Posted

    On 7/18/2023 at 12:19 PM, CTD26 said:

    Superb to see young Luke rewarded with a team place at Redcar. Hit the ground running after some bad injuries and he isn’t fazed one little bit

    Watched him at Redcar on Friday against Scunny. He wasn't far off the pace at all, just getting left behind a bit at the starts. He commented in a brief interview with Roy Clarke that he wasn't used to tracks with more dirt on ie Redcar as the tracks in the NDL tended to be slick. I'm sure he will soon sort out the required changes.

  24. Posted

    On 7/16/2023 at 11:12 AM, Mr Blobby said:

    Technical tracks are good mastering throttle control to many young riders these days around Europe don’t understand how to use it. All about being flat out and causes too many accidents these days from lack of control.

    Agree technical tracks help riders master throttle control more so if riding them on a regular basis. Not sure if flat out causes more accidents though, Wolves v Belle Vue last week seemed to cause many riders big issues including a rare fall for master of throttle control Dan Bewley. Tight technical tracks usually lend a big home advantage, I remember whenever Comets visited the likes of Newcastle and Armadale I was just happy if none of the  riders got injured. Would be interesting to know how many supporters of teams with tight technical tracks ie inside dog tracks would go for the same if there clubs were in a position to design a track from scratch.

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