Killer Cat from Mars

I had been really looking forward to this meeting and was so disappointed by what was served up. The National League is a fantastic product and I have seen great meetings and racing over the years, but this meeting could serve as the death knell for this level of racing at Kirky Lane. How many people are going to pay to watch the next meeting if last night is going to be replicated again? Time for a re-think by the promotion for track prep at this level, and track prep in general I would suggest.

I can only assume that Jason is unavailable or turned the opportunity down? Kyle will be riding for Edinburgh at Workington that night I assume?

The Colts should be well placed to gain revenge here - Kyle will score more than two that the R/R got in the first meeting between the teams and Byron will ride better now without having the pressure of the Number 1 race jacket. Add to this that Richard Franklin, who scored heavily in the first leg for Dudley, is missing, well, I reckon that tips the balance in favour of the Colts. If the Colts are all on song, I am hoping they can win this by ten points. C'mon the Colts.

Hoping the Colts can put the Dudley meeting behind them and resume their excellent home league form tonight. The signing of Charles Wright is a shot in the arm for the side, but without Kyle, they are still weaker than they would be with him. Having seen how impressive Stoke are on Saturday at Loomer Road, I feel this will be a close meeting, and it will be interesting to see how Jaimie Pickard goes - he was certainly better than his 4 point average on Saturday! C'mon the Colts. My prediction, Colts 50 Potters 40 .

Heat 11 was spectacular, but Rob's ride around the outside of the Sheffield boys in Heat 15 was real seat of the pants riding! And at the time I thought the Hitmen had won a point because of the 5-1 in Heat 15. The fact that the Hitmen couldn't win a point from the meeting by Heat 15 makes his ride even more spectacular! Go Rob.

Really enjoyed the 30 heats of speedway action tonight. Was good to see the meeting moving along at pace, even at the start when the rain was pouring. Was really pleased Buxton grabbed a point too. Some great racing action all round and another great advert for tne National League.

Making the trip over to watch this meeting to cheer on the Hitmen. Nice to see Rob will be riding. C'mon the Hitmen.

Making the trip down for this meeting. Have a feeling it is going to be a very tight meeting, with the Colts looking very solid so far this year both home and away. Trump card could be Dudley's arch nemesis Jason Garrity, who could score very heavily from the reserve slot. My prediction: Dudley 45 Colts 45! A nailbiter! Could we please have regular weather updates too. It is tipping it down up here, but for all I know it could be tropical in the Midlands!

Would someone be kind enough to post the Buxton rider's scores so that I can update the Buxton Facebook Group? Thanks in advance.

Well I too was at a completely different meeting to some of the posters above. I just felt the Colts took the meeting by the scruff of the neck early doors and didn't really give the Fen Tigers chance to get back in the meeting. I can understand Mildenhall fans being disappointed with the result, but I honestly saw nothing wrong with the track. Same for both teams anyway as they say. I do agree though that James Brundle was done a disservice in Heat 11. He was not at fault when Chris Widman slid into him, and the referee should have put the red lights on and ordered a re-run with Chris being excluded. All in all a good night's work by the Colts - Fortress Kirkmanshulme Lane will take some breaching on the evidence of the meetings so far.

Really looking forward to this meeting, Mildenhall could prove a stiff test for the Colts, with their impressive spearhead of Brundle, Jacobs and Hargreaves. Also may be the first ever visit of a Mildenhall team to Belle Vue, but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong! Prediction, Colts 50 Fen Tigers 42.

A lot brighter here at the moment, but the track must have taken some serious water! Anyway - going to make the trip, the Colts and Fen Tigers deserve our support. :-)

What a gorgeous morning! Hope the weather stays like this all day, but there is a threat of showers for later! Fingers crossed the weather gods are kind to us and we get to see a good, competitive meeting tonight.

Looking forward to the Colts meeting later today and the return of ex-Aces Nick Simmons and Lee Smethills. Think the Colts will win by about 15 points.

Meeting statistics for todays meeting courtesy of the Buxton Facebook Page: Buxton Hitmen 44 Ben Tayior 3221 = 8 Dean Felton 1121 = 5+2 Luke Priest 1113 = 6+2 Robert Branford 23233 = 13 Adam Allott 23302 = 10+1 Ryan Blacklock 0fexRR = 0 John Mcphail 11Rfex = 2+1 Dudley Heathens 46 Byron Bekker R2231 = 8 Richard Franklin 2031 = 6+1 Tom Perry 31020 = 6+1 Ashley Morris fex232 = 7 Adam Roynon 3332 = 11+1 (PAID MAXIMUM) Daryl Ritchings 2001 = 3+2 Luke Chessell 3011 = 5+1 Heat 1: Taylor, Franklin, Felton(F/rem), Bekker(Ret). 58.0. 4-2. Heat 2: Chessell, Ritchings, Mcphail, Blacklock. 59.9. 1-5. (5-7) Heat 3: (Re-run). Perry, Branford, Priest, Morris(F/ex). 57.4. 3-3. (8-10) Heat 4: Roynon, Allott, Mcphail, Chessell (F/rem). 56.5. 3-3. (11-13) Heat 5: Branford, Bekker, Priest, Franklin. 57.6. 4-2. (15-15) Heat 6: Roynon, Taylor, Felton, Ritchings. 55.7. 3-3. (18-18) Heat 7: Allott, Morris, Perry, Blacklock (F/ex). Awarded. 3-3. (21-21) Heat 8: Franklin, Felton, Chessell (F/rem), Mcphail. (Ret). 57.7. 2-4. (23-25) Heat 9: Roynon, Branford, Priest, Ritchings. 55.5. 3-3. (26-28) Heat 10: Morris, Taylor, Felton, Perry. 56.6. 3-3. (29-31) Heat 11: Allott, Bekker, Franklin (F/rem), Blacklock (Ret). 57.1. 3-3. (32-34) Heat 12: Priest, Perry, Ritchings, Blacklock. Mcphail (ex/2). 57.2. 3-3. (35-37) Heat 13: Bekker, Roynon, Taylor, Allott. 57.1. 1-5. (36-42) Heat 14: Branford, Morris, Chessell, Mcphail. 55.8. 3-3. (39-45) Heat 15: Branford, Allott, Bekker, Perry. 56.8. 5-1. (44-46)

Full Team and Heat scores, courtesy of the Buxton Facebook Group. Buxton Hitmen 53 Ben Taylor 3322 = 10+1 Dean Felton 2221 = 7+3 Luke Priest 0223 = 7+2 Robert Branford 33333 = 15 (MAXIMUM) Adam Allott 33330 = 12 John Mcphail 10001 = 2 Marvin Sonnier 0R0 American Touring Team 39 Eddie Castro R1340 = 8 Dylan Black 111 = 3+1 Austin Novratil R/R Doug Nicol 12020 = 5+1 Shawn Mcconnell 21111 = 6+1 Joey Holt 32111 = 8+3 Mike Buman 203022 = 9+1 Jim Terchila 0 = 0 Heat 1: (Re-run). Taylor, Felton, Black, Castro(Ret). 57.9. 5-1 Heat 2: (Re-run). Holt, Buman, Mcphail, Sonnier. 59.7. 1-5. (6-6) Heat 3: Branford, Mcconnell, Nicol, Priest. 57.5. 3-3. (9-9) Heat 4: Allott, Holt, Mcconnell, Mcphail. 56.5. 3-3. (12-12) Heat 5: Branford, Priest, Castro, Terchila. 57.9. 5-1. (17-13) Heat 6: Taylor, Felton, Mcconnell, Buman. 58.2. 5-1. (22-14) Heat 7: Allott, Nicol, Holt, Sonnier(Ret). 56.2. 3-3. (25-17) Heat 8: Buman, Felton, Black, Mcphail. 59.4. 2-4. (27-21) Heat 9: Branford, Priest, Mcconnell, Buman. 56.8. 5-1. (32-22) Heat 10: Castro, Taylor, Felton, Nicol(15m). 57.0. 3-3. (35-25) Heat 11: Allott, CASTRO, Black, Sonnier. 55.7. 3-5. (38-30) Heat 12: Priest, Nicol, Holt, Mcphail. 56.6. 3-3. (41-33) Heat 13: Allott, Taylor, Mcconnell, Castro. 55.0. 5-1. (46-34) Heat 14: Branford, Buman, Mcphail, NICOL. 57.0. 4-2. (50-36) hEAT 15: Branford, Buman, Holt, Allott(15m). 57.3. 3-3. (53-39)

And if we have a 10 Team League, who is going to be the lucky team to miss out?

Really enjoyed tonight's meeting - well done to Jason for a terrific performance. Congrats to all riders though for putting on a great show, just to show that you don't need GP riders to see good racing. :-)

It was a decent crowd for NL (judging from my experiences at Buxton) - hard to tell exactly how many at Belle Vue because so many take cover indoors! :-). The Prowlers really struggled with the track early on - once it slickened off, it was a lot closer and there was some close races. There's definitely better to come from the Prowlers this season.

Good win for the Colts tonight - the track appeared to catch all the boys out to start with, maybe it was patchy because of the stocks and weather? Encouraging scores from all the Colts - solid all the way down, and a full maximum from Jason Garrity that will strike fear in the rest of the NL. Whilst he is at reserve, he will be the trump card of the whole league. Shame it's such a long wait until the next NL meeting.

Looking forward to this meeting. I've been watching the NL at Buxton for many years and it is a fantastic product. Hope the fans come out in good numbers to support it. Both sides have strong lineups so should be an intriguing clash.

Great news that the Colts are running. There are quite a few local riders who could make up the team - Jon Armstrong and Lee Smethills spring to mind, plus the guys who have ridden in the second halves at Belle Vue, like Jordan Tyrer, the two Worralls (though feel they are Scunthorpe bound?) and maybe Kyle Howarth? It certainly makes a change to have such a strong Northern presence in the NL, and must give a boost to Northern riders who now don't have to drive to the South Coast to ply their trade.

You should definitely get a ride this year, Jordan, there's never been so many NL teams in the North as what there is this year, with Stoke, Buxton, Belle Vue and Scunthorpe all running. Maybe riding for Belle Vue would be good, to emulate Paul Tyrer.

Look forward to seeing him riding against the Hitmen this year. The guy deserves an injury free season.

This is great news - if it comes off, we will have Buxton, Belle Vue, Stoke and Scunthorpe all in the North! Lots of derbies, though I don't know how many riders there are too pool around the clubs. The NL could be the best league to watch next year.