Killer Cat from Mars

I'd like to welcome the Potters to the NL, and hope the Potters fans embrace the product at this level. I think they'll be pleasantly surprised by how good the racing is. It will be great to have another Northern side to visit as well as Scunthorpe, and I'm sure Stoke will be guaranteed a huge gate when they race Dudley.

2010 was the year that Buxton gained some richly deserved success for all the years that they have worked tirelessly bringing on young riders, often without any success on the team front. Winning the Grand Slam this year (and don't forget we were winning the Fours before it was rained off!) is a great payback to the club and promotion for their hard work since the inception of racing in the Third Tier. Good times indeed to be anyone associated with the High Peak club. But who is to say that this isn't the start of a concerted run of success for the club? Maybe this is just the start!

Buxton Hitmen - Triple Champions has a great ring to it! Well done to all the riders, management, promotion, sponsors and supporters of the Hitmen for completing a dream year for the club that has had this level of speedway at its heart since the inception of the Third Tier in the 90's. Whatever has been said on here about the last month, no-one can deny that Buxton deserve this success and are worthy Champions in all three trophies.

I don't need to look up the definition of Pyrrhic victory as I have a History Degree!! The NL has problems to iron out, but these shouldn't detract from the success that Buxton have had this year. Buxton or Newport will be crowned worthy Champions today. But I imagine the moaning will continue. Anyway, it's been lovely talking to you, but I have a Championship decider to attend.

Whoever wins today will be the TRUE Champions - all the politics has to be put aside. It is unfair on Buxton and Newport to keep saying that this year means nothing. Just because the South Coast aren't dominating, it's suddenly all wrong. We've seen some great speedway this season, we feel sorry for you if you haven't. But please stop trying to demean our achievements - of all the clubs at this level, Buxton deserve their success this year!

I would imagine Buxton will be: 1.Craig Cook 2.Nick Morris R/R 3.Jason Garrity 4.Robert Branford 5.Adam Allott 6.Lewis Dallaway 7.Richie Worrall This all depends on the fitness of Lewis after his fall last week.

Looking forward to the meeting today - not getting involved in the negativity that seems to have invaded the thread!! All that matters is that we have 15 heats to decide who is the National League Championship Winner. I sometimes think that speedway fans are only happy when they're moaning!

Just hope that they don't expect any Buxton or Newport riders to be there!

Good luck to the Hitmen tonight - wish I could be there, but work has got in the way!! The Hitmen should be able to defend the 23 point lead, but I imagine the Young Stars plan will be to hit them hard early and try to shake the Hitmen up a little. If the Hitmen can ride the early storm, they will prevail, but I don't expect the Young Stars to make it easy. The league match is also interesting because if Buxton can win that, and by a lot of points, they will finish top of the National League. People attending tonight are so lucky to be seeing a speedway extravaganza.

I'd prefer Jason at reserve too so he can take seven rides.

They've not finished top yet - Buxton could still win at King's Lynn by enough points to go top!

I saw both Jason's performances at Dudley in the semi's and yes it was brilliant to see him race and outride the Dudley boys on their own circuit. As for close racing on Sunday....well, maybe being a neutral that was what you wanted to see, but for myself, as a Buxton fan, especially in a Final, I just want to see the Hitmen win, and win big, so Sunday was fine by me. The riders in the National League this year are of a much better standard than previous years and make less mistakes, so there are bound to be some processions, but I have seen some great racing this year at Hi-Edge, close, exciting and with plenty of overtaking. Speedway is all about opinions I grant you, but Buxton really deserve all their success this year and I hope they can sweep the board.

Could the trophy be shared? Or what happens if only the leg at Buxton is run? Would the Hitmen be declared Champions if they won the home leg?

I'm afraid if you find the sight of Jason Garrity in full flight 'tedious', there is little hope for you! Putting more shale on the track doesn't usually work either, as it was very deep the other week and the away fans complained that there was too much dirt on it! I enjoyed the meeting, which maybe didn't have the cut and thrust of the Dudley meetings but was still a country mile head of the 'racing' I've seen at Belle Vue all year. Jason again just gets better with every meeting and Robert Branford also is showing continued improvement. Will 23 points be enough? - I really hope so, but I'm sure the Young Stars will give it all they've got on Wednesday (weather permitting!).

Looking forward to this meeting - hope we have Cookie available, all depends on the result of the Scunny-Worky meeting tonight. Would have preferred the second leg, but let's hope the Hitmen can build up a 15-20 point lead to take to Lynn on Wednesday. Buxton beat Lynn by 16 earlier in the year using a guest for Craig Cook and R/R for Nick Morris, so maybe lightning is going to strike twice!

Off the top of my head, I can remember Jason Garrity overtaking Lee Smart going into bend 3 on lap 1 of Heat 1 - your very own Jake Anderson stalked and passed Robert Branford on Bend 3 of Lap 3 in Heat 3 (with both riders in a photo finish as they crossed the line), and Craig Cook passed Barrie Evans on bend 3 on lap 2 of Heat 15. I'm sure there was more overtaking but old age is affecting my memory. There was plenty of close racing too(which can be equally exciting) - with Lee Smart involved in two cracking tussles with Robert Branford then Adam Allott. Rob Branford and Ashley Morris were also involved in a great tussle in the first running of Heat 9 before it was stopped). I appreciate Monmore is a good track for overtaking, and enjoyed Buxton's two visits there, but I enjoyed the racing today, and thought both teams really gave it 100% contributing to an intriguing and exciting clash. As a wry observation, after last weeks defeat and the way Dudley were pegging us back today, I half joked with the people around me that we would be better off riding all four legs at Monmore after our victories there.

Really sorry to hear all the troubles that beset this meeting - but have to defend the NL - the two ties between Buxton and Dudley have been an excellent advert for this level of racing. Look forward to seeing Newport in the Final. :-)

Great meeting today and plenty of good racing and passing too. Was great to have Cookie back and he led from the front, bringing the boys home in fine style. Highlight for me though was when Lewis Dallaway jumped out in Heat 12 and combined with Jason Garrity for a 5-1 - that for me was the race which clinched the tie for the Hitmen. Looking forward to the Final, though I'm praying it's not on 31st October, as I can't get that day off work.

Looking forward to this meeting. Should be interesting to see how the teams match up again after that tight encounter last week. With Cookie back, the Hitmen are strengthened as Ashley Birks only scored 1 last week (still gave it everything though, so cheers Ashley). The Nick Morris R/R scored 9 for Buxton, which with the same riders available again, the Hitmen should be able to replicate. For the Heathens, Lee Smart's R/R scored 7, which he should improve on. All in all it adds up to an intriguing encounter, but hopefully not quite as close as last week, the fingernails just won't take another finish like that! Full updates available as always through the Buxton Twitter page.

Here we go then - who is going to win this encounter? The Hitmen have the slender 4 point advantage from their tremendous win last month, but Dudley will be looking to fight back doubly hard, especially after the Hitmen again lowered their colours on Tuesday in the Play-offs. PL fixtures suggest that Craig Cook and Nick Morris will be missing for the Hitmen and Lee Smart for the Heathens. The choice of guests could now prove crucial to the destiny of this mouth watering tie. Predictions, squads, anyone? My prediction: Buxton 49, Dudley 44.

Full scores from todays thrilling cup tie courtesy of the Buxton Facebook page. Congrats to the Hitmen on getting the job done.....just! Buxton Hitmen 45 Ashley Birks 100 = 1 Nick Morris R/R Jonathon Bethell 1310 = 5 Robert Branford 323321 = 14+1 Adam Allott 303210 = 9 Lewis Dallaway 3RR1 = 4+1 Jason Garrity 231123R = 12+1 Dudley Heathens 48 Lee Smart R/R Micky Dyer 01212 = 6+1 Tom Perry 00112 = 4+1 Jake Anderson 223333 = 16 Barrie Evans 226232 = 17+1 Ashley Morris 1201fex = 4+2 Richard Franklin 010 = 1+1 Heat 1: Allott, Evans, Birks, Dyer(F/rem). 56.7. 4-2 Heat 2: Dallaway, Garrity, Morris, Franklin. 58.2. 5-1 (9-3) Heat 3: Branford, Anderson, Bethell, Perry. 59.7. 4-2. (13-5) Heat 4: Garrity, Evans, Franklin, Allott. 59.0. 3-3. (16-8) Heat 5: Bethell, Branford, Dyer, Perry. 59.2. 5-1. (21-9) Heat 6: EVANS, Morris, Garrity, Birks. 57.5. 1-8. (22-17) Heat 7: Allott, Anderson. Perry. Dallaway(Ret). 56.2. 3-3. (25-20) Heat 8: Branford, Dyer, Garrity, Franklin. 57.2. 4-2. (29-22) Heat 9: Branford, Evans, Bethell, Morris. 56.8. 4-2. (33-24) Heat 10: Anderson, Garrity, Perry, Birks. 56.7. 2-4. (35-28) Heat 11: Anderson, Allott, Dyer, Dallaway. 56.8. 2-4. (37-32) Heat 12: (2nd Re-run) Garrity, Perry, Morris, Bethell. 56.0. 3-3. (40-35) Heat 13: Evans, Dyer, Allott, Garrity(Ret). 56.6. 1-5. (41-40) Heat 14: (Re-run) Anderson, Branford, Dallaway, Morris(F/ex). 56.5. 3-3. (44-43) Heat 15: Anderson, Evans, Branford, Allott. 56.7. 1-5. (45-48) Buxton win 92-91 on aggregate and progress to the final

We'll be making our second trip to Dudley and hoping for a repeat of the KO Cup performance - fingers crossed. Twitter updates will be available for those who can't make the journey.

Could someone please put the scorers from the meeting on here so I can update the Buxton Facebook Page - Thanks on advance.

Congrats to the Hitmen - does this means we're Premier Trophy Champs? Buxton really deserve some silverware after all the hard work they've done at the this level.

The Hitmen are on fire! Good to see Cookie riding so well after his fall at Ipswich last week. Go Hitmen!