Rye House Raiders V Mildenhall Saturday 7pm

[westhamboy66 599]

Mixed feelings after this

On the Speedway front yes it was disappointing that the first two heats took an hour to complete but after that i felt it ran pretty smoothly. Eastbourne did well with their Harley's for the parade on Friday but to be fair to Craig Saul he his head and shoulders above the Eastbourne bloke whoever he is (Not Kevin Coombes). The Rye track looked pretty tricky for the first few races but the top five of Rye looked exceptional. The reserves will be better at the end of the season than they are now which surely is the whole point of the Raiders and the NL. For me they boys at the bottom end of the team are beyond any criticism.

£10 to get in two quid cheaper for the opener than Eastbourne so fair play with an expensive Monday meeting coming up but that race card for £1 was a disgrace. The Eastbourne programme is better than many from the PL and EL and actually worth a read. The bit of cardboard should have been given away with admission at Rye.

The downside for me was the car park and the state of the stadium after the rain. The potholes are beyond a joke especially when they are full of rain but the stadium at the moment doesn't encourage anyone to come back. The club say it will be mid summer before its finished but with the view of racing being severely restricted and wellies being a must to try and get on the back straight makes me wonder why they weren't less ambitious and did it bit by bit.

Anyone coming to look at Speedway for the first time on Monday won't be impressed to be paying £20 to be watching from a refuse tip

[Shadders 4,135]

Some of the comments are pretty harsh. Ok, it took a while to get going with the first two heats taking around 40 minutes to complete, but after the riders had sorted themselves out there was some entertaining racing.

What most fail to realise is that this meeting almost didn't go ahead. The previous days truck/stunt show added to the overnight rain had left the track in a terrible state. It was decided at 10.30 that they'd work on the track to get it in a condition to race. The track was patchy, never good for riders with little or no racing experience. They did a great job in the circumstances.

 

Crowd was pretty decent, swelled by a good few Mildenhall fans. Must've been 250-300 at least. Considering the weather and the fact there's a double header on Monday, that's good.

 

Rob Branford was by far the classiest rider on show and was harshly denied a five ride maximum by a terrible decision from ref Mick Bates (ex Fen Tiger) in heat 15 where he steamed under Danny Halsey and was adjudged to have taken him down. I didn't believe there was contact.

Impressed with the two Luke's, Chessell and Priest and Kyle Hughes who didn't appear for his fourth ride, presumably due to bike problems.

Too early to judge the Raiders reserves. George Hunter, the Raiders number 8, was thrown in at the deep end due to a licence problem for Alfie Bowtell. They were always gonna struggle in their first competitive meeting. Sam Woods looked like he'd never been on a bike in heat 1, but he got quicker with each outing. The NL points limit means that a three pointer has to ride in the main body of the team, never ideal.

 

For Mildenhall, Danny Halsey took a while to get going, I thought he'd clean up.

Connor Mountain looks a decent prospect. Liam Rumsey had a nasty fall. Hope he's ok.

 

Interesting to see how these lads do on Monday on a slick track after the PL meeting.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Shads

[hackneyrocket 139]

Bloody hell.Cheer up.It was the 1st meeting of the season.Give the riders chance will you.Rye's reserves have hardly been riding a speedway bike,they'll only improve.Hume especially.Hunter wasn't supposed to be in the 1-7 originally.

Too much difference in the standard of riders?

The 4 reserves this was pretty much their 1st actual meeting.Ruddick has never seen the place for example.

The falls and reruns were a typical sign of 1st meeting rustiness.

You obviously went to Eastie on Sunday.Everything went perfect with the run through of the meeting.Believe me every week won't be perfect,it's near on impossible,especially at this level.

The start of the meeting did take a while but once they got going they got the meeting done in good time.

I don't take much notice of the standard in the 1st couple of meetings.Will always encounter problems.

Keep on smiling

Adz

Does anyone know why Alfie Bowtell didn't ride?

[Shadders 4,135]

Does anyone know why Alfie Bowtell didn't ride?

Apparently a problem with his licence

[Mike.Butler 601]

well i really enjoyed this meeting. plenty of incidents to keep it interesting..

[Paul 67]

Some of the people knocking the stadium and Raides amaze me. OK the race card wasn't ideal. I'm lead to believe that was a one off.

The stadium itself, I didn't get my feet wet as such standing by the starting gate? Yes certain parts of the stadium are like a building site but the hone straight isn't. Can't speak for the back straight.

The car park is an issue. The craters are avoidable but my biggest concern for people is the lack of lights when walking after the meeting to cars and outside of the complex.

The car park issue has been raised loads of times. Perhaps the new gaffer needs to make a statement on that.

Remember Rye House Soeedway isn't a charity. It's there to make £ notes. It's a learning curve at the moment. If you don't go because your not happy with this and that, well that's your choice.

But the stadium last year was crying out for renovation. The guy who's bought it is putting his money where his mouth is! How I'd love someone like that to have put money into the old Hackney Stadium. Be thankful you've got speedway at Rye House, and long may it continue.

[JamesM09 31]

A Few Comments:

 

Stadium:

 

Firstly, it rained hence the puddles in the car park and in the stadium. Secondly, people complaining about the stadium, we were told that stadium improvements were ongoing until mid-season (Probably longer). If anybody was expecting to go to rye house and have anything ripped out, grandstands put in down the back straight, relayed car parks, the dog track having been tarmacked already, toilets/bar done-up, then welcome to a place you have clearly never been before... the real world! The stadium will look very good when it is finished but will take some time, we were told that. All of the changes listed above will be completed by the end of the season- beginning of the next, give them a chance, thing's will get worse before they get better.

 

The Programme:

Slightly overpriced... (A disgrace I agree), i could have just brought a piece of paper with me. So programme needs to be looked at. But at the same time did it's job, simple and effective.

 

The Team:

 

• Looked smart
• Rode well
• 3 points on the board
• Job Done!

1. Robert Branford- Only beaten by the ref
2. Sam Woods- Battled hard-gained some well earned points.
3. Luke Priest- Good out the gate- experienced- Scored well
4. Luke Chessell- Rode extremely well, much improved, Captain lead by example.
5. Kyle Hughes- Equipment let's him down, but otherwise very good
6. Reserves- Young, Inexperienced, will improve, give them a chance.

Mildenhall:

1. Danny Halsey- Average as he's always been.
2. Liam Rumsey- Hope he's okay
3. Connor Mountain- Good prospect, rode well
4. Jack Kingston- No Comment
5. Connor Coles- Impressed, steady rider
6. Reserves- Rode well, picked up good points, will improve.

The Meeting:

 

It's the national league falls will happen, it will take longer, the track was a bit greasy to start with but improved. Andrew silver or whoever did the track did a very good job.

 

On the whole (Apart from Heat 1+2) promising, decent racing and some passing (Elite Legaue take note).

[Rayleigh 362]

* So we have a new promotion committed to Speedway

* Major works started on the stadium (They were upfront about it will take a while)

* We have a new sensation in Busk (an even better start than Sundstrom made)

* Both teams unbeaten

* Raiders had no riders in February and yet have a more than competitive team now

* No prima donnas messing us about

* Andrews production line has started (do not judge Hume, Boutall and Hunter on April 4)

 

Guess what, people still find the ability to moan, well if you do not approve then get your own cheque book and do better, but in the meantime do not p*ss off Warren Scott the rest of us are right behind him.

[Shadders 4,135]

Don't forget Warren Scott didn't take over the stadium until around November (maybe later) and poor weather hadn't helped with the ongoing stadium redevelopment. Add to that a problem with the back straight seating which means a delay in it's installation.

I'm sure the vast majority of Rye House supporters would rather see the team sorted first.

[Rocketbee 10]

Having watched my first national league meeting bar nlrc since the raiders last rode i was impressed with the racing but i feel with both teams having 3 3point riders that the national league could benefit from the elite league race format allowing the beginners to mainly race against each other.