Kent Vs Birmingham - 18th July

[speedibee 3,091]

Who was the ref ? when buxton were there it was chris durno . he had the 2 minutes on as the riders crossed the finish line . and we had said goodnight ( nice cup of tea , and a couple of bottles of cold water for the journey home ) and we were packed up and leaving before curfew time

[Brummiestormer 172]

Was 32 degrees there, water truck came out after every race, couple of crashes they couldn't hurry it on.Ok so they have a couple of mascots and a short parade if they did away with that it would give the Silver haters even more ammunition, start at 6.15 well there are enough complaints that 6.30 is too early. Easy to apportion blame but there was only one man to blame and that is Drury up to his Mildenhall tricks again. Time was wasted on purpose which robbed the fans of a last heat decider. If anyone thinks that Drury was cute they need their head examined. Birmingham won on the night, they will probably win the league and another title for Drury won at any cost in a pathetically cynical way. Speedway and dare i say the fans were the real losers. It's not just Kent fans who suffer at the hands of the dreaded curfew, look at Berwick.

In this case it would have made no diffence. rider fails to come out gets chucked out for failing to beat the two minutes, Ref gets the info from the pits about reserve replacement another 30 seconds then a fresh two mins and the reserve replacement comes onto the track with five seconds to spare. they did it twice so thats nine minutes wasted not bad when there is a curfew and the cynical management run down the clock heat 14 finished bang on curfew. Out of the refs hand, during the meeting the water cart came on after every race and it was needed otherwise everyone would be screaming about the dust

It would happen at Birmingham if they were losing approaching heat 10 and the rain was falling. Not strictly cheating but the fans taken for mugs again by Drury. How any fan who pays their money is happy to see this sort of cynical management is beyond me

Another myopic Kent fan---are you a mate of Whistlegang the motormouth?

[guitar_art 247]

Was 32 degrees there, water truck came out after every race, couple of crashes they couldn't hurry it on.Ok so they have a couple of mascots and a short parade if they did away with that it would give the Silver haters even more ammunition, start at 6.15 well there are enough complaints that 6.30 is too early. Easy to apportion blame but there was only one man to blame and that is Drury up to his Mildenhall tricks again. Time was wasted on purpose which robbed the fans of a last heat decider. If anyone thinks that Drury was cute they need their head examined. Birmingham won on the night, they will probably win the league and another title for Drury won at any cost in a pathetically cynical way. Speedway and dare i say the fans were the real losers. It's not just Kent fans who suffer at the hands of the dreaded curfew, look at Berwick.

In this case it would have made no diffence. rider fails to come out gets chucked out for failing to beat the two minutes, Ref gets the info from the pits about reserve replacement another 30 seconds then a fresh two mins and the reserve replacement comes onto the track with five seconds to spare. they did it twice so thats nine minutes wasted not bad when there is a curfew and the cynical management run down the clock heat 14 finished bang on curfew. Out of the refs hand, during the meeting the water cart came on after every race and it was needed otherwise everyone would be screaming about the dust

It would happen at Birmingham if they were losing approaching heat 10 and the rain was falling. Not strictly cheating but the fans taken for mugs again by Drury. How any fan who pays their money is happy to see this sort of cynical management is beyond me

That has been the case a couple of times this year (minus the rain) once against Kent. Not once have we tried to waste time.

[cityrebel 2,960]

Who was the ref ? when buxton were there it was chris durno . he had the 2 minutes on as the riders crossed the finish line . and we had said goodnight ( nice cup of tea , and a couple of bottles of cold water for the journey home ) and we were packed up and leaving before curfew time

paul carrington was the ref on monday.

[blueherb777 571]

I hadn't seen the Brummie post before I wrote my epilogue. Do not agree with some of it. Verge did make a meal of his fall, but I thought Clifton was brilliant to lay his bike down, I hope the other guy thanked him for that. At the end of the day, if you do not get a move on, two hours is not enough time to get a meeting down. If it was all done in 1 hour 15 mins, we would have the moaners demanding some money back !!

 

Two hours not enough ????

Are you having a laugh.

15 minutes of racing (sorry,14 minutes on Monday!).

Riders get to start on time,Referee keep things moving,less Gardening, etc etc and no problem.

Edited July 20, 2016 by AJ is King

[gazzac 1,015]

Having seen all these post's, baring nasty crashes which you hope never happen and can't plan around seems simple to me. Tapes up bang on 6.30, any practice or parade laps or announcements done before hand, and all referees instructed to push the match on, make exclusions for time wasting if needs be, bet the teams would quickly get the message. Meeting should be finished by 8.30/9.00, even allowing enough time for a few more practise laps for the youngsters . Basically what AJ has just said,and I can't believe everyone involved can't see it, otherwise gates could drop which is a shame for a team with a chance of winning something this year.

Edited July 20, 2016 by gazzac

[birchfield aces 5]

I'll start by saying that Kent are a fine team, but their ability to run a meeting inside two hours is truly shocking. There as been a awful lot said about the Brummies and Drury about 'Timewasting' case not made. Wasting over 20 minutes at the start of the meeting with events, which may well be okay, but not when you are up against a curfew, please get your act together. As I said earlier Kent are a good team, racing is great, but the amount of moaning on this topic about the lack of heat 15 is totally in dreamland if you think Kent may have got a 5-1, as good as Shanes, Bowen or Ayres, are there would be no guarantee of a 5-1, maybe Brummies would have got one and won 48-42, after all had not all had been previously beaten by Tom Bacon and I'm sure Jack Smith would have also given his best. Now in my opinion, and no doubt Kings fans won't agree, Kent are a good team, but in four meetings in 2016, they have not got the better of the Brummies, so I rest my case. I look forward to any future meeting they are great speedway

[Shadders 4,135]

Another myopic Kent fan---are you a mate of Whistlegang the motormouth?

He's not a Kent fan

[flipper11 134]

There is no way the 3 Kent mascots started their laps after 6.30, they were all off track by 6.30pm. Whatever went on during the meeting there was plenty of time to run the last 4 heats before the curfew until Birm started their delay tactics. All will be revealed when the dvd comes out this week & everyone can make their mind up what happened after watching it! What a shame this meeting ended like it did, the 3 meetings with birm so far this season have been a great advert for nl speedway and so was this one right up until heat 12.

[brianbuck 928]

This topic has now had a very good airing and we have read through the views of all sides - from the outraged saintliness of a few partisan Kent supporters to the defensiveness of one or two diehard Birmingham people - with quite a few pertinent and sensible comments thrown in by others.

 

I am a lifelong supporter of Birmingham, but I wasn't at Kent on Monday so I only know what I have read. I am prepared to accept that Graham Drury probably cashed in on the situation and used it to the advantage of his team. Some would say that the team manager's job is to get every advantage for his side that he can, I wouldn't personally have done this - but then, I'm not employed in a position in which I am paid to get results am I, so my thinking may have been different if I had been!

 

This kind of gamesmanship is not new. It has been done before and will more than likely be done again - and given the same circumstances I would suggest that most team managers would have done the same as Graham did - including Len who hasn't been averse to pulling a few smart tricks in his time (and I'm not having a go at him when I say this.) I'm not saying it was right - just saying that human nature will usually take over. There were clearly many delays to the meeting in the earlier stages which could be put down to poor control by the referee and by the Kent pits staff which produced a situation which could easily have been avoided.

 

Theoretically, the referee could have put his finger on the 2 minute button on the stroke of 6.30pm and done the same immediately after each race was finished (as was the case at Perry Barr the other week when black clouds were gathering), but probably most referees would have considered this to be over officious, but the lesson to be learned here, is that the supporters come to watch the speedway - not pre-meeting presentations or parades or to listen to the inane chatter of centre green presenters who think they are the star turn of the night! The best option is always to crack on with the racing - the incidentals can then come when it is clear that there is time to bring them on without running the risk of not completing the meetings.

 

As far as Jack Smith is concerned, no one who knows him even slightly, would describe him as a "spoiled brat." Jack is a good natured lad with a sunny disposition who would do anything to help anyone. On the track, he puts everything into his racing, and he wants to succeed. He is as much a racer as is Danny Ayres who is of the same mould and is a rider I admire very much. Jack was wrong to react to the provocation from the crowd in the way that he did, but he is young and impetuous and will no doubt learn from this experience.

 

I hope though, that this incident will not sour the relationship between the Kent and Birmingham supporters in the future. The Kent people have been very welcome visitors to Perry Barr in the past and have made our people equally welcome when we have gone there. I can well appreciate their frustration in losing a match in these circumstances, but whoever gets the bulk of the blame, it shouldn't be the Kent or the Birmingham supporters.

[Brummie Kev 519]

As far as Jack Smith is concerned, no one who knows him even slightly, would describe him as a "spoiled brat." Jack is a good natured lad with a sunny disposition who would do anything to help anyone. On the track, he puts everything into his racing, and he wants to succeed. He is as much a racer as is Danny Ayres who is of the same mould and is a rider I admire very much. Jack was wrong to react to the provocation from the crowd in the way that he did, but he is young and impetuous and will no doubt learn from this experience.

 

 

 

I couldn't agree more with what you say about Jack. I don't agree with any rider making rude gestures towards the crowd whatever the provocation although in this case there's anonther story disputing that. I also don't agree with fans booing and abusing riders whether its their own or the opposition (even brummies fans), I think Kent fans have a beef with Jack even before Mondays match as the texter to the updates site said in Jack's very first race that "Smith at it again", what does he mean by that? Theres no way any rider goes out there with the intention to hurt another rider, sometimes over exuberance and lack experience can play a part especially if its a rider in his first season in the sport. I say people lay off him.

 

The other Jack, JPB said on facebook yday that he was booed by Kent fans on monday and doesnt know why, can anyone shed any light?

[Mike.Butler 601]

The other Jack, JPB said on facebook yday that he was booed by Kent fans on monday and doesnt know why, can anyone shed any light?

 

I silently boo him (even at Perry Barr (cos his name is too long to fit in my results database I use). ..

Edited July 20, 2016 by Mike.Butler

[Alex2000 266]

 

The other Jack, JPB said on facebook yday that he was booed by Kent fans on monday and doesnt know why, can anyone shed any light?

 

I silently boo him (even at Perry Barr (cos his name is too long to fit in my results database I use). ..

I expect he now also boos you for not paying £2 to the club to keep it open ( I have no idea what this quote is doing) Edited July 20, 2016 by Al3x200

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

First up is to point out that the pit staff at Kent are first class and in no way to shoulder any blame. They can hurry riders to the best of their ability but in most cases will be largely ignored as the 2mins is the law and the pit helpers are largely unsung heroes without which there would be no speedway.

 

As for the boo's im not sure where or why they started and despite the large frustration there was no need. I will say that the very same fans stood and loudly applauded the Birmingham team as they collected the national trophy and i hope would extend the same courtesy to anyone.

[flipper11 134]

 

I couldn't agree more with what you say about Jack. I don't agree with any rider making rude gestures towards the crowd whatever the provocation although in this case there's anonther story disputing that. I also don't agree with fans booing and abusing riders whether its their own or the opposition (even brummies fans), I think Kent fans have a beef with Jack even before Mondays match as the texter to the updates site said in Jack's very first race that "Smith at it again", what does he mean by that? Theres no way any rider goes out there with the intention to hurt another rider, sometimes over exuberance and lack experience can play a part especially if its a rider in his first season in the sport. I say people lay off him.

 

The other Jack, JPB said on facebook yday that he was booed by Kent fans on monday and doesnt know why, can anyone shed any light?

I think he thought he was being booed but in fact it was probably aimed at Smith behind him! Kent supporters have no beef with any riders or certainly supporters of brum other than Mr smith, this is because he was excluded for putting Clifton in the fence previously & he took Verge out going into 1st bend that night (maybe accidental!), i also think Smith took some of the stick aimed at the Brum management when he came round to celebrate their win. I have to agree with bbuck i have been at all brum v Kent n Kent v Brum matches this season & all matches have been in very good spirit between the supporters with both appreciate good racing & its such a shame if there is any bad feeling between the clubs, I'm sure they will meet again this year & the racing has always been good & played out front of very sporting crowds.