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Always appreciate your unbiased opinions HT, usually on the button....I kind of disagree on this statement though...this meeting was perhaps the poorest in terms of quality racing so far this season. However, the previous three home meetings have thrown up some exceptional mind blowing speedway, as good as we've ever seen at Scunny. (In my opinion) I think last nights lack of track grading was more a tactical decision.. Redcar were the ones wanting it graded. Scunny is such a fair track, why would the home team want to give away any slight advantage they had by giving in to their opponents demands.

Couldn't agree more. 2 big crowds, a decent track at last and also a good team with a proper number 1. Haven't had this much enthusiasm for speedway in years and know my mates feel the same. Lee Kilby is doing a great job as well. Who cares about a new stadium. As long as we are in the old one and have speedway then that's all that matters.

This is one of the reasons I preferred Ippo in other league..all the threads here seem to end up as Poole bitching / moaning/ grump....

Going off that race the track changes have made a massive improvement just what the doctor ordered for our ailing sport.Looks like you Swindon fans have a future of watching some great speedway racing well done the Swindon management team.

They score 44.

No it doesn't. It gives the 3 team group a slighter advantage as each match in their group is worth more percentage-wise. Once Workington pulled out they should have split it into a north and south group with top two qualifying.

I have to admit I had a very odd relationship with Hackney. I was born and brought up in Hackney and, until I moved away in 1965, the track was about a 20 minute walk from my home across the Marshes. So, for the first three years of its Post-War existence I was a regular there every week. However, I never actually supported the team. The reason for this was that I was already a New Cross supporter and so, when Hackney opened in 1963, they became the local Provincial League adversary. New Cross, of course, closed in 1963, but then in 1964, West Ham opened, so I transferred my allegiance to them, not being able to bring myself to support the "enemy". Towards the end of 1965, I moved away and Hackney and West Ham became fairly equidistant to my new home, so that made things a bit better and more acceptable in my own mind to be a West Ham supporter. For many years, until West Ham closed, I still visited both tracks on a fairly regular weekly basis. However, I have always felt a bit uncomfortable in not supporting Hackney as, in every other regard, I always have, and still do, regard myself as a "Hackney boy" and have always been very proud of it and, in many ways, still regard it as my real home. I contribute to a number of Hackney Facebook pages and, of course, my best-selling book, Pie 'n' Mash & Prefabs, is all about Hackney in the 1950s and 60s. There! I've made my full confession at last. It's good to finally get it all off my chest!

I once went to Stoke (many years ago) and on a freezing cold night March night there was a chap next to me in a T shirt drinking pint after pint of cold lager. He must have been on drugs Stoke have been (usually justifiably) battered for the poor standard of speedway at the track for years. If they are improving, it is right that they get the credit for that.

Hopefully iow can avoid injuries and losing riders to other commitments this year. Winning most of thier home meetings and picking the odd point ip away should secure a first ever play off place for the new promotion. And I dont think there is anyone in speedway that we begrudge the Warriors some much deserved on track success. Mildenhall will always go well at home, but away Danny Ayres may lack the back up required. Marson went well especially the second half of last season and will surely add further strength to the side on the road.

Admittedly the rain didn't arrived until late this evening, but how many people would have ventured out tonight in temperatures of 5 or 6 degrees, with a howling gale that's been bending the trees in half all day? Far better to make an early decision & run it on Sunday with temperatures forecast to be in the early teens & a dry day expected. Common sense prevails for once.

Maybe it's a new tactic we are trying,, having 3 riders in a race.

Which is how a team sport should be... The town or city becomes tribal and their team becomes all encompassing.. 2.5 million people live in Grt Manchester.. Just circa 1500 go to Belle Vue... And many of these, (just like is reflected across the country), now just go to 'watch the Speedway', as competitions in the UK have so much nonsense attached to them that it no longer matters whether you are successful or not... Imagine trying to get away with such garbage in Poland as Tai Woffinden being allowed to guest for ZG or Leszno? And help either qualify for the play offs! Wroclaw fans would riot! (And TV wouldn't touch any sport running such daft rules with a barge pole and neither would the blue chip companies who currently sponsor it.) A professional team sport representing a town or city should generate such passion, sadly over here because of the way it is ran, Speedway barely raises any emotions at all...

Guide dog put his paw on red button.

Before the pre season injuries Wolves were my tip as favourites and even despite the knocks they are right up there IMO For the Witches to get even a point seems most unlikely but we have already performed better than most expected and that is whilst 1 or 2 have not produced in each meeting The reserves have dominated so far but this one wont be as easy for them. Just think how Wolves fans will react if Cam bangs in double figures 52-38 to the home side - anything better is a good result for the Witches

Think you are reading far too much in the Poole v Swindon meeting. And don’t forget they had guest reserves for that one who score 5 more than Swindon’s own reserves would have scored.

I thought last night's meeting was entertaining enough. With the rain due to arrive, I think it made sense to get on with the meeting (as much as was possible, with last night's referee!) rather than delay it with track grading. The best two races were probably Heats 13 and 15, suggesting it was the correct decision to carry on with the meeting. I prefer to see racing than tractors!

I remember some years ago in a Wolves/Brummies match, Porky was bawling as Freddie Lindgren led on the last corner: he was practically having orgasms about the Super Duper Super Swede, but then Brummies guest Scott Nicholls beat him on the line to win ... Porky didn't stop roaring about the Super Duper Turnip, though!

Ian Jones at Wolverhampton shouts his way through the last lap of most of the races at Monmore - and it is really irritating. With the noise of the bikes and a very loud PA it is virtually impossible to make out what he is saying, so the whole operation is totally pointless. Peter York used to do something similar at Coventry, and even if it were audible, where is the sense in telling people in the crowd something that they can see perfectly well for themselves? If speedway tracks were a mile in circumference there might be a case for it, but not when the whole of the race is visible to everyone.

A blip due to the track lol......in one breath you go on about how good Poole were to draw at Swindon.... a track nobody had raced on.....then you say Poole getting beat at home was down to the Poole track lol.....the gift that keeps on giving Poole were awful at the start of last season and had to make a dozen changes to win the league. Im not sure if this Poole 1-7 is worse....cant be much in it Brave man betting your team make the play offs when 4 out of 7 will So far early season form shows Swindon as the team to beat followed closely by Wolves and Belle Vue.......Ipswich and Kings Lynn battling for 4th and at the moment Peterborough and Poole are also rans

This is why I dislike this competition. It's starts at the beginning of the season and it's usually October by the time the final gets raced , absolute farce IMHO it should be scrapped and teams should race each other twice home and away .

Looks to me like they have done a great job with the reshaping Will only improve further as the surface settles down Lets hope there is a stadium for it to be in for many years to come

You nailed it. Our mentality here that everything we do is best, and that no other country could possibly be better than us is so sadly out of date these days it's embarrassing. If I had the time and the money to be able to head over to Poland every weekend, I would go in a heartbeat. If you compare it to UK speedway, it's light years ahead in every single department.

Buzz was the Tac for Lindback Col..... Hence he went in 15 as well. . Watching Polish Speedway really does show up how poor the offering is in the UK... And I don't mean the best riders being on show, as it's clear the UK cannot afford them.. For me it's the whole package that leaves us decades behind regardless of the standard of rider.. Fans all in T Shirts of their teams.. It would cost approx one heat leaders salary for one match over here to buy 1000 T shirts at cost and give them away to fans.. The riders lined up waiting for the 2 minute whistle meaning they all come out together building up atmosphere, (music being played as they enter the track).. Buzz had four minutes allocated between HT 14 and 15 to be ready... The racing starting 2 mins after the whistle so riders don't go back to get things rechecked as they don't have time, and gardening has to be done quickly.. The starts meticulously ran by the Marshall with head phones on directly linked to the ref meaning tyres are mm away from the tapes, hence no rolling at the starts and each rider has to comply or the ref instructs the Marshall to speak with the one not following orders.. The mechanics and managers all in club colours, not their own overalls... All these things bring professionalism to the sport and it's also noticeable how tribal it is, there is hardly any congratulations given to an opponent by the riders, (which may be down to not being able to ride on any given night for every team in the league like you can over here, being team mates one night in the Premiership and rivals the next in the leagues below)... And all done and dusted under two hours inclusive of TV advert breaks.. Unlike over here, the only thing Mickey Mouse about Polish Speedway is the ZG badge! No wonder the crowds are so good..

More and more punters aren’t willing to risk going to speedway on anything other than a dry evening nowadays so you can’t blame clubs for making an early decision if the forecast is poor.

Don’t get we wrong, it’s part of one of the many things wrong with speedway these days and one of the reasons why I only attend if the weather is ok. I’m not taking a risk of wasting my time and money in case it’s off. Im sure the promoters feel pretty similar. It’s their business and their money. No one in the sport can afford unnecessary losses these days so I now have sympathy. Sadly however it’s made me a part time supporter as well.

We invite you to view the trailer for our Memories of Hackney DVD here: Only £16 (post-free in UK) from us at https://www.retro-speedway.com/homepage

I think you're on your own on this one! Live speedway commentary does not work. It's as irritating as having someone give a running commentary whilst you're watching something on TV. (I'm not thinking of my Father-in-Law at all). At least though I can throw the remote or any suitable heavy object at him to shut him up, you don't get that option with Porkie et al. Imagine the horror of having to choose between listening to Porkie or Peter York commentate on the racing.... On a par with having to choose between contracting rabies or anthrax

Will be interesting to see Carl Johnson spout nonsense after this meeting. We're 3 points under the limit, wake up! After two heavy defeats at Belle Vue and Swindon, management are in for a shock with the crowd levels for the subsequent meetings. Panthers fans wont stand for a promotion with no ambition. The crowd levels were very high for Poole and Lynn. Are you telling me that there's no money to bring in a rider like Buczkowski, who is desperate to ride for P'Boro. There were around 2,500 fans at the last Lynn meeting. 2,500 x £18 = £45,000. Where's the money going? Because the Panthers wage bill/costs is nowhere near £45,000. We're effectively running a championship quality side.

Could Workington survive as a National League club? Eastbourne and Birmingham were able to keep afloat by doing this, but for Lakeside, it was a disaster. Workington's geographical position might make such a move more of a gamble, and supporters living in the vicinity can probably give a more accurate opinion about this than I can - but if Workington's average crowds last season were around the 500 mark, and they could maintain this kind of level, this would be perhaps, a feasible option?

Semi finale 1 in Gorican / HR: 1. Adrian Miedziński PL (3,3,3,2,3,3) 17 2. Vaclav Milik CZ (2,0,3,3,3,2) 13 3. Dominik Kubera PL (1,3,2,3,2,1) 12 4. Jurica Pavlic HR (2,2,3,1,3,0) 11 -- 5. Martin Smolinski DE (2,2,2,3,2) 11 6. Nick Skorja SI (3,1,3,2,1) 10 -- 7. Viktor Kulakov RU (3,2,d,1,3) 9 8. Denis Gizatullin RU (1,3,1,2,2) 9 9. Chris Harris GB (2,1,2,3,1) 9 10. Mikkel Bech DK (3,0,1,1,2) 7 11. Paco Castagna IT (1,1,2,1,1) 6 12. Artjoms Trofimovs LV (0,3,0,2,0) 5 13. Jesse Mustonen FI (1,0,1,0,1) 3 14. Milen Manev BG (0,2,0,0,0) 2 15. Jordan Dubernard FR (0,1,1,0,0) 2 16. Gaetan Stella FR (0,0,0,0,0) 0 Last chance heat: Kubera, Pavlic, Smolinski, Skorja. Finale: Miedzinski, Milik, Kubera, Pavlic. Semi finale 2 in Poznan / PL: 1. David Bellego FR (3,2,2,3,3,3) 16 2. Bartosz Smektala PL (3,3,3,3,3,2) 17 3. Anders Thomsen DK (2,1,2,3,2,1) 11 4. Andrey Kudriashov RU (3,3,2,2,2,0) 11 -- 5. Tobiasz Musielak PL (3,2,3,2,1) 11 6. Vladimir Borodulin RU (2,3,1,3,R) 9 -- 7. Kai Huckenbeck DE (1,1,3,1,3) 9 8. Timo Lahti FI (2,3,2,2,0) 9 9. Nicolas Covatti IT (1,1,3,1,1) 7 10. Hans Andersen DK (0,0,1,2,3) 6 11. Oleg Mihailovs LV (1,2,0,1,2) 6 12. Eduard Krcmar CZ (0,2,1,1,R) 4 13. Adam Ellis GB (0,1,R,0,2) 3 14. Vyacheslav Monakhov RU (2,0,0,R,1) 3 15. Aleksandr Loktaev UA (1,0,0,0,1) 2 16. Lasse Fredriksen NO (0,0,1,0,0) 1 Last chance heat: Thomsen, Kudriashov, Borodulin, Musielak. Finale: Bellego, Smektala, Thomsen, Kudriashov.

This is the fixture that's going to make the Panthers realise how far they are off the pace.

Good to see Bellego have a great meeting in the SEC qualifiers this afternoon, winning the meeting! Will do his confidence the world of good!

I like Porkie, he does a really good job, he has a close audience which helps a lot but he is good at what he does ...

Entertaining meeting on a racers track , although possibly not in it's best condition last night , the bump/hole in turn 3/4 causing issues to several riders and causing Auty to fall (?). Lack of track work a tactical ploy? Scorpions deserved the win with Garrity in his usual early season top form with Allen impressive and Ayres will get better.A solid enough performance throughout for a tight win. Bears always in it but lacked the race winners with Palm- Toft poor and Barker not that impressive. Thought the Bears reserves did well especially young Smith who nothing was expected of. Think the ref was poor and did a disservice to Greaves excluding him on two minutes when he was on the track. Starts were not well controlled and Auty's clearing out of Smith was certainly not first bend bunching. Not a fan of Godfreys comments on the mic, trying to influence the ref as always hardly professional for the Vice Chairman of the B.S.P.A. Still a good meeting but don't think either side will go the distance and be in the play- offs.

I fully expect Heeps to score well, so it will be good to see how he goes against our American wonderkid.

That was 20 years ago, no one buys riders anymore and the system is largely discredited. It doesnt need a complex replacement. Simply riders are contracted from the start of the season to the end.

It would be a rare thing i grant you!

He didn't roll or touch the tapes though, just a brilliant reaction.

That doesnt work either. When we did that previously there were several teams adrift at the bottom of the table before the first set of home and aways were finished leaving the rest of their season meaningless.

Fair to say that by anybody’s standards he has acted somewhat unprofessional & childish in a number of instances. That said, this year his riding had been very good and his demeanour appears to be that of a fast maturing young man. With a caring manager keeping him in check and focussed on learning his trade Josh could really step up this season. Good luck to the lad. Hope he stays fit and goes from strength to strength.

The forecast for the island on thursday seemed to change on an hourly basis. From heavy showers to a dry afternoon and evening. The radar looked promising so i went for it. It turned out to be perfect speedway weather. Sometimes you have to go with your gut instinct!

I agree. The RR selections were quite odd. When you have RR at 2 you do tend to go a certain way with your reserve in heat 1 and your highest average rider in heat 8

Your much better off putting that ton in to the ‘Shale for Wimborne Road’ fund rather than giving it to Brum.

You ate and lived to tell the tale. Things definitely are picking up at Stoke.

Wallinger was always a bizarre signing. He's not that good, and he has baggage. But, to give him the R/R ride in heat 5, when he's already programmmed for heats 4 and 6, was an amazing display of incompetent team management. Three rides on the trot is a tough ask anywhere for a man not in his first flush of youth, but 3 on the trot around the IOW is impossible. It's not surprising he didn't score all night after that.

Wells scored paid eleven in your last home meeting against some people’s favourites for the league, if that’s all at sea I hope Lynn’s whole team can be from now on. In all seriousness Wells will be fine once he has a few more NSS meetings and gets into the groove for Edinburgh. Can see Aces winning this by more than the supporters cup clash, something like 54-36.

Have to say that i have never had an issue with age of any rider in my mind if they are good enough they deserve a place regardless of years old/young. My major objections is to riders who offer little and block up places whilst going nowhere like Wallinger last night. Ledwith looks a good/cheeky signing and will enjoy a swan song season before a raised average forces retirement.

Look full on that heat. Works much better without the commentary

Will have to break this down into chunks as i just struggle to read the blurb above. I don't rate Shelby as a rider but don't slay him on every thread i can. Been using one of Tai's 2008 bikes? Im sure he will be delighted to know you have shared his love of museum pieces. There are plenty who bust a gut and work log hours to race and i take my hat off to them all, i have no issue with that although it doesn't make Rutherford special in the slightest. Its a forum and my opinion is that Rutherford is occupying a team place that would be better used going to a rider who is going to develop and benefit from it. However i am not a promoter and the opinion from Stoke is that a rider in the NL who has been hovering around the 3.5 mark constantly but has some better days is worth the use of points, as the season progresses it will become clearer who's judgement is better.

It appears that all we are going to be told is that ''he's a nutter'' and ''has the Samaritans on speed dial.'' All I see is that he's a very exciting speedway rider to watch, happy to chat to his fans, is a crowd pleaser and always appears professional in his approach. Can't please 'em all!!!!