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Unfortunately Adam was on borrowed engine last night which was thought to be just right for the Kent track ( which he hasn’t raced at for years). Even with changes in jetting, ignition and gearing it was just getting slower and slower as the night went on. To see the team in the pits was an eye opener, everyone diving in to help everyone else when problems arose. Believe me, he was pi$$ed off with not winning the meeting, he rode his nuts off.

So one rider rides better than you expect and therefore everything is hunky dorie ? The club would not have done the extensive track work if it was only Redcar complaining. The ref also agreed to the track work being done. The biggest complainers were the amateurish Birmingham promoters who have proved their ineptitude once again. If you can’t prepare a half decent , safe, race track , because of “ lack of time “, then don’t try and promote speedway !

I thought the rule was intended to assist away teams keep it a closer contest. It clearly suits Kent and indeed any side with a very strong 1&5. I can see many teams being built that way next year (if the rules remain) as teams can allow an visiting team to build a lead, claw it back with a tactical then dominate in the final few heats. Great for drama but is it sending away teams off without points they perhaps deserve / earned if it wasn't for the tactical switches?

Riding his 1st season at 2nd tier and seeing a lot of tracks for the first time and only 17 years old? What's Pijper and Aarnios's etc excuse they've been round years

Deano you clearly don't know what you're talking about so it's easier for you to just stop talking. The track work had no influence from Redcar other than us wanting a safe track to ride. The only way to make it safe was to make it slick and dusty. The main problem with Birmingham, and it was the same in our first visit, is the inconsistent surface. It is soft in places and like concrete elsewhere. This not only creates ruts but also throws riders around as the bike grips/spins with the changing surface. Harris even admitted it was "fair enough" that Redcar complained. He also struggled with his practice laps to okay the surface, being thrown about on bends 1 & 2 particularly. Redcar have nothing to be sorry for if Birmingham don't come to the tapes next season. It's purely down to an inadequate promotion who have consistently blamed everything/everyone but themselves.

Seemed okay from the terraces, normal close fast racing. after ... dusty and drawn out. loads walked out after heat four. Thanks Redcar. Be proud.

I think Redcar just killed any chance of Birmingham running next season. Thanks be proud.

What would these riders have made of the Wheels, 1986 vintage?

Hang on, isn't the idea of a much lesser rider, keeping better riders behind them a good spectacle? Maybe that's just me and my routing for the underdog but I'd much rather watch close racing whereby anyone of the 4 that lines up at the tapes can win rather than knowing who will win each time the tapes fly up. It also means that no matter who visits Plymouth, they've got a chance of winning and I'd choose that every time over knowing the home team will win easy each week. But then my priority when watching speedway is to see close racing and entertainment 1st, my team winning 2nd. I've been to Poole a fair few times and would say the racing has varied but there is no way I'd say it produces far better racing than Plymouth (or any other track for that matter). Poole will probably batter Plymouth tonight and I bet the racing will be nowhere near as close as it was in the reverse fixture.

Agree if you pay the money to watch you are entitled to offer critique but Shovlar wasn't even in attendance of the meeting we are discussing, let's be honest all tracks have different issues at different times dust,holes appearing, blue groove, too wet etc but just to offer up a totally mis informed view or opinion based on if its not at Poole its not good enough!surely if the attendance has been increasing week on week the product must be good and riders of the caliber of pedersen,King,Cook,Harris, riss enjoy riding at Plymouth it must be ok! If as fans we put a more positive spin on things instead of slagging off other clubs,facilities track etc it would benefit everyone in increasing the chances of attracting new fans or old fans back.

By jumping every start, I assume you mean trapping - because Broc Nicol wasn't rolling (with the exception of Heat 3). It's not an offence to make good starts. As for the final race, yes he did move, but that was triggered by Batchelor moving inside him first. Batchelor didn't get a warning. Mind you, this came from a ref who also penalised Gilkes in Heat 11 for touching the tapes, when I'm not sure if he did, to be honest! Disappointing way for the evening to end from a Scunthorpe perspective and a shame because it was a great night of speedway until then. Would have been interesting to see if Nicol could have got the better of Batchelor and Nicholls in Heat 15, but thanks to the ref, we never got to find out!

To be fair he rode well at Redcar when replacing Bickley

I am proud to be a Redcar supporter. A well run, well promoted, good team on a fair, well prepared racetrack. A model for most other teams in the league. Can understand you’re upset at tonight’s events but the blame, if the Brummies don’t run next year, doesn’t lie with Redcar. The Bears have been well beaten a number of times away this year and not complained about track issues. The issues with track prep at Birmingham have been well documented.

I think lack of track preparation ( again !) killed any chance of Birmingham running next season.

Last week I was there and the track was very poor. We lost Stefan Neilsen in heat 2 and I spoke to Danyon Hume who rode at Brum and he said it was nothing like how it was when he was there. Set up for gate, go wide and stay wide. No chance if you don’t gate. Having said that, it was gate and go at Poole tonight.

“Main Man” Rogers overseeing another track related fiasco! Don’t recall track issues week in week out under Graham Drury’s stewardship!

Ah so it’s the visiting teams that are the problem, not the track prep?

Never known so many "issues" with tracks as this season. No wonder sports on its arse

Speedway and football are hardly comparable! I have always thought if you are at home then you shouldn't be able to use a TS. It's your home track (you ride it every week), if you struggle on it then hard luck. However if you wish to compare it to football, it would be like Southampton winning at Old Trafford 3-0 (hard to imagine I know!) and then Man Utd are allowed a penalty for being 3 goals down. Yes, absolutely ridiculous isn't it!

He's done quite a few laps around Lynn as a youngster.He is a local lad and sometimes he comes to watch.Think his Dad still does frequently.

2 Semi`s are both on BT Sport 2 programme starts 4.30pm both days Fri/Sat 17th/18th September

Get rid altogether then.

Absolutely not, if you are six or more behind at home then tough breast.

Only issue that arises for me again is should a home side be able to use a Tactical Sub?

I just want to clarify that it is not my intention to sound like I am complaining, just simply speaking my mind. I love this club and admire the work that goes on behind the scenes by Rob and his management team. I appreciate the fact we are lucky in the fact that we almost always get quality racing at home and I will never take that for granted. The fact I do actually have a team to support is not lost on me. The frustration comes from the close calls, the ifs, the buts, the maybes. I don't think it is fair to compare one club with another in terms of fan satisfaction. Kent are still relatively new to the league and had a difficult start to the season but are now coming good. Scunthorpe are an established side in this league who have been in the play-off places from pretty much the start of the season and still are as it stands, yet are now in a position when they may lose out on that 6th spot. Make no mistake about it I will support the team whatever, however it is still a results business and the fans want results.

This column is full of complaints about the Scorpions team and the manager. In fact, the only reason that there was a last heat decider was that the guest for the night, Broc Nicol, scored an outstanding number of points, some think with dubious starting technique that caught him out in the last race. The Scorpions have actually done very well this year on the whole and you would have thought that their fans would appreciate that. I feel sorry for Rob Godfrey.. Kent are not in the Play-Offs, but I do not hear big moans from those alongside me in the grandstand. Quite the opposite.

MONSTER ENERGY SON SEMI-FINAL SQUADS (in draw order): SEMI-FINAL 1 – FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 TEAM A – USA 1. Broc Nicol 2. Luke Becker 3. Dillon Ruml U21 1. Blake Borello U21 2. Anthony Dion Team Manager: Steve Evans TEAM B – POLAND 1. Maciej Janowski 2. Dominik Kubera 3. Bartosz Zmarzlik U21 1. Wiktor Lampart U21 2. Jakub Miskowiak Team Manager: Rafal Dobrucki TEAM C – CZECH REPUBLIC 1. Vaclav Milik 2. Josef Franc 3. Daniel Klima U21 1. Jan Kvech U21 2. Petr Chlupac Team Manager: Filip Sitera TEAM D – DENMARK 1. Leon Madsen 2. Mikkel Michelsen 3. Anders Thomsen U21 1. Mads Hansen U21 2. Jonas Seifert-Salk Team Manager: Hans Nielsen TEAM E – SLOVENIA 1. Matic Ivacic 2. Nick Skorja U21 1. Anze Grmek Team Manager: Gregor Arnsek TEAM F – SWEDEN 1. Fredrik Lindgren 2. Pontus Aspgren 3. Jacob Thorssell U21 1. Philip Hellstrom-Bangs U21 2. Alexander Woentin Team Manager: Morgan Andersson TEAM G – FINLAND 1. Timo Lahti 2. Tero Aarnio 3. Jesse Mustonen U21 1. Timi Salonen U21 2. Roni Niemela Team Manager: Jyri Palomaki SEMI-FINAL 2 – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 TEAM A – ITALY 1. Nicolas Covatti 2. Paco Castagna 3. Nicolas Vincentin U21 1. Michele Menani Team Manager: Alessandro Dalla Valle TEAM B – AUSTRALIA 1. Jason Doyle 2. Max Fricke 3. Jack Holder U21 1. Keynan Rew U21 2. Matthew Gilmore Team Manager: Mark Lemon TEAM C – UKRAINE 1. Aleksandr Loktaev 2. Vitalii Lisak 3. Stanislav Melnychuk U21 1. Marko Levishyn U21 2. Andryi Rozaliuk Team Manager: Sergey Lyatosinskyy TEAM D – MFR 1. Sergei Logachev 2. Vladimir Borodulin U21 1. Mark Karion Team Manager: Tatiana Savina TEAM E – LATVIA 1. Andzejs Lebedevs 2. Jevgenijs Kostigovs 3. Olegs Mihailovs U21 1. Francis Gusts U21 2. Daniils Kolodinskis Team Manager: Vladimir Ribnikovs TEAM F – GERMANY 1. Kai Huckenbeck 2. Martin Smolinski U21 1. Nick Blodorn Team Manager: Herbert Rudolph TEAM G – FRANCE 1. David Bellego 2. Dimitri Berge U21 1. Steven Goret Team Manager: Laurent Sambarrey

Hoping to come up from Plymouth for this , it's currently chucking it down here. Can you please keep us updated about the weather.

He might have been referring to Pearson's brain!

Hit the nail on the head there with all three of your points in my opinion. Would love to see Douglas back at Scunthorpe, need out and out point scorers, not just home track "specialists". There's been countless times when I have questioned some of Dave Peet's decision making and last night proved questionable yet again. I don't know the guy so I want to be careful not to speak out of line, however listening to him after meetings in the bar, or reading some of his interviews, I don't feel inspired in the slightest. Seems content with "the lads gave it there all" or "we put in a great effort" rather than demanding results which is what the Scunny fans want and deserve. On the surface there doesn't seem to be any genuine hunger or desire to get results, and whether consciously or not this surely has an effect on the team. It certainly does on the fans in my opinion. When you listen to Stewart Dickson, Cammy Brown, Neil Middleditch etc. there is no comparison at all. I was so frustrated last night following the updates and just feel we completely missed an opportunity. Thankfully we got a good guest for a change, as usually we never have any luck with guests. But to me there doesn't seem to be a fire there that you see in other title contending teams. Another thing which I find particularly frustrating, and understand it cannot be helped but when riders are not available due to other commitments such as long track meetings, or meetings abroad. Just seems as if we are a low priority in comparison. Hopefully Rob will build a strong side for next season and we can give it a good go both home and away. Even if we do make the play-offs, there will be 5 other teams that over the course of 2 legs, will be too strong for us anyway, although I will always try and remain optimistic. I am just simply expressing my frustration, and despite how it might sound I do not intend on "slagging" anyone off.

Bearing in mind they have won all four matches I would have thought Wolves will pick Belle Vue given the choice, it’s the nearest track to them and Belle Vue have a fairly healthy travelling fan base which means if they make the final two very healthy attendances to finish the season.

A few things that are a must for Scunthorpe in 2022 A) Sign riders that can actually ride away tracks none of this Pijper, Aarnio rubbish. Make Ryan Douglas an offer he can't refuse I believe he's still a Scunthorpe asset. Build the team with Douglas, Jorgensen and Palin then go from there C) Change team manager. Not had a decent one since Richard Hollingsworth. Peet was hopeless at Hull as a TM, He was hopeless at Berwick and 3rd time lucky at Scunthorpe really hasn't worked. I know Godfrey likes to do things on the cheap but it's 10 years since the league title at Scunny next season and even though there's people that don't see eye to eye with me and probably never will most Scunthorpe fans are loyal and deserve a team that's going to battle for a league title something they haven't had since 2012.

Wow I'm surprised your considered response came back so quick this time... only 17 hours!!!.... take some iced green tea or a pint of cranberry juice for the boiling sensation in the bladder.... Whats the obsession with quoting professional all the time what's the point you are trying to make... and what type of licences are you banging on about a racing and track licence or an alcohol licence because neither are any stumbling block... you are just a little troll having a pop all the time... move over Nick Negative here's @Wee Eck... you can't stand it when your whole outlook or your "opinion" is blown out of the water... it's okay having an opinion based on facts but if you are just going to make pony up you need to be re-thinking your approach... facts always trump opinions every time... especially made up ones... Here's another fact to dispel your opinion how local do you think Rob Grant is? His family home where he grew up is 9 mile away from Brough Park and he has lived and was schooled in a suburb of Newcastle all his life... and raced for his local club... So how much more local do you want? A caravan in Brough Park car park? And between him and Dave Tattum they know how to run a speedway business you condescending tool... The current venue runs on one year leases by ARC racing and it will take a very specialised promoter who will be able to make that pay especially on crowds of 3/400... oh so I don't know let's say an ex-Speedway rider who can maximise profits through maybe something like erm... let's think... running his own food venue at the spot and generating supplementary revenue streams... something the owners of Brough have always blocked in the past by the way... now who fits that bill... no prizes for guessing who best fits the bill that's for sure.... too easy... or... or... here's an idea if we could only encourage a rich pair of brothers who have unlimited funds and a fantastic business who could underwrite all the losses under the cover of supporting the local community with a Corporate Social Responsibility wrapper... any guesses or an opinion on who I could be referring to there then eck? Now don't think too hard cos you might pop a blood vessel and I wouldn't want that on my conscience as once again you are wrong...yep you're wrong again... yes... that's right... wrong... as of course I'm thinking of the Ruben Brothers.... Yep if they can afford to buy a football team and half the town centre for entertainment venues they will have cash to spare... so who did you think I meant eck... let's have your opinion please... The 2021 Diamonds were built from the 2019 Diamonds that Rob Grant inherited from a fantastic professional promotion who had a £20/£25k start each season in the bank because they neglected to pay their VAT commitment... but that will be okay to you because they were Professional like eh? Oh and the other thing you need to support your wrong opinion is a good memory... or at least to have an opinion that holds water... now all Newcastle fans know the situation with regard to the team because it has been run through many times to explain the selections/changes... however if Glasgow hadn't threatened to sue every one back in 19/20 wanting to retain their original team and not lower the team build points average (and supported by Eastbourne) and have teams re-declare the Newcastle team would have looked much different... but those Professional promotions who took a selfish approach to look after themselves and built to what they perceived as strong as a team as possible stopped any realignment of teams to share out what assets there were availanle to the detriment of another club will in your opinion be okay... and we all know where Eastie have ended up in that little exercise... also if the Rising Star process hadn't been implemented Newcastle would have had a much stronger bottom end even without the redeclaration exercise taking place... but a rider who they had been promised would be a 3 star rider ended up a 4 star and had to be dropped from the team but never mind our Professional promotion just rode with the blows and got on with it... and Newcastle were further weakened... However the Promotion never built the team "down to a price" as you so eloquently put... and here is my opinion we have a Professional promotion who have done their utmost to keep the sport alive at Brough Park and many factors have worked against them from many corners but Rob has still kept his sence of humour in the face of adversity and if he does walk he can hold his head high because hes done things right and propper and gave the thing 100% of his time and effort... So get ya thinking cap on eck and al wait another 17 hours or so for you to concoct your opinionated drivell and have a snide pop at something that is on the brink of being lost forever... but hey ho one less team for your lot the screw over eh... it's great giving an opinion when you know Jack about the facts... must be great living in a little dream world... Regards THJ

Guilty as charged! I have kept in contact with Barry and Martin since I met them at one of Neil Vatcher’s junior training sessions in February 2017 (I think) but last Thursday was my first chance to attend an event. Although this was the first meeting after the kids had gone back to school and many of the holidaymakers had gone home, the crowd was better than was often the case when the Islanders were in the PL. In my view, the reason is simple: this was a value for money evening’s entertainment and I would commend it to anyone who can go. It’s a shame that there is a restriction on which riders can race there - I know many more would if they didn’t think it might jeopardise their chances of having a speedway team place, but maybe something can be sorted for next year. After all, if the likes of Chris Harris or James Shanes can race grass track here and in Europe without needing the consent of their British speedway teams, I’d like to think they could race at the IOW without fear of being banned. Just my view, though.

Such a comment never fails to mystify me. Dead rubber? It’s a speedway meeting - Monday night is speedway night. There’s a meeting on, two good teams, some class riders, a great track (so most people seem to say). So why the hell does it matter. There’s no lack of effort from the riders, they’ll give it their all, put a show on for you. I just don’t understand…. turn up and enjoy the racing - at least you’ve got a team and a track. I haven’t. Never missed a Saturday night at Brandon - or Fridays or Thursdays as it became - because it was speedway night.

Do riders normally insure their bikes or at the very least their tools? Seems a sensible option to me.

The Birmingdump promotion have done it to themselves this season. Shambolic!

NEVER!!!!!!

If the referee thought the track was safe then they would have been told just to get on with it without the extensive track work surely?

How many people spotted nigel forget to introduce our team on the start line

He rode better than well, I thought he was tremendous. Three critical points taken off opponents including a pass of experienced top five rider (Sarjeant) - an impressive haul for a 'NDL makeweight'

From what I've heard SWC might make a return.

And doing the Business for SHEFFIELD TIGERS this season.

I would say it was slightly higher than a team match,nut the numbers have been increasing steadily to be fair.

It might have something to do with Premiership racenights being Monday and Thursday as doubling up riders ride Championship matches on all the other nights.

Ruff no one in their right mind would keep this alive or move it unless they were flush and had money to throw at a folly... the returns are none existent... if it was a grand a hundred grand or a million quid... how do you make your money back... It would take someone with very deep pockets and a mountain of time on their hands to run and operate Speedway in Newcastle that is why someone like Rob was the ideal promoter at any venue let alone Brough.... so as much as anywhere can be developed at a cost the question has to be who would where could you and why would they.... Gypsies Green at Shields has been mentioned and I had a chat about it today and a local Multi Millionaire tried to buy it to put the local football team in and he was going to invest millions in the place and was knocked back... but let's say the council has a rush of blood and hands over a ready made stadium and all you need to do is drop in a track and say additional floodlighting and a few other bits and pieces for a "Professional" track and set up as our friend likes to say... then yes 100k is a realistic figure... 12 to 18 acres of flat scrub land from a flat start you could do a lot of damage with 100k... but how do you get a return or are you not bothered and prepared to write off that initial outlay in the first instance... needs one passionate fan to do that... I would love for someone to come in and take it on but in the current environment we find ourselves in and under the current set up there is just too much going against it to be viable.... even if you could guarentee to break even would be a start... if the place was getting double the numbers through the door they are now then it would be worth saving... but unless Rob can be talked back round there isn't a wall with people sitting on it queing up to buy the spot... unfortunately... Regards THJ

Just watching back last nights, heat 13 when Holder touched tapes, Ellis was clearly moving first (again) and was already on warning so should have been excluded too.

Didn't realise spud was retiring, was just thinking he might have been worth a punt next season on a sub 7 average. Pretty apt last meeting against Glasgow, served us well as skipper. Can't help thinking could've achieved a bit more on better machinery but been good servant to the northern speedway scene. Best of luck in future endeavours

Plenty riders have the top notch machinery,but you have to have the skills to match.

That was exactly my thinking.