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I second that, was a thoroughly enjoyable meeting with some good racing. An outside line and riders prepared to go there. Lee Complin was getting back to race pace tonight and was on for a further 5 points had bike issues not came into the equation. He came through the pack and was inside and outside to get through was brilliant to watch then his bike gave up the ghost on 2 occasions. For all the negative folk out there to be honest I don’t think our lads did much wrong tonight, we didn’t get the points needed from no 1 and obviously George is still trying to find his feet. Was a match of circumstances tonight had Complins bikes not gave up he would have scored 8! And if you got 12 from a number 1 (which should at least be expected from home) it would have been a different story and that’s including a number 7 who’s trying to find his way in a new league! Only small negative on my end was the reserve swaps, swapping to give Congreve the easier race still didn’t return any points therefore worked against us, had Complin been left in I think would have returned some points (bike issues aside). Some people need to give their heads a wobble, support the team, support you still have a club and only that way will we get back to what we’ve previously had! Our team and our lads didn’t do much wrong tonight and raced their guts out and even in defeat some of the best racing I’ve seen in 2 years at Brough Park tonight.

Was the track perfect? Not quite, but like it has been stated, was smooth with some dirt on it. Sadly it only seemed to produce one real racing line but it is still the best condition I have seen the Poole track in years. Oxford were very very poor. Nicholls being the only real serious threat to Poole. I think its fair to say Batch's last two Cheetahs meetings have mirrored his career perfectly, untouchable one minute, riding like a reserve the next. Great to see such a big crowd, looked around the 3k mark to my untrained eye, looked bigger than the Glasgow final did anyway. Fabulous to have the post heat 14 rendition of Sweet Caroline back as well. The addition of Karl West as DJ at Wimborne Road could be the best signing Poole have made in a few seasons, feels like theres a good atmosphere around the place all meeting long

they obviously had to operate within a strict budget but the 2nd div is far too strong for the crowds it attracts

Whereas the Diamonds are just all tail.

We should all just respect the man. Nigel, whether you liked him or not, did so much for this sport. I shall miss him.. Must be so difficult for Kelvin too..

It certainly wasn’t “embarrassing” tonight. If Harris had scored his expected 10 and Complin another 4/5 from his fall and engine problems Newcastle would have won on the night. That said, we desperately need a #1 who will at least score double figures at home (best this season is 6) and a reserve to score at least 3 at home. Right now I don’t care about away defeats. We need to win at home to keep the club going.

I know the diamonds got beat today but you can’t fault the effort by the lads, watching Pickering was value for money on its own but Max’s win over Masters and Pickering was just class, I accept we aren’t going to win many matches but I just like to see speedway at brough and the lads giving their all.

setting a points limit in excess of the total combined average of riders available. Meaning there are teams starting the season under the points limit. Not just the Diamonds. Although admittedly the Diamonds promoters have displayed a total lack of talent in this area.

No matter how good a track if one team dosent turn up or is well outclassed you wont really get good racing, similar to mid day starts on bank holiday meetings, not every meeting can be full of great racing.

Newcastle keep doing worse than I expect, which is hard when you don't rate them at all!

Decided to go the Kent v Thurrock today as I’d not been to iwade for 25 years. found my way there ok and plenty of signs of speedway which were helpful. Very friendly staff on car parking duty and on the admission gate. going into the stadium it looked no different than it did 25 years ago but the track looked immaculate and super smooth we ventured onto the back straight as the home straight was fairly full even at 11am. Unfortunately there wasn’t any music to keep us entertained and the pa was inaudible. Once the racing started we saw some decent racing but the delays between heats were so long especially with no background music. By heat 6 we went to get some food and were quickly seen and our order taken. I chose a sausage in a roll as they don’t do hot dogs !!! 25 minutes later I finally received my food but to be fair all the staff were working flat out and and were very apologetic and polite yet another delay for the air fence and then a electrical problem was enough for me. Two hours in and 8 heats completed. So back in the van we got and returned to Ipswich now I know this is a new promotion at a newly reopened league venue and you have to make allowances but honestly this is exactly why speedway is in the state it’s in

Its not spouting rubbish he wasnt then and isnt now anywhere close to being ready for CL.. he wont be ready next year either unless he has a major up turn from somewhere!! He might have talent but stop trying to destroy a rider before hes ready

Good meeting last night, good racing too with lots of passing, the Cooks are never at their best at Leicester but they were very poor last night. Fortunately for us Kemp was superb as were King and Lawson but Steve Worrall was off the pace, getting passed by his brother doesn't happen very often but in fairness Richie looked very quick. So a good night and a good point earned..

I knew a rider doing this 20 years ago,it gives them a better chance of getting a team place the following season,plus they don't lose any wages.Happy days.

I like this post match analysis when the team getting said pumping is Edinburgh.

I'd say getting the losers point at Leicester is a good result esp with 3 riders struggling. I know people like to put down the Poole team at any opportunity but more than happy with that result. Glad no one hurt in the crashes!

What shocking news ... the most important and the saddest thing if that a wife has lost her husband and 3 children have lost there dad . The pain and grief must be unbearable .

I have been going to Brough for 43 years now and for 40 of them years I used to pay my entrance money to watch the Owens, Hunter, Bargh, Pedersen( Nicki and Bjarne)Stuart Robson Larson, Bach and Lambert etc Now when I pay my entrance money I say I am going to watch Cook, Masters, Pickering, Nicholls, Charles Wright, Kerr and the Worralls etc …. Notice the common theme ? I used to go to be excited by my teams riders now I look forward to seeing the opposition teams riders

It's alright saying if we'd got 12 from Harris we didn't we got maybe what BWD would've got and if Complin hadn't retired he would've got 8 he didn't either. That's like saying if Clegg had made the gate 5 times he would've got a 15 point max... facts are he didn't. The simple fact is the team is just not good enough.

I seen Edwards at I think the u19 final at Redcar a few seasons ago and he looked a very good prospect then he's got a great style and always looks in control on the bike. I applaud Redcar for going with Jenkins and Edwards this season some of the reserves they'll face will be difficult but great for sticking with both of them.

But that’s Newcastle’s Team building problem.Anybody who looked at Congreve and then looked at his New Zealand results and the standard of riders ,or seen him on Video would see that he was not Championship standard ,yet Granty bring him half way round the World.Granty has made some poor decisions regarding Team building,that’s the bottom line for me.

I know what you're saying too, but I really can't afford to be watching this rubbish every week now. If it was actually entertaining or we stood chance of winning races and meetings, I would find the money and sacrifice other aspects of my life, but as I stand, this is the least important part of my life now (used to be the most) I am just bored of cr@p teams and excuses now... Even at the end of the English era and for decades with the powers that be... I really hate the prospect of going up to Newcastle (I travel over an hour, Redcar is so much closer for me, but I love Newcastle... Which is slowly fading) just to watch them lose each week and the boring, bland 'don't worry guys, we'll get them next time' excuses every week, is just getting old now... I have a feeling I know who you are... You stand at the very back corner at bend 4, am I correct?

Because I'm not just looking at the Newcastle Diamonds 2022 team, I am looking at the sport as a whole... It has been on the decline for over a decade now imo... And that's all down to how it is being run... Everyone knows it, but nothing happens...

We might win the 2nd leg and still be in the cup!!! Shocking display from Harris. Scores way more in the PL against better opposition. Taking the P and taking his fee. Still more than BWD was contributing. Cracking effort from Wright, Clegg and Starke but if the reserves as this bad at home what chance have the Diamonds got.

Such, such sad news. I loved his enthusiasm and knowledge of the sport and he could make a boring race interesting. Some commentators are synonymous with their sports, Murray Walker, Sid Waddell etc - we've sadly lost ours. RIP Nige and thanks for the memories, you will never be forgotten.

You are correct the Passing of Richard Moore and Nigel are uncanny given what they both did for the profiles of their respective sports and their ages RIP to both

Did danny go and hit richie in the face after coming together twice??

Yes, we had Connor, and he was a very raw rider at the time (2017 I believe?) It is now 5 years later, and yes he isn't a superstar in the making, but he is better than Jack Smith imo, who definitely couldn't ride Brough at all and maybe not quite as good as Ben Morley on most tracks, but I could see him beating Ben at Newcastle. Connor would be a decent 2.00 rider, if we needed one.

Agree about Oxford but track was bad? We’re you there? Smooth as silk thanks to Terry.

Well I was there....if Richie didn't get excluded and mountain didn't have any engine failure .....guess what? Poole wouldn't have had a point. Poole had some luck this meeting but boy they are good. League champions in my opinion.

Archie was put in the team Purley as a learning curve last season which done him well & starting at reserve for the colts in the national League this year is a good move for him & hopefully come the end of the season he's in the main body of the team & stays there & keeps improving in the right way without to much pressure put on him & I'm sure mark lemon will really look after him as he's the best person for young Archie in this part of his career

Archie Freeman!! A NL reserve who didnt score a point in the Championship last year? Thank god you dont pick the team

Newcastle should have went for an 8 pointer and honoured the contract with Archie, instead of being hijacked by signing BWD and his protege. I have highlighted that many times since all the signings were in, but I was told many times on here they were just happy still having a team. Still think that now ?

Awful news, Speedway has lost a great ambassador. RIP Scoop.

I was genuinely shocked by the news when I heard it announced on TalkSport last night while travelling back from Scunny. While obviously tragic for his family and friends, it's a pretty dark day for Speedway also. Nigel Pearson had Speedway running through his veins, fan, announcer, presenter, journalist, promoter and most notably commentator and press officer/agent, he'd pretty much done it all on "our side of the fence". He never passed up an opportunity to promote our sport... I was listening to one of his latest projects the other day, the British Speedway podcast and it was coverage of him compering the British Speedway season launch at Belle Vue and he was so positive and I was thinking to myself why are you so bloody positive all the time! But of course that was his job, he knew not everything in the sport was rosy but never really dwelt on it too much. You only have to do a scroll through Twitter to see how highly thought of he was throughout sport in general with some pretty high profile people and organisations expressing their shock and sadness, not so many from the Speedway fraternity I notice, hopefully that'll change when people get to hear this tragic news. The Darts community seem to have been hit pretty hard by it. Obviously most of us on here will remember Nigel for his Speedway commentary, while not everybody's cup of tea, I absolutely loved his commentary style and the "double act" he built with Kelvin Tatum. He was able to inject some enthusiasm and entertainment into even the dullest of races and meetings and let's face it there were a lot of them. He was the modern day "voice of Speedway" with his modern day commentary style and the natural successor to Dave Lanning. For me he'd done the most to promote and elevate our sport in the last 20 years, is irreplaceable and will be deeply missed. RIP Nige https://talksport.com/football/1087140/nigel-pearson-talksport-passes-away/ https://twitter.com/adam_ellis299/status/1301242626230890496

official announcement on BSPA site. Regardless of whether you loved or disliked him, his passion for Speedway was second to none. RIP

The price of living is too damn high at the minute to watch something you're not enjoying just to 'keep the club alive' I need to keep me and my family alive first and foremost, as does everyone else... At least make the speedway entertaining enough to sacrifice other parts of my life over the racing...

But most reserves aren't good enough to beat Bewley at Belle Vue, so just because once in a blue moon someone is, doesn't mean all the 99.9% of the other reserves need to be thrown in the deep end too, which creates drawn out races with riders of completely different abilities at different ends of the track... It's insulting to the public... The reserves should race eachother and be challenged to beat the second strings... Not expected to beat number 1s... It ain't gonna happen most the time and it's boring to watch

Probably on a Guarantee.

As if that would ever happen.... ahem. I don't think there are enough fixtures in the NDL for the Diamonds to contemplate it unless a different deal with the landlords can be brokered even then why bother with all the other fixed costs for so few meetings, And you can't increase the NDL meetings because it's mostly 2nd teams who only have limited fixture slots available. Also I don't think the public of Newcastle would support 3rd tier speedway. The first incarnation of the Gems were a decent side (Lawson, Robertson the Branney's) but hardly anyone stayed to watch even though they'd already paid. As I've posted elsewhere the 3 tier system doesn't work anymore thats clear by virtue of their only being 2 stand alone teams and no graduates from 2021 NDL in the 2022 CL. The 2nd tier obviously needs to be reduced in standard so that it is predominantly UK based riders and a career path for young British riders to develop. There was no 3rd tier in the 60's and 70's and there was no shortage of British talent becoming world stars. It's obviously a massively different environment now but all the evidence is their that 3 tiers don't work and the CL is unsustainable for most.

subsidising the PL by providing a 2nd income for PL riders. the PL promoters are probably terrified that, like the late 70's early 80's, the 2nd tier would be a more sustainable and attractive proposition by creating their own stars by providing opportunities for young British riders on their path to super stardom. All at an affordable cost.

Starts today in Poland..

Has BWD received any punishment for apparently trying to knock Roynon off at Redcar?

I don't know the track that well down there but what I meant was that at Ipswich they water it in the days leading up to a meeting so the underneath stays moist, just guessing really

Decent meeting last night, with probably a crowd bigger than that of the Birmingham meeting on the opening night. A fair few Poole fans around bends 1&2 which created a good atmosphere. The track was a little bit bumpy on the 1st and 2nd bend for the first couple of heats but after a track grade, this was sorted out. A decent amount of passing across the meeting as well, certainly more entertaining the demolition jobs in the previous home meetings. Leicester deserved the win, but Poole deserved something out of the meeting too, despite being a 4 man team last night. Howarth is starting to make those cutbacks off bend 2 and 4 his signature move, as he caught Lawson and King out in heats 3 and 9 respectively. Kemp rode brilliant last night, which was no doubt his highest score at Beaumont Park at this level. Overall, Leicester will be glad to have got the win in what was an acid test after the performance at Scunthorpe on Friday. Poole will be more than happy with a point for their efforts. Another big test with Glasgow coming to town next week.

Idiot no2

Hope BWD isn’t too sore. Wouldn’t be as sore if could score a point I bet.

Cannot understand the comments (mainly from some southern posters, l think) about how the current NDL is "devalued"..... In my eyes it's a great league, if Worky and Easty -- dare l add IoW? -- were to join the existing clubs in 2023, it would add even more sparkle. IMHO....

Martin Smolinski statement Statement on race assignment after race 3: Giving up and then in the middle of a run, in the lead, is actually unimaginable to me. And yet this exactly happened in the first league race with the Trans MF Devils, the signals in my body were unheardable and I had to give up - the pain in my hip was unbearable. My first two runs, a run victory and a phenomenal paid-win gave so much courage and drive, and even after my won start in the run three, no one saw the hustle come out. My leg gave up and as a result I follow, the only right decision, for mine and everyone's health. The severe accident 2020 has damaged my hip for a long time, 100% healthy like before it will never be again . The fact that I can still drive at the moment, I am especially grateful to a top team that has been medically looking after me since my accident. Thanks to my doctors Dr.Fakler, Dr.Hüning, Dr.Lenz, Dr.Forster. Also, I have to thank my Physioteam Pro Therapy, especially Franzi, Osteopathy Klaus Wührer in Vilshofen, Heilpraktiker Perchtold and my fitness team of Med Sport Olching and EMS body shapes Olching. I wouldn't be able to drive without you for a long time. Swear to God I have such a top team in the background. But my osteonecrosis and the associated lack of bleeding in my thigh head has been progressing especially fast since my Corona disease in February and I don't have any visible bone spurs in my hip anymore. Ever since I was not allowed to exercise for five weeks and then I wanted too much too quickly and started again too strong, I am not feeling well and I fight day by day with the problems mentioned. Nevertheless, I can only say thank you to all the people around me who put everything in to support me. At the moment, unfortunately I can't tell you what's going on! An artificial hip is getting closer and closer, but I don't want such an operation yet and I'm putting everything in order to stay in sports. I can still drive a moped, and the start works better than ever! Team interns we decided that we can only plan and work week to week depending on my health condition. Speedway driving is not just my profession, it's my vocation my life, so you can rest assured, we will fight to the end.