Halifaxtiger

According to Met Office and the usually reasonably accurate XC weather, light showers in the afternoon. With a bit of luck, just enough to water the track for the evening. See you all there.

For all those who took Odsal Boy's weather forecast seriously the other week , I have an update on current conditions for you. Its sunny in Halifax. Very close tonight. Koppe and Haines perform, Sheffield win. Otherwise, Plymouth do.

Done at some risk to yourself, but much appreciated. I am in touch with some lads coming up from Plymouth and will let them know.

Its not like Dale to make comments like that. He's as passionate about his speedway as anyone I have met but in contrast with some of the others he's very fair too. Mildenhall weren't impressed either, apparently. I am due to go on Saturday (weather permitting) so I'll say my piece then.

Said it before and will say it again : it is the track that makes the quality of the meeting, not the standard of rider on it. I think its more about the effort that promotions put in. I'd say Somerset is a good racing track, but Berwick isn't. Because the Berwick promotion pulled out all the stops, we saw it at its very best and there's no reason why others can't do the same. Givemn the fact that everyone has said how good it was, does that matter ? I can't disagree but the best reward you can give a track for putting on a good show is to let them have another Sky meeting. Drop those who can't be bothered and give those who can more air time. Mildenhall v Isle of Wight next time, please.

Complete rubbish which I suspect will rightly be completely ignored. They won't like it. Nor will anyone else when the track closes at the end of the season. The promotion might be damaging the club by such actions but there's no need for the supporters to help them.

Not sure if his average would fit, but Charles Wright is banging in some big scores for Buxton, James Sarjeant was pretty impressive at Sheffield the other week for Leicester and Ben Hopwood is riding well for IOW. With respect to Steve Worrall, they can't do much worse than he is at the moment.

Newman was very unlucky. He was always in with a shout only to be let down by his machinery. I might be wrong, but I think he shed 3 chains.

They should listen to to your Dad a bit more. He's been saying move Haines to no 2 since December. I am not sure the other changes were a success, but that one most definitely was.

Having been very critical of the STMP track in the past I thought this was a pretty good meeting with the racing improving heat by heat and culminating in an absolute purler in heat 15,with Summers, Doyle, ostergaard and Morris throwing everything at each other for 4laps. Best race I have seen anywhere this season.

I must admit my take on this was who the hell listens to a weather report from someone 30 miles away from the stadium ? Completely bizarre. I can well understand the promotions feelings if they were swamped by people ringing up or some didn't attend but publicly abusing a paying customer simply isn't on (and comments of the kind he made are anything but unusual). The point is the message could have been put across with the same force and meaning without naming Odsal Boy or insulting him. Own goal, I'd say.

Coming up for this one. Should be a terrific meeting - providing the track is OK.

Have to agree about the attendance. I was genuinely shocked at how few there were at the track, regardless of it being on the box. The match at Berwick was likely to be a one off and as such a novelty, and the management (to their great credit) really made the most of it. Cheap entry, posters everywhere (some as many as 25 miles away) and bulling up the fact that it was a TV match. To be fair, in the same circumstances I suspect Lakeside's promotion would have done the same and had the same reward. As it was, they couldn't.

Thing is those sort of comments are anything but unusual, and how long would it take for a member of the promotion (or a member of their staff) who is actually at the track to come on here and state what the actual position was ? Bryn Williams does it virtually every week at Lakeside. People are concerned about paying to travel to matches that might be rained off and have every reason to be. Having said that, I am amazed that so many people took notice of someone in Leeds (30 miles away) when they could look at either the Sheffield or BSPA websites. Whatever the case - and I agree the management have a right to be annoyed - that doesn't justify publicly abusing a paying customer. If we are having a 'Richard of the Week' as was suggested, I'll await a mistake by the announcer or the team management and see if they get nominated. Somehow I doubt it. One last point: As someone who studies weather forecasts intently to avoid rain offs, I'd be very wary of accepting Met Office opinions as accurate. In my experience, much better to use XC Weather or Netweather.

You're not a member of the BSPA, are you ? I ask because your view is similar to some that members of that organisation state - basically, take what you are given and be grateful for it. If the gate is down next year, I'll wait for BSI making comments like 'we are wondering if the British speedway public really want a GP in their country'. People paid a lot of money to go to that meeting (because this isn't just about the entry, its about getting there, overnight stays, meals etc) and therefore they have every right to complain if the product is poor. You might have had a great day, but I'd say that every person who is making critical comments about the track is absolutely justified in doing so.

I am usually a fan of Phil's posts and greatly appreciate his contributions to this form but he deserves every cutting word you have said. Fine post

Crappiest bike, crappiest attitude, always falling off, not scoring valid points (can someone tell me what a 'valid' point is in speedway terms, because I always thought it was a convincing argument) - I'll await crappiest van because you're running out of insults . This is what others have to say (all being taken from the pages of this forum): 'kirbys score was impresive kirby was the best of the novices another gritty showing from Adam Kirby Adam really is findng his feet Good performances from Compton,, Boxall and Kirby Adam Kirby certainly has improved Also impressed by Compton and Kirby enthusiasm of Kingston & Kirby Yes Adam Improved as the meeting went on, and had 2 very good and competitive second places adam was leading the Heathens No1 in the one race when Ash brought Adam down, In the others he was competitive, meaning a close up second Adam Kirby is a revelation so far It was a good performance by Adam Kirby' I think everyone can clearly see the difference between those opinions and yours and draw the conclusion from that that you have nothing but an axe to grind. They'll also almost certainly treat your opinions as both and nonsense and disregard them altogether. As I have said before, it would be bad enough if you were slagging off a young rider who wasn't scoring points and becoming a crowd favourite, because they need our support and encouragement. Doing so to a rider who is can only be motivated by vicious prejudice. I used to think nobody could be more biased about Adam than I am. Now I am not so sure.

Not sure who they are lucky for, mate. Just had a count up and in 18 matches this season (not counting challenges) I have seen the home team take full points on only 4 occasions and 6 have been away wins . Perhaps HalifaxJonah would be better................

Give the lad a break, moosetash. He's had a pop at Adam for not scoring points and has had to shut up. He's had a pop at him for falling off and he's had to shut up about that too. He simply has to find something else............. What next, you wonder. Who's got the crappiest van, perhaps ?

I can seriously see this signing doubling the gate at Plymouth. If he does, he'll actually be remarkably cheap. Absolutely delighted for my pals down in the south west.

What for ? In my experience, a not inaccurate description. What is certainly true is that he has done damage to the clubs reputation by publicly slagging off a fan. Why ? You are as much entitled to your opinion as anyone else and some tool having a pop at you at the track shouldn't put you off. At the end of the day, who would have paid any attention to a fan 30 or so miles away from the track ? No-one. Go through the Swindon v Birmingham thread and it is full of quotes about heavy rain and the meeting not being on, and this sort of opinion is hardly unusual. No other track sees fit to publicly abuse a supporter for making such comments. Own goal if you ask me. Pretty much spot on, Matty

It may have escaped your attention - given that you haven't been to a match for nearly ten years - but speedway rarely has second halves now. If it does, they are development league matches, and all of the young riders now competing in the NL have in the past few years taken part in them and earned NL places as a result. Its that 'foolhardy' system that allowed a young man to get a team place aged 15 and on a 3.00 average back in 2006 at Scunthorpe, and thanks to that 'foolhardy' system we now have a genuine world championship challenger because that 15 year old was Tai Woffinden. There is everything wrong with criticism of our youngsters. Whereas the more experienced ones (mostly) take it on the chin or simply don't read the internet, misplaced, inaccurate or strong criticism can destroy a young riders confidence, especially when it comes from someone who hasn't actually seen a match in 8 seasons and therefore has absolutely no idea of the effort they are putting in. As they say in football 'its all gone quiet over there'. I suggest you get your facts right first. Only in one race did Adam start with three riders. In the others he stayed on and the Dudley ones didn't, so he beat them. Moreover, he was (according to someone who was actually there) leading Ashley Morris - no mean feat for a rider who is in his first NL season and had never ridden the track before - when Morris fell. What Adam has done in past seasons is absolutely irrelevant now, and Mildenhall fans have acknowledged the improvement he has made. Its early days, but he's just about doubled his NL average, is beating riders he should be (and some - Danny Halsey - who he shouldn't ) home and away and I think its fair to say that the effort he is clearly putting in has made him very much a crowd favourite with the Kent supporters. Its clear I am very biased where Adam is concerned but this isn't just about him. Its about a so-called fan that abuses, criticises and mocks one of our young riders instead of actually encouraging, supporting and delighting in their successes, however modest they maybe. I was in the pits with young Sam Woods yesterday, trying in vain to bolster his flagging confidence. Your kind no doubt would have been slagging him off. Bluntly, speedway can do without people like that.

I have to say that the men weren't much better this weekend. I am not sure who it was at Plymouth, but in an identical situation to that involving Kirby and Terry-Daley he too excluded the wrong rider.

I can only echo the comments made by Phil K and Adzmft (we might disagree about young Mr Kirby's first bend tactics but you had a far better view than me and I am hopelessly biased). The stadium is amazing, easily the best in Britain. A few more improvements and it could hoist some very big meetings indeed. Terrific crowd (probably around the 2,000 mark), boosted by a lot of Fen Tigers and fans from all over the place - I counted at least 8 different other tracks. The meeting did drag on too long - even taking into account the falls - and that must be a bit of a concern given the curfew. The track wasn't brilliant, as it is slick to begin with and wore away easily. To be fair, the promotion were faced with the trackman's nightmare - strong wind and bright sunshine - so it would be unreasonable to expect a top quality surface. In trying to keep the dusty down by watering, we ended up with a skating rink that was difficult for the riders, and they deserve credit for putting on a show anyway. Robert Branford needs to learn how to ride the last bend. In my view, he should have been excluded when he ran into Ben Morley, and he did exactly the same thing to Stefan Nielsen at Mildenhall a couple of weeks ago. Interesting to read Adz's view of heat 14. It looked a poor decision from where I was and Adam wasn't pleased when he returned to the pits. That certainly wasn't the first shocking decision I saw this weekend (an incident involving Todd Kurtz and Alex Edberg at Plymouth was very similar, and had the same result) so perhaps its about time referee's were made accountable for their actions. Every other person in speedway is, so why not them ? I saw an awful lot of fans not happy about him riding West Row when he smashed into Stefan Nielsen against Coventry the other week.

Cracking meeting, best I have seen on my tour with some excellent racing from both sides. It proved what I have always believed: it's not the level of the league that dictates the quality of the entertainment it's the the track they are riding on. Good to see a track man put a rider in his place where track preparation is concerned.