Halifaxtiger

Asked for that didn't I ? Two broken legs, a broken pelvis and various other minor injuries. Awful. Every best wish to the lad.

My own personal view is that public criticism rarely does any good. I doubt if there are many of us who haven't experienced either being on the end of it or seeing someone else who is - at work, playing sport or otherwise - and only exceptionally has the person concerned bounced back. Usually, they go down further. In this context, as long as there is a degree of trust in the management to do what is necessary supporters have no need to know what is going on between promoters, team managers and riders or, at worst, only general comment needs to be made. It is only when it is obvious that changes are overdue and nothing happens that more specific clarification doesn't go amiss. When I first read the title of this thread, I was surprised because public criticism of riders is hardly unheard of. I haven't read the article, but words 'harsh' 'shocked' 'very poor' are almost equally unheard of when members of this forum comment on such criticism, suggesting that this is unusually aggressive. The thing is that Nick Laurence's average has dropped less than Joe Jacobs and James Brundle's has decreased by about the same, so anyone might wonder why they aren't being criticised in the same way. At Stoke last week, while Laurence was out of his depth the only angry remarks I heard from the West Row faithful were directed at Brundle when he pulled on to the centre green while at the back. Then again, its much easier to have a go at a No 7 you can replace than a No 1 you can't, isn't it ?

Regettably, the weather forecast has put me off coming. Its a long way for a rain off

Completely agree

He's a top man, Dave, and I have had a lot of time for him ever since we first met at Mildenhall in early 2007. As to his driving.......I saw him at Dudley last season and he was telling me about a race to get to Plymouth once. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in the car with him on that occasion.

Thanks 2 and a half hours for me I have heard how Main Man drives so I knew 90 minutes would be a push.

Weather permitting, I am coming and then having a mad dash up to Coventry in the evening. Main Man tells me its only about an hour and a half between the tracks, but that's driving at his speed so its a good two and a half for the rest of us .

Point taken I think it might have been better to suggest that the score did not reflect the meeting - after all there were only 7 points in it after heat 11, and I certainly did not expect Mildenhall to collapse in the way they did, conceding 19 points in the next 4 races. Blackbird had only had one last after all and was clearly going in for Laurence, while Brundle was in two of those races and had seen off Webster pretty convincingly. I remember remarking that heat 12 would be a Mildenhall 5-1 and, although I am a notoriously poor tipster, that certainly wasn't an unreasonable guess. No worries That Sue is getting cheeky, though. She text me to find out if I'd do it and when I mentioned that I'd be at Coventry on bank holiday Monday she said she'd have me in mind for that, too Does rather damn him with faint praise, doesn't it ? I think I ran out of adjectives In truth, it was a very good performance indeed.

I'll leave the predictions to Squall in future Speedway can be a strange sport - I thought the King's Lynn-Lakeside match a few weeks ago (which had plenty of passing) was rubbish but this (which had little) was pretty entertaining. It must be that this one was close for at least half the meeting and both sides looked in with a shout (the final score definitely flattered Stoke), the other being the complete opposite. For Stoke, Atkin and Webster were dependable, Armstrong sublime and Sargeant impressive but pride of place goes to Pickard. I saw him at Plymouth last year and thought he was a decent rider but this was the best NL performance I have seen this season, his pass on Brundle in heat 15 being a matter of fierce determination and skill. PL sides looking for a 3pt rider could do a lot worse than give him a call. Baseby, Halsey and Hargreaves in particular showed plenty of fight for the Tigers but Laurence is out of his depth, Blackbird looks very good when he gates and a novice when he doesn't and Brundle was an NL No 1 in two races and disinterested in the other three. The crowd eventually seemed about the same size as PL matches and I suspect above break even figures. Good to see. Quick mention for the chap behind me who helped with heat times after my usual helpers (the frost bitten feet fen females) failed miserably, and one to my old sparring partner Proud Potter - nice touch to salute the crowd at the end, Malcolm, few more officials could do that.

Looks OK at the moment I think this will be close.

I'll be coming down for this. Anyone coming up from the Fens ?

Wally Mawdsley

There's a statement on the BSPA website about poor gates for Hornets meetings. I can't help but think that if the PL team closed down rather than the Hornets they would lose less money - many of the PL fans would watch the NL meetings and the overheads for an NL match are substantially less than a PL one.

First of all, let me say I don't have an axe to grind. I call it as I see it. To be honest, when I put the post on the updates forum about 200 I thought I had overstated it. I simply cannot believe that there were 650 there and would be interested to hear an official view on the attendance. I think the problem with Belle Vue's track is not that it is isolated to that meeting - bluntly, whenever I have been there it has been awful and the racing has reflected that.Its one reason why although I was home in 35 minutes I have been to Kirky Lane only 7 times in 8 seasons (I have been to Weymouth the same number of times)and while its all very well saying it is the same for both teams, that is hardly the point. The exceptionally talented Jason Garrity aside, no-one passed without a mistake and even Howarth and Garrity did not look like catching Hargreaves in the final race. To be fair, your last paragraph regarding atmosphere is spot on and I also accept that there is only so much the promotion can do given that it is not their stadium. As you will note, I gave the Belle Vue promotion credit for entering an NL side and do so again now and they also deserve credit for recognising that a new stadium is needed. Every success to them where that is concerned. One last comment: this forum will truly die when fans without an axe to grind cease to put objective comments on here or are savagely criticised by partisan others for doing so (although that hasn't been the case here). I can think of several of our best posters who no longer contribute for that specific reason, and this forum is all the poorer for it. I'd say you need a decent track to provide good racing - it doesn't matter what the difference is between the two teams if you haven't got that. Take it from me (I have been to 11 tracks this season and every one in Britain bar Somerset and Eastbourne in the last year) Belle Vue do not have one.

Have a look and see who was doing the updates, Kev

Nightmare meeting . Garrity aside, all passing was as a result of mistakes. The track was awful and while the weather didn't help, experience suggests that even a perfect day wouldn't have made much difference. There was absolutely no atmosphere whatsoever (the crowd was around 250 at most)and it was (certainly for the first few heats) a one sided massacre. Throw in a couple of dreadful refereeing decisions and short of a bad injury I don't think things could have been worse. The Belle Vue management deserve better for having the courage to enter an NL side but they have to do something about the track and the atmosphere. The only good thing was the chance to see a few of the boys from Mildenhall.

Jayne Moss has stated that for any Aussie to ride in the NL they have to have patriality and you can only have that if you are aged over 17. Its an opinion I have heard from at least one very credible NL source. He won't be riding for Mildenhall this season.

Leaving in 15 minutes or so.

Very much appreciated

Weather forecast looks a bit ominous for this one If anyone locally can give updates on how things are I'd appreciate that as I have promised that I will pass them on to a few pals from Suffolk who are coming up.

Having been involved with two young riders over a couple of years, it is impossible without outside assistance and families make major sacrifices for the sake of the riders career and every penny of sponsorship is valued. A new tyre costs £45. Looking down the scorecharts last night, several riders didn't earn enough to pay for that, never mind everything else. The simple fact is that not enough people watch NL speedway, particularly at the double up clubs. I have been to Scunny for the last two double headers and half the crowd walked out after the PL match - in the case of the Saints/Stars match, very much their loss because it was miles better than the preceding PL one. Given the low gates, I'd be surprised if any double up club makes money on NL racing so you really can't blame promotions for paying the base NL rate and no more. Its very easy to tell a promoter to cut entrance costs and so encourage bigger gates if it is not your money that is being risked. Exceptionally, though, I think that Rye House will be the loser given what it costs to go to an NL match at Hoddesdon. As anyone who watches a broad spectrum of speedway across all three leagues will say, you get good meetings and bad meetings at all levels and from my experience I don't think that one league has an advantage over the others. The only thing is, of course, the NL costs less.

My understanding is that he most certainly does have the patriality necessary to ride in the NL (although I suspect he will, if necessary, declare himself to be Australian) and that the hold up is something to do with his age and getting a work permit at this end rather than at the Australian one.

Fair point In trying to show that some clubs are not in the NL primarily for the development of riders I gave the impression that they are not interested in that at all. Quite clearly that isn't true. I'd say the primary aims of the double up clubs are to bring on their own assets whilst the stand alones are to run speedway at a level they can afford, but I daresay double up clubs would like to make a few quid while young riders do get opportunities at the stand alone teams. Dudley, as you have correctly pointed out, are also there with the ultimate aim of re-establishing themselves in their own set up and where that's concerned they are unique. Every success to them.

I would have thought that was rather obvious - he is apparently that good he will make a mockery of his starting average. Not only that, but he'll become a club asset and move on to Ipswich (presumably). Its not just a development league for the likes of Mildenhall (although the tie up with Ipswich is pretty clear), its their bread and butter. Unlike others, they only have a limited interest in developing riders (some, such as Dudley, have even less) and consequently a major part of their ethos is winning meetings to get the crowds in. My own view is that banning all foreigners from the NL was a mistake, because while 1 per team would have had little impact on development, it would have added considerably to the colour and attraction of the league and I would point to the likes of Poole, North and Dyer as evidence.

You have to be joking, Mike. I have lost count of how many times I have been to Rye House and I have never seen any dirt on the track. That price isn't the slightest bit amusing and might be one reason why gates at Hoddesdon are poor. I'll be down for this one on my first visit south of Watford Gap (I think King's Lynn might be north of that) this season.