GeneralMelchett

It’s worth noting that nearly all pre-emptive call offs turn out to have been correct! sorry should qualify that to weather related!

It’s pi55ing down about 1.5 miles from the stadium where I am

This is going to be off i reckon More heavy showers and we’ve had them on and off all afternoon

As an Arena fan I always found the close matches much more exciting and to be fair we had a lot of those - the 1992 season was great we won the lot in Div 2 but some of the meetings were fairly routine and dull winning by 30 points or more.

The very first meeting i ever attended (incidentally was at Arena-Essex where Marko and I both used to attend as fans in fact we met a few times) it was a 39-38 win last hear decider. As a 12 year old it kept my interest as the scoreline was close and the result of the meeting was in doubt. When I decided to by the DVD of the meeting many years later (purely for nostalgia) it came across quite badly on video - not much passing mistakes usually leading to passing rather than great racing. I still maintain that speedway doesn't usually come over that well on TV as often the production is so poorly done. At least helmet cam seems to have been binned this season. There is that balance between rip roaring racing where there is passing or close racing in each race - however as we have seen at the NSS that can sometimes lead to a hefty home win if it's the home riders doing all the passing. As a neutral watching on TV I don't find that all so entertaining but it sure will keep the home fans happy. Last night I quite enjoyed the match as there were / was passing manouvres in a fair few races (usually involving Dan Bewley) and the scoreline being close throughout kept my interest in the meeting. Each to their own as they say but i rather watch the Monday match from Birmingham over say BV thrashing Oxford at the NSS 65-25 every time even if Brady and Bewley was passing all and sundry each race. You have to remember / assume that the die hards are already at the match so its the others / nuetrals watching on TV you have to convert and how you do that is well anyones guess as we all seek different things from sports. I was of a similar view on the Champions League final at 3-0 to PSG it was evident despite their great football the match was over as a contest and I switched off.

To be fair I enjoyed it on Tv also - sadly it did look sparsely attended. There was some passing and the scoreline was always close so it kept the interest going.

yes, great to see and he hass added to both his averages at Ipswich and Redcar this year - as well as the injury perhaps the pressure of not being a third h/l at Ipswich has helped too.

Bewley didn't 'have to go' you should react to the tapes and not the opposition moving!

what Tobi did is irrelvant in my view as for being 'suckered in' I can't see that myself - Both just went and Tobi clawed it back - Bewley didn't - it was also the correct call to call it back no matter how late on the first lap it was.

I was told a fair few seasons back how much the riders at Sheffield were supposed to paying each month for tuning! It was surprising to say the least! It was pre top division days as well!

Yes leaving Sheffield and joining a bottom of the table outfit can't be easy but he deserved his success tonight he scored some good valuable points as well - definitely key in the win!

Edwards really good tonight pleased for him also

Fair play Brummies - entertaining and a home win - Zagar not before time showing what he is capable off!

Am thinking a narrow win either way - probably just in KL favour so 46-47 to 44-43

Expecting an away win but I seem to recall Birmingham getting a win against Belle Vue last season was it against the odds so maybe not a total forgone conclusion.

A little suprised - well done Birmingham!

Seeing as I was there I can confirm most witches we’re trying the inside line for sure!

It was dry, there was the usual grading breaks - there was some overtaking - early on but yes if you were competant and got out in front you should have stayed there.

The reality is the Witches should have still won this the fact they didn't is largely down to a bad night for TomB and also the fact that Emil still isn't riding to the level expected, if he doesn't gate he doesn't seem to gave the speed to get past. He ran a 0 in heat 13 off gate 4, which perhaps can happen, but he struggled in both heats 1 and heat 7 but he did eventually pass Howarth. The Witches scored 5+1 from the R/R and I am convinced Dan T would have in all probability got more than 2+1. Although Danyon tried hard. It was a classic sign of something wrong in heat 14 the Witches emerged from bend 1 on a 5-1 - Kemp fell and remounted - but Howarth managed to pass both Brennan and then Hume who was leading on the 3rd lap (was it/) which to me sealed the Witches fate. The fact is that shouldn't have happened. Leicester were compact and if you are a home rider they provided far too many heat winners 8 in total every rider but Joe T scored at least a win for them oddly every rider but Danyon got a least a win for the Witches. Becker always does pretty well at Foxhall but tonight he was very good. I thought King rode pretty well - but was well adrift in heat 15, had Tom been on form he would have probably ridden heat 15 instead.

I always felt he has under achieved in his career thus far - despite the obvious bit of leicester winning being a bit of a blow for the Witches - its good to see both him and Rowe having good seasons.

What you can’t legislate for is Kemp having a stormer 😜

His M/R is doing a decent job with the reserves

Dunno but I can see Leicester maybe winning this!

Not well apparently