GeneralMelchett

As a youngster and an Arena-Essex fan we would regularly get to 'ackney for friday at 8. I did enjoy trips there. I have some great memories but we were also there the night Paul Muchene had his crash from which he never recovered and I have never forgotten that! He'd been a promising junior at Arena left to go and ride with a certain Mr Nielsen at Oxford and he had just signed for Hackney when the tragedy happened - bless both him and and his dad who used to always be there, its been so long now and I often reflect on it. However, always try and finish on a high - yes the magnificent 7, the man selling the star - Andy Galvin invincible. I recall a patched up Arena getting runners up in the NL fours in 87, the NL pairs meetings they were always good! Huge rivallry with the fans as well but nearly always good natured - although one did call Arena a mickey mouse track much to my annoyance. Think he was miffed we'd just won i think! A certain Ipswich promoters debut season and seeing Mark Loram as a raw 16 year old novice and thinking wow he's good! For some reason I always had a sniffle / sore throat the day after going to Waterdon Road - my old man always reckoned it was due to all the factories and industry stuff in the area. Would give anything to have both Hackney and Arena back!

Yes - largely agree here - I recall Douglas trying to pass trying to pass Rew in heat 10 and he fell after making up a decent bit of ground , Nicholls made some very good first / second bend moves - in fact in heat 15 he was trying to same but just didnt quite have the speed to get past Lawson.

Its always interesting what people pick up on - (for me the Witches secured a victory on the night with a patched up team after their star man conceeds a 1-5 in the opening heat - id say that was cause for optimism) but some have to focus on a guest rider who is a bit marmite i grant you - like you say his gating in his first 3 rides was abysmal and once at the back there was zero chance of overtaking - in his final 2 rides he gated and as a result he scored which is much like everyone else last night, and of course beat the visiting skipper.

This is true but he was their best rider last night - people who weren't present and havent seen any race highlights need to understand that last night after bend 2 there was vrtually no passing - that heat i recall Lawson was off gate 4 the same gate many others failed to get away from including Emil in heat 1! Once behind there was virtually no chance of getting past.

Great - he really celebrated and i felt it was his first Witches win and on the night he featured in the programme about being a former Witches mascot too!

Lawson definitely your best rider tho - he usually does well at Foxhall ex Witch and all that!

When Leicester opened with a 5-1 I thought Witches might be in trouble but it was a gaters track tonight if you got out of the gate you generally scored - there was a bit of passing but not a lot! Nicholls certainly rolled back the years with a vintage display - good to see Jordan J get his first race win for the Witches (did I imagine that) he seemed well pleased with his heat 8 win anyway. Also the meeting ran very quickly all done by just after 9!

I will travel up in hope - suggests light rain for the next hr - lucky for me it’s only about 25 mins up the A12!! of course if it does start and there is the treat of rain let’s adopt the Frank Ebdon approach and get on with it!

Which would be very annoying as that would be three in a row postponed for me!

It’s been cloudy and overcast most of today although the sun trying to get through suggestion there could be some rain about 5-6 tonight but not significant according to the forecast - it’s actually the brightest and best it’s been all day which is probably the kiss of death for the meeting tonight! I am about 15 or so miles south of Foxhall

ah got ya - too many cooks and all that! Zach Cook recall him having a blinder for Wolves last year too!

lets see i remember in 2021 Cook scoring 14 and 15 when riding for Ipswich so dont write him off just yet! Be interesting to see how Batch does on his day he could be very good and he seems to be enjoying life up at Workington so far

Only been to Scunny once but from memory its a cracking racetrack!

My last 2 intended visits to Foxhall were rained off so hoping for 3rd time lucky - could be tricky with injuries and leicester probably feeling a bit chipper after dispatching Oxford quite easily last night - can the Witches do enough to hold on for the overall win? Adam will be a miss for sure as he scores well at Foxhall - lets hope for no more injuries through on aggregate - however given the Witches won the cup last year surely focus on the league in 2024 (get the excuses in early)

Largely agree with the comnments about the quality of the racing / lack of passing last night, the other factor is that as Leicester were clearly dominating in the meeting we didnt even have a close scoreline to keep the interest going. The drone shots showing the overview of the track suggest to me the inner training track is a better shape for racing it seemed more bowl like as opposed to the main circuit wich seems ton have narrower bends and longer straights.

Oddly was thinking the same last night - They could certainly have a bearing on the final spot yes by beating teams above them, could they sneak into the playoffs? - they might have JUST made changes in time!

Well not the greatest meeting - Oxford poor in my opinion and gave away a couple of points at times not that the overall result would have been different! Leicester seem to blow a bit hot and cold but very strong tonight everyone doing what was required.

Pleased to see the Brummies get another win as overall the lower teams need wins to keep the season alive / interesting. I suspect a full strength Witches or at least one with Jason in would have probably claimed the win - so let’s hope he (and Adam / Danny) is / are back soon

Glad I didn’t go now - I want my first NSS match to be a full 15 heats with no hints of a m Rain or call offs etc let’s just be glad this wasn’t the showcase match on TV tonight !!

Anyhow moving on am watching this via updates and can see the Tigers nicking this unless Bewley gets going!

It’s a risk for sure - let’s hope it goes well and doesn’t lose a shed load

Lemon said in the star that the SoN is costing 1/2 million to put on!

He also rode for Birmingham last year so let’s hope he will have a good meeting - if the right batch turns up then he will be ok! might be a good thing that the pick n mix witches are there before Freddie arrives!

Was thinking of coming across for this but the forecast has put me off! Shame as I have yet to see a meeting at the NSS - maybe SWC or whatever it’s called nowadays!

He needs consistency which will come - he rode really well at Owlerton the other week at KL he was up against much stronger reserves! A riders career rise (or decline) is never linear there will be great weeks and not so great weeks. Witches weaker - Birmingham won't get a better chance Klint (for Danny) can be really good on his day but Witches will miss JD for sure.