GeneralMelchett

Becker and Douglas were both very good, however Worrall had reeled off 3 wins (beating Holder and Musielak) so I can understand his inclusion, Morris had had a 'flier" in heat 13 (against Holder and Ellis) but won it maybe they felt he could go again and do the same.

Seeing as I was there an you were not - I will confirm that he pulled up in his opening 2 - not what you want from your no 1 but he was dicing for 2nd / 3rd in heat 1. Masters went from 3rd to 2nd to 1st then back to 2nd in heat 11 against Adam Ellis who was unbeaten at that time. Once he sorted his bike out he was competitive - however you don't want R and R from your no 1 in his first two rides away from home.

To be fair any kind of contribution form Masters and they could have won! he pulled up on the back straight in heat 1 when dicing for 2nd/third, and pulled up in his second ride. There is something about Owlerton and visiting no 1 riders right now as Fricke struggled in his first two last time also. Good meeting close scoreline and some decent racing and passing - the track was graded early after heat 7 and it was noticeable that after that the passing was more frequent. Last heat decider and a home win will keep the Sheffield fans happy just! - whilst Wolves will rue to 'one that got away' maybe.

Pretty fair summary that - my first meeting at Owlerton for a few years now - Fricke was the same at Ipswich the other week ran two lasts in his first two rides then improved. Tigers looked good no real weak links - they also from what I could see where prepared to take a risk or two at the first bend and either ride it wide or go for a blocking move, it seemed to me on more than one occasion Fricke had the chance to go outside at the first bend someone part blocked him and he seeemd to not follow it through. I hoped for a bit more passing too, by my reckoning only about 3-4 genuine after the first bend passes - still it was good to be back and the crowd seemed well up on my last visit which was Tigers V Newcastle in 2015 (I think)!

Ditto for Compton in some respects. When I used to go to Sheffield more regularly he was the master of Owlerton and unbeatable, last night he got four but in two of his races was way off the pace. Lanham rode quite well and got 8 or 9 I think, I think he will be ok at home, certainly in the old days for Arena he always rode quite well at Owlerton, in fact one classic inside pass of Sean Wilson springs to mind from about 2001 or 2. I haven't been to Sheffield for about 2 seasons, even then I only went once in that season. I genuinely surprised how small the crowd was, I presume maybe 2nd leg symdrome and it being KO cup might have affected the crowd?

No One! Steads bottom lip came out after being beaten by Bellego in what was a great race. Little bit of words and some shoving after the race but all sorted out. Steady then managed to be the only rider to beat bellego in heat 15 and they seeme dcordial afterwards. This was my first visit to speedway for two years and I really enjoyed the meeting, however the crowd and atmosphere was lacking last night. Berwick have a couple of cracking riders in Bellego and Jorgensen, his blast round the boards was awesome and deserved more reward than a puncture on the next lap ending his race! With racing like that I think I might start going again a bit more often.

Hackney for sure and also Cradley. two venues that I loved going to.

Missed the first GP, enjoyed the one at the weekend, the racing was awesome and pleased its on Eurosport, too many adverts on the sky version sometimes but overall I can't say I noticed too much difference, same commentators, Steve Brandon interviews at trackside still and the graphics all the same so as previously said it's just a feed being broadcast.

Not a tot of mumsies Shredded Sporan then? I'm disappointed Sir!

Careful, you can't make positive comments about the SKY presentation team! Personally I have immensely enjoyed the entire SWC series, I haven't watched much speedway this year but the racing and all round presentation has IMHO been excellent.

It's only the same treatment we (as in England) fans dish out to footballers. I can remember Beckham post World Cup 98 it was embarrassing the treatment he got. I remember Man U coming to Hillsborough Wed won 3-1 and Beckham got booed abused and spat at all day long, particularly when he came to take the corners at the Kop end. Of course a couple of years later when he scored that goal against Greece he was once more lauded as a here everyone conveniently forgetting they'd hated him for the last 2-3 years

I can remember the SWC qualifier at Owlerton in 2002. Team GB were ahead of the Aussies, they used a joker and subsequently won the meeting to get qualification straight through to the SWC final. Team GB then got eliminated in the race off. had the joker and the rain not curtailed the meeting at heat 20 team GB might have gone straight through to the final and the Aussies would not been World Team Champions that year. No sympathy whatsoever - swings and roundabouts spring to mind. If the rules are consistently left alone you will benefit sometimes and lose out on other occasions. To be fair to the Aussies they don't seem to have made a big deal out of it anyway.

Yes it was that good I'm going to watch the re-run at 11.30pm!

In all I'm quite impressed given our opposition. Also the racing is of a good standard with several good races so whilst everyone else gets involved the the blind alleys of commentry, whom should be riding and what moniker we should adopt for the home nation etc I'm happy to simply watch the racing and enjoy it. King for me has been superb, he is developing nicely anyway but I must admit he has exceeded my expectations of him tonight.

Our performance was woeful, however we last won this competition in 1989 and many will remember that meeting for other reasons. We aren't good enough, and being somewhat frank we haven't been for many years, in fact in all the years I've been wtaching speedway (since 1987) we've won the WTC once in 21 years! I don't really see what Middlo, Lynch, Boocock and Pratt can do if they don't have the tools. The riders looked unfocused and not interested until it seemed that third place was in danger, by then they were so far behind they were never going to catch up. I seriously doubt we can make it trough on Thursday but I would be delighted to be proved wrong. Whilst I hate to say it riders like Stead mirror people like Andrew Silver (who was my all time speedway hero) they seem to never quite realise their potential and after inital promise at the top level they seem to slip backwards.

Re Kroner he doesn't ride in Sweden but his form in Poland ( for Lodz) has been pretty good too. Got a full 15 the other week. Both have a valid argument for their inclusion really.

Spot on, they really made the effort and the crowd seemed to respond, so they in turn responded to that. One or two of them could be riding over here soon perhaps, they certainly seem like they could hold down an EL position.

Interesting to get Polish fans view, Jarek has IMO stagnated in the last couple of seasons, which is a shame as he is a great talent.

Not in the GP tho is he??

I've long said that riders who give the EL a miss end up weaker as a result. Look at the year Ryan Sullivan gave the EL a miss he bombed big style all over the place, not just in the GP's. Look at Lindback this season, nowhwere in the GP's. Hample hasn't ridden in the EL since 2003 and I really think it's held him back. It's very rare I agree with orion but he has a point, the be as sharp as possible you need a lot of riding.

Interesting footnote to all this, Nicholls as quoted in the Sport section of the Daily telegraph saw it thus The British No 1 said the decision was a disgrace since the clash was "six of one and half a dozen of the other" Which in my opinion is about right. The problem lies in the crash occuring well after the first bend then in the eyes of the referee and rules somebody has to go for being the cause of the stoppage. As has been debated already, no clear definitive answer between ourselves on here exists, therefore we just have to accept the referees decision as being the correct one. I do agree with some on here who have said they need to reign themselves in for both their sakes otherwise the inital prognosis of Nicholls at Peterborough in 2005 is likely to come true. Personally the way it seems to have dragged on UN mediation is needed.

Considering he is the product of the Conference league we/he should all be dead proud of having made it to the SWC. Thus proving maybe the Conference league is working and will throw up the odd world class rider. (altho i think he has some way to go, he's definitely on the way)

You could well be right, however on current form etc and not knowing how many Louis would score pre meeting it was the right decision to bring him in. However it raised confidence before the meeting which is an important factor, intangible but important. Secondly I don't expect Stead, Louis or Norris would have scored more than the 3 or so that Louis got. Just as an example. Cl's first ride was a GP standard line up Andersen, Adams, Max and Louis, and i feel that Louis, Floppy or Stead would have been hard pushed to get a point in that one. His second ride was Crump, Pedersen and Lindgren, this time he took a point, again possibly the best he could have hoped for. In short any three of those riders would have been hard pushed to have scored more than the 3 points Louis got.

Yes that's a good example that is, "What goes around comes around" said after heat 13 in the race off well who won heat 25 in the final?? Who came second after Crump fell?? What goes around comes around means he got me this time, maybe I'll beat him next time. I rode hard he rode hard. What happend next, could be a good question for Question of Sport dyou not think? never gloat til it's over, less risk of looking stupid> However in praise of SN he took his defeat like a man last night, and was dignity itself when interviewed.

Just read this what a cock you are!