Hunters

I usually try to do a rough count at about 7.15, we have had a few over 1000, the Cradley cup final in 2015 was one of the best. All the semi's and finals have been pretty decent but on occasions when there has been dubious weather or Brighton football the crowd can be as low as 200/250.

Looks like the Mildenhall hodoo has struck again. Heat 2 Bates falls heat 3 Baseby in front but engine fails 14-4 . Goodbye unbeaten record now. Had to happen some time, just hope we do better than 61-29 this time .

What a performance from Hopwood and Thomas, A long time since I saw two gate as well as they did last night. 4 times together and 4 times straight out the box. Baseby and Wood chased and chased but only Knight could get by them but second time he could only get one of them. Made for a very entertaining meeting and they have two more visits to come. Can't wait to see if they can do it again. If they continue in that style the Kings could be surprising contenders for that important 4th league place because nobody has performed like that at Arlington this year..

Cannot see it being close at all 53-37 is my prediction.

Sad to hear of the death of Ila Teroma, who was my son's favourite Lion in 1978 & will certainly be remembered.

I wonder if Connor has anything up his sleeve? Hampshire to Brum now O'Keefe to Plymouth, running out of options.

Understandable bit of green eye I expect. Their performance against the eagles is enough to frustrate anyone. Their record in competitive marches is played 9 (5H & 4A )lost 8 with little chance of changing things on Saturday. The only salvation was the Good Friday challenge in 2016 when Kyle Hughes broke his leg after one ride and Richard Andrews his collar bone. They will need a lot of that sort of good fortune to get through to the next round.

Does that mean Ayres for Bowen? Have not read that anywhere?

Any idea how they work the new GSA list out? It was issued on 26th and has effect on 1st July, It does not seem to include the results of the 25th because that was Jake's 4th meeting and his true average is 11.0 Georgie is shown as 9+ but should be 8.39 and Tom is overstated and should be 8.24. On that list Georgie will be No 1 on Saturday. The true averages including June 25th are:- Knight 11.00 Baseby 8.75 Wood 8.39 Brennan 8.24 Powell 6.42 Bates 4.86

Alex Spooner looks to be improving but still not in anyone's 1 to 7

I wonder how much 'beating off the competition' cost them?

Another good performance, now top with 2 matches in hand. Looks like Jake beat Clegg 2-1 and Tom beat Bickley 2-0 although exact result difficult without full updates. Bates does look to be a bit of a problem after starting so well this season but a spell at reserve could get his confidence back and hopefully Hampshire will be here next week.

Kyle Bickley must have a helicopter ride in between heats because Buxton have him guesting for them this afternoon.

I could not have been more wrong. Super performance when you analyse it with Mark Baseby the joker in the pack. We expect this sort of performance from Jake and Georgie this year but Baseby has performed above and beyond. As expected Charlie was a busy boy and was the final difference to clinch the full 4 points. Tom pulled his weight at No 1 to make a fine all round team effort. Dare I be bold and anticipate a similar result at Buxton today? Max Clegg may be too hard to beat but the rest of the team look vulnerable.

Looks very likely the unbeaten tag will go tonight. Very surprised Dan Halsey's average has dropped so low but as a replacement tonight it swings the advantage to Stoke. With Davey, Priest and Halsey all eligible to take Atkin's rides it gives them effectively 4 heat leaders which at least matches our top 4 and only leaves Charley and a stand in reserve to handle their bottom three. Probably Stoke 50 Eagles 40, hopefully no worse.

Looks like Charley is going to be a busy boy, 14 rides over the weekend as only Baseby and Charley can replace Bates. Don't expect too much from the stand in reserves so win or lose looks to be down to Charley.

Have to see that to believe it. No obvious reason to delay that I can think of so why has he not done it? Should know later today if he is the guest for us at Stoke and Buxton.

Surprised that people think Tom needs protecting. The lad is no slouch at the gate, fast and difficult to catch, full of enthusiasm and fearless. He is also a quick learner and has very good control of his machine without making an obvious mistake. In case it has gone unnoticed he has not fallen once this season at home although he was brought down in an all 4 back. He has only fallen once away from home , on the first day of the season but having said that last week he did try to ride the back straight on one wheel to go faster but he had no trouble controlling it.

What a pleasant fellow you are, after the Hurry affair you should stop digging.

I thought Hampshire showed a lot of promise and would like to see him in the reserve slot permanently. Arlington is a daunting track for first appearance. It was also Luke Woodhull's first visit and including the second half Hampshire beat him 3-0. I was a little disappointed in Kyle Bickley, got his 6 points from the Hapless Bates(2), Hampshire(2) and his own team mates(2).Last year he pushed Brennan into second place in the youth championship so I thought a good battle would ensue but Tom was way ahead beating Greenwood as well. Can only put it down to the track experience but it will be very interesting to see if Bickley gets his revenge at B Vue in Sept . Bates had one of those nights, had a go but fell twice, the penalty for being an out and out racer? He also seemed to be having more machine problems but everyone has a bad day at the office. Tom stood up to No 1 well, partnering Baseby and Knight meant he was always fighting for 2nd place. He pushed both Carr and Hopwood all the way and had his reward in heat 13 beating Hopwood and almost Carr. Looked like he had got under him coming out of bend 2 on the final lap but was only level with Carr's back wheel, Greenwood was no problem to him. Jake was a shot in the arm, I noticed after a while that he never put his foot on the ground after leaving the tapes. Usually its foot down going in and back coming out of a bend. He flew into the bend with out using his left leg, tremendous balance and saves on steel shoes, he doesn't need one.t

Difficult test for Hampshire tonight but if he shows up well I think he will be given the permenent position in time for next weekends two away meetings, when we need at least 4 match points.

Should have been a really tough battle between the top two but with Bewlay, Payne, Smith and Shuttleworth all missing it makes a mockery of the match. What on earth possessed B Vue to agree a fixture for both of their teams on the same day when they use some in both I can't even imagine. Mind you, I remember Poole coming to Eastbourne with only 2 riders and 4 guests all hand picked and winning by a country mile with Chris Holder in his prime getting 18. Should still be a tight match with Carr, Greenwood and of course Hopwood standing in but hardly a battle between the top two. I believe Dan Bewlay has still never ridden here which is a shame as I wanted to see how good he was on a smaller track.

That's unfortunate I think it means r/r not guest for Williamson as he is not 'riding up'.

If at full strength then I fancy a Buxton win. Few teams will relish a trip there when they are not having to use guests.

New v Ed now postponed so Clegg should now be back instead of Bickley .