Eagle77

I can still see this being pretty close... If you match the top 5's up... Doyle v Kurtz Emil v Bewley Brennan v Lidsey King v Cook Thompson v Blodorn I reckon there could be no more than a 2 to 4 points difference... probably just in favour of Ipswich The big issue for Belle Vue could well be at reserve where I can see the Witches pair out scoring the Aces duo by at least 8 points... Really looking forward to it and hope that the relatively kind weather forecast turns out to be accurate...

Good to hear that Peter Schroeck is good at something...!!!

Their final answers might have been the same... But their workings out were totally different...!!!!

Yesterday it wasn't raining and according to the forecast the probability of rain in the evening was 30% to 50%... and it turned out to be 0% until around 9 o'clock... Today it is raining and according to the forecast the probability of rain in the evening is 70% to 90%... Spot the difference....

So Poole end up with the 2nd leg at home... well knock me down with a feather...

If the real Kurtz and Bewley turn up on Thursday it could still be close... if they can get 24 between them the other 5 only need 19... which could be done if either Cook or Lidsey can have a night out... And if that happens... All down to Danny King in heat 8 last night... should hang his head in shame... and let's not forget that this is the second time he's done it... Brennan and Doyle certainly showed him up big time in the following heats showing real heart and bottle in what looked on paper like tough ones for Ipswich...

I pretty much agree... To keep it competitive I'd say Ipswich need... 9 or 10 from their reserves 18 or 19 from Emil & Doyle 11 or 12 from Brennan/King/Thompson I reckon a total of 39 or 40 should lead to a terrific 2nd leg...

The recent Oxford meeting for one.... some very strange goings on...

Funny how so many of the 50/50 calls seem to go in one particular direction... and I'm not just talking about this meeting...

Another happy memory... August Bank Holiday Monday in 1977... White City v Wimbledon home and away double header... Larry Ross rode really well for Wimbledon in the afternoon meeting but a struggling Rebels team managed to get it together and won the meeting 42-36... Then on the coach to Plough Lane for the evening meeting... another close one but Gordon Kennett won a last heat decider with the Rebels winning 40-38... Of course... White City went on to win the league that year...

I always look back on the 1978 World Final at Wembley with great fondness.. Heat 4... Ivan Mauger... did he fall or was he pushed... Ole Olsen... my favourite rider at the time winning... Gordon Kennett... the captain of my team, White City, finishing 2nd... and on his birthday! The GP's will never be as good as those one-offs...

Let's not forget that (somehow) Schroek was manager of the year last season... the ultimate example of quantity over quality...

They say that it's better to be lucky than good... Having seen what has happened in a number of Cheetahs meetings this season... sadly Schroek is neither...

They may be the 2 worse teams in the league... but perhaps this showed how 2 reasonably equal teams can produce a decent match...

I would have thought that with 5 rider teams each rider would need to have 6 rides each to make up a 15 heat match... 5 riders x 6 rides = 30 rides divided by 2 = 15 heats...

Like most on here I reckon... injuries excepted... Ipswich, Belle Vue and Sheffield are destined for the play-offs... Kings Lynn, Leicester and Oxford to battle for the fourth play-off spot... At the moment my head says Kings Lynn... but I'd like to see Oxford take it... With both at full strength, Ipswich v Belle Vue could make a great final... favourites would have to be Ipswich although their apparent dislike of the NSS could be a real leveller.

Certainly can't argue with that!!!!

As an ex Eastbourne supporter... the seasons I enjoyed the most were either when we were challenging for a trophy... and there were a few of those seasons... or we were battling to avoid the wooden spoon and the rare victories we achieved were much celebrated... and there were probably more of those seasons! I did have a 150 mile round trip to visit Arlington... and the seasons when that became harder to endure were those when it became obvious that we were going to achieve nothing more or less than mid table mediocrity... and so results meant little. But as DaveWayne says... a supporter is a supporter and you should be so during both good and bad times... I'd love to have my track still up and running and be "suffering" those long hours on the road for each meeting...

Agree... the Dads Army thing certainly caught on... But age is just a number and if you're good enough you're old/young enough!... and Peterbro were certainly good enough! But I reckon the real key to their success revolved around Oystercard... He had a great start to the season riding at reserve so that he moved up to no.1 Then... unfortunately for him but not necessarily for the team... he got that nasty injury, putting him out for the rest of the season. That meant his average remained high and Peterbro always had a great reserve with Harris, Andersen and Pedersen all having a go down there. Of course we'll never know but I reckon that had he ridden at no.1 for any length of time his average would have dipped and in all likelihood he'd have been back at reserve by the end of the season and Peterbro probably wouldn't have been as strong. This is certainly not intended as having a dig at Peterbro who deserved their win... and had their share of bad luck and other injuries during the play-offs... I'm just saying that they were able to take advantage of the circumstances that fell their way... and good luck/congratulations to them for doing so...

Congratulation to The Panthers... certainly the better team over the two excellent legs... But if I was an Aces fan I'd be feeling mightily disappointed... Firstly by some strange decisions by your team manager... Rob Lyon sure showed Lemon how it should be done... But also... with Brennan and Etheridge beating the likes of Harris, Nicholls, Pedersen and Cook, I reckon it shows that Peterbro could have been there for the taking but the Worrall's and Charles Wright just weren't up to the task... and they let you down big time!!! Finally a word for MPT... to ride like that with his hand in the state it was... just amazing...

Not quite the whole season... they brought Marek Cieslak in for the last couple of months... I was at Wolverhampton on the Sunday afternoon that The Rebels won to clinch the title... and if I remember correctly it was Trevor Geer who scored the points to secure the win.

Really glad to see that whatever the issues with Craig Cook were, they have been resolved. This is by far the best option within the existing rules and leaves no-one open to claims of cheating or being massively under strength. Just hope the various riders riding tonight come through unscathed... and MPT will be ok after having to pull out last night (why the hell was he riding in a foregone conclusion match???) Then I hope we can all look forward to a close and exciting 2nd leg... with the best team coming out on top. Good luck to both teams...

It's a shame the season has to end this way... specially as the first leg was so good... But if Belle Vue win it will be said it was only because Peterbro were weakened by injury. And if the rules are bent to allow Peterbro a decent guest it will be said they cheated their way to victory. The only results that wouldn't be open to question is if Peterbro win it with their 5 fit(ish) riders, R/R, and a guest from Lynn or Ippo who isn't Lewis Kerr... and with Craig Cook seemingly not an option, there's not a hell of a lot to choose from... or if Peterbro are allowed a good guest but Belle Vue beat them anyway... I think it's unlikely but I hope one of those happen... just so it can't be claimed that the winners have done it by default.

How about looking at the guest situation like this... Chris Harris rides for Ipswich... who are also in the play-offs. He can have a big influence on who finishes top of the table and therefore has choice of opponents. Ipswich would probably be considered to be the weakest of the 4 play-off teams and therefore a decent possibility to be picked by the top team. Would Ipswich rather face Swindon or Poole? My guess would be that on current form... and considering that they've had a "rehearsal" at Wimmy Rd just this week... they'd rather take on Poole. So maybe Chris Harris will be doing all he can to help Poole finish top... and thus prove to be a far worse guest than Ty Proctor was... We'll see...