Ommer Mon

A brilliant night! 30 years we've waited for another League title and around 400 Heathens fans were there to enjoy it. Green white and red wherever you looked. The team have been fantastic this year and Ashley's performance in both legs of the Final was superb but its a team game and everyone played their part. Congratulations to Will Pottinger too. He gives up so many hours and must be grinning from ear to ear today. Credit also to Simon, Paul and Andy who have done so much to make the Club one of the best supported in the country. Thanks to Nigel, Gary and Chris for taking the chance on resurecting the Club in 2010. I never had any doubts that the fans would come back but a special word here for the 300 or so Heathens who turned up at Swindon for a four team tournament before it all got going again. Without that show of commitment there would have been no Club to support today. It's a brilliant feeling. My grin is so wide my head's in danger of falling off!! Ommer 'em.

Well its about time we opened a thread on this one! The Cup match ended 56-34 in favour of the Heathens. I suspect this may be a little closer as Rob Lambert can't have another nightmare night like the last one. I still take the Heathens to win by 18 though. What do you think?

We had a good chuckle over the ranks of ambulances the last time Dudley were there. It all goes back to when we were kept waiting for a couple of hours in blazing sunshine a couple of years back after there was a c*ck up over booking a paramedic! We literally drank the bar dry that afternoon!

Dudley have really bucked the trend that the majority of the rest of the tracks have suffered. Since we returned to the sport our crowds have been good and the level of support has remained consistent. Two reasons for this. Firstly, 15 years without a team certainly focuses the mind when you finally get one back and the fans have turned out in great numbers. I never doubted that this would happen as very few Heathens fans migrated to support other teams after we closed in 1996. Secondly, there is virtually nothing else to watch in Dudley. It is the largest population centre without a professional sports team. When the promoters find a suitable site they know that the support will be there to make the club profitable and there will be some committed souls prepared to chip in with either time or money to get back what we have waited so long for. Fingers crossed. Great that max could be part of the great climb back up the ladder for one of the greatest Clubs the sport has ever had.

Adam Roynon stands out as one of the unluckiest riders the sport has ever seen. He is an excellent rider with a smooth, safe style but he really does have an unfortunate habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and every time he goes down he seems to get a really serious injury. He had the last bad injury of last season at Kings Lynn and the first one of this year at Coventry. We love him at Dudley - an excellent No1 and skipper. If it hadn't been for all the injuries I firmly believe he would be a GB international by now and possibly in the shake up for a Grand Prix place. That's how good he could have been if he had been luckier. There is still time to get there of course and the very best of luck to him. The Heathens would support him all the way and he knows it!

I have to agree with GreyhoundP's Luke Chessell call. He's a good lad and a great gater but I have no idea why he comes off so often. It could be overtrying, who know's. I know Jan O was trying to help in his short time with the Heathens but I think he still had the same problem with Stoke earlier this year. It is a pity because he certainly puts 100% effort into every race and if he could find a solution he could make NL Heatleader standard.

Steve Worrall is guesting for Adam Ellis tonight and he is more than capable around Monmore Wood. I'm taking the Heathens to win by 16.

If he'd slid off on his own then I would have expected the opposition to cheer it if he was scoring points against them at the time. If he had gone flying into the fence or been involved in a high speed shunt with several other riders then that would be out of order. As I said.....there is a difference and most fans can spot a bad one.

I must be one of the 'bad boys'! I have to confess allowing myself the odd cheer when an opposing rider either falls, touches the tapes or suffers an engine failure because it means more points for my team and frankly I don't understand how a passionate fan could say they never do this. I think it is only natural when the pressure is on in a meeting. That does not mean to say that I will be applauding when a rider is lying on the track or goes flying into the fence at high speed. I won't. You can usually tell when its a serious crash (and I do accept that occasionally innocuous looking falls can result in injuries). Nobody wants to see riders hurt - no matter who they ride for but I think a quick cheer needs to be taken in context. Maybe I take it all a bit too seriously but I thought that was the point of supporting your team.. I'm off for my counselling session now!

I agree it very disappointing that Adam Ellis is injured. Good luck to him for a speedy recovery and further progress in 2014. I agree that Kerr would be a good guest and his inclusion may keep the scores a little closer but I still fancy us for a comfortable lead. Ommer um!!

Good shout Mr Rabbit. It is very unfair when you lose your top riders to foul riding by the opposition and then can't cover their rides with anything other than reserves. R/R would be helpful as it would keep the scores a little closer.

A good call on Starkie He would be one of the first names on my team list too and, if its NL, then I would get Cleggy and Nathan signed up. Both of them are bound to improve.

The Dudley Management have said there will be a major rider announcement at next week's meeting against IOW. I wonder what that could be as we have no idea what the League structure will look like next season. Presuming we will still be in the NL, and he qualifies, I'll open the batting with Brady Kurtz, who was brilliant at the Golden Hammer. Who would you like to see?

To get back on topic, the rule I would like to get rid of is being able to reinsert riders (off 15 metres) who have been excluded (or whatever today's term is) for touching the tapes or exceeding the two minute time allowance. What is the benefit in that(?) and all it does is extend the meeting (SCB's earlier point)as managers scratch their heads and consult as another 2 mins is allowed. If you are 'out' you should be 'out'and the reserve should take your place.

Paul Starke has been a revelation at Dudley this year. He has put the best part of 5 points on his avarage. It was an obvious move for Dudley to make at the start of the season after he ended up on 5.70 at IOW last year and blitzing Adam Roynon's track record by over half a second shows just how good he can be. He will be welcome back at the Wood again next year.

I thought Lewis was excellent at Monmore Wood last night. He gave it a great go especially in Heat 15 when his last bend wide sweep ended up costing his 2nd place as Starkie nipped through on the line. A great entertainer and this was appreciated by the crowd at the end of the night.

Graham Reeve was in charge according to the programme and in fairness Graham is a very good referee but I have to agree with GreyhoundP that he looked to have got that one spectacularly wrong. Max went charging up the inside, Jake went wide under the pressure and came off. Full credit to Kings Lynn they really came to give it a go last night and in my book it was the best meeting of the season at Monmore Wood. Lewis Kerr is a class act and was given a good ovation by the faithful after the final race. Lewis, Starkie and Ash were tremendous yet again and the back up was there too apart from Nathan who had an unfortunate night. He'll come back from that though! Poor Rob Lambert - what a night. It started badly and went downhill from there. The lad is an immense talent and one of England's best prospects but it didn't work for him last night. I think the crowd may have got to him a bit and he ended up overtrying. He will be back to haunt us in the future, no doubt, if he stays around the NL. Shame tonight's second leg is off.

It should be a good meeting tonight. The Storm have imported Lewis Kerr and Steve Worrall and they should give our top three a good run. The Heathens are also short of Gareth Isherwood and we will be operating R/R with Lee Geary at No8. Hope he gets a spin after his heroics at Stoke. I still think the Heathens will run out winners though. Hope the sun carries on shining.

I only met Tony once. That was at Cradley when he squeezed into a corner of the Referee's Box to do a radio commentary for the BBC (yes the BBC - those were the days) on a Test match. A real gent and good company if only for one afternoon. His commentaries always added colour and some amusement to the coverage. A sad loss to the Sport. Must go now "work to do!". RIP Tony

Sam Ermolenko, Peter Karlsson, Ronnie Correy ........................ Masters of Monmore ................................... Try telling that to Hamill and Hancock!

I know I'm going to get shot down here but here goes anyway. Apart from the odd reference to Woofy there hasn't been mention of the young English lads coming through. I'm mainly thinking of Richie Worrall who has been a revelation this year and Rob Lambert, Adam Ellis and Max Clegg, all fairly new to the sport at NL level but all showing a hell of a lot of potentional. Like many others I cant see where the next English GP rider is coming from over the next few years but there are some extremely promising kids starting out at the moment who deserve our support.

I hope Smarty does get fixed up with another track soon. Nobody at Dudley should forget the magnificent role he played in the successful relaunch of the Club as our Number 1.He's had a rough time with injuries since then and deserves a bit of luck. He did look to be down on power for the 'Potties' on Sunday but there is still plenty of talent there particularly at NL level. Good luck Lee!

We lost 43-47 at Buxton but it was a Cup match and we had a 16 point lead from the first leg, hence the comment about it not being a big deal to lose. We won the Stoke match 50-38 ending the meeting with 5 fit riders after Ash and Gareth both had to withdraw after knocks. Happily it seems no bones are broken though both will need a little time on the sidelines. The team to face the Isle of Wight will have a rather strange look. Have to say Lee Geary's Heat 2 win was one of the highlights of the night and Dan Greenwood and Nathan Greaves really took up the challenge in the later stages of the meeting, while Lewis and Starkey were simply magnificent. In the words of 'Wallace' - A grand day Out!!!

Forecast does not look too good - a mixture of light and heavy rain throughout the afternoon. Can anyone local to wither Buxton or Stoke give a view on conditions?

Finn Thomsen rode for Wolves in the early '70's before moving on to Hackney, where he was No1 for a spell. He was Ole Olsen's protege and was a decent heat leader in his time. (OMG I've just complimented a Wolf - time for my medication!)