Steve Shovlar

If Ben Barker does ride on Saturday it will be a remarkable achievement. It was a very nasty over the handlebars fall. Normally a dislocation is several weeks. I won’t be home until 7.30-8pm. Question for the streaming boys. Can I buy a feed and start watching it from the start of the meeting? If not, can I watch it directly after it has finished? Or is it live stream only and that’s it? Got to say this is probably the first time Plymouth have gone into a meeting against Poole as clear favourites. They are doing exceptionally well at home and with Klindt, Barker and Nicholls, backed by Frederikson, make a powerful top end. Poole on the other hand are not firing at all well. Expecting Plymouth to win and take the bonus.

Will had shown such good form in his previous rides, it seemed almost nailed on he would continue the form considering he was in the favoured gate 4. But he made a complete hash of the gate and was left for dead entering the first bend. The track at that stage offered nothing (it didn’t most of the meeting) and he couldn’t get near to Perry. No one is expecting much of Will this season. Just ride to his average, do his best, and that’s enough. Anything extra is a bonus.

Did you not read my post after the meeting? Or are you just making things up?

Just got back and a decent win but the track tonight was frankly rubbish. Underwatered, hardly any passing and plenty of races spread out. Gate 4 was the place to be if the rider was brave enough to blast around the outside. It was a packed out Wimborne Road which is great to see. So many come along to watch the Pirates. Just a shame the show put on is just not good enough. Track needs a big makeover, no doubt about it. As for Plymouth, we’ll take a bow Dan Thompson. Did more than a good enough job and probably scored quite a few more points than Klindt would have managed. Backed up by Scotty Nicholls who loves Wimborne Road and it was always going to be close. Frederikson backed them up and with a few Poole riders far from their best, it turned out as I expected. Hope Ben Barker hasn’t broken anything. It was a nasty tumble while under severe pressure from Anders Rowe. He lifted entering the third bend, looked to be heading for the fence, over corrected and ended up flying over the handlebars exiting the fourth bend. For Poole Lawson was his usual excellent self. Tobias poor, Kerr let a silly third place go on the last bend when not concentrating, Cook poor never looked like winning a heat and looked like he was standing still when Nicholls passed him, Rowe tried but not got the form of earlier this season. Starke did his job, and Cairns showed good form until his last ride when he was completely asleep at the tapes. We really do need to step up our form, but at the same time we are still winning. The track needs attention though, sooner rather than later.

No. Barker fell on his own. No contact. Exc. Hope its not serious.

Nasty crash for Barker. High sided looks like collarbone. Walked carefully into ambulance. Excluded. Was under intense pressure from Rowe.

Another very big crowd tonight. Nice to see a few Plymouth fans making the trip up.

Is he still about? Blocked him years ago.

Great meeting tonight, after the GP rubbish. Enjoyed that.

Hardly funny.

Jumped up from the Championship too early. Another year at Poole would have done him the world of good.

Ipswich completely croak. Complete capitulation. Belle Vue fans just politely clap. Don’t even get out of their seats.

Disappointing there’s no KLINDT. He rides Poole very well and is popular. Should now be a straight forward win, with an eye on the bonus point. Plymouth are now a formidable force around their place.

Absolutely dire meeting.

Not so much Poole Rob, just one individual who should have tied it tight first time it happened. Never seen something like this before, though seen faulty tapes on many occasions. Agree the race should have been stopped but the ref let it go, not the club.

Happened right in front of me. First time ref called it back. Then it happened again and I questioned why on earth the start Marshall hadn’t tied it up. Then, unbelievably it happened a third time and the Marshall ran over,grabbed it and got behind the fence as the riders entered the 3rd bend, holding it above his head for the race. Just didn’t understand why it wasn’t secured properly in the first place.

A family of four were sitting next to us and had never been to speedway before. They have lived in the local area all their lives. Came last night on a whim. We explained the rules and what was going on. The lady was completely enthralled and scared as she thought they would crash at any moment. At the end we said goodbye and they said they would be back next week. Perhaps we have picked up four new fans. Goes to show incidents like faulty tapes or track issues have zero impact on many fans.

Cracking meeting tonight played out in front of a very big crowd. Perfect conditions for speedway. Warm dry evening, two fairly evenly matched teams and lots of good racing. Oxford might have the best rider in the league with Masters but Lawson showed him the way home tonight with a superb 15 max. Backed up by Cook and Kerr and the ever trying Thomsen. Tonight though Oxford had a huge advantage at reserve and Gusts, on his first visit to Poole, took an instant liking to the track and was quite brilliant. So a big thank you to the Oxford team manager for only using him for 5 rides. I couldn’t believe it when Killeen came out for his 4th ride, and then in heat 13 when Gusts didn’t replace Knudsen. Cost Oxford the opportunity to get something tonight.

Thank you for your tactics Mr Schroek!

Am I surprised?

Gate two was sure fire, just needed Cook to blast around and he almost did. Close but no cigar this time.

No he’s doing absolutely fine. Everyone he races against has a load more experience. Let him feel his way and next year start knocking in some scores. No pressure on the boy.

Well done to Redcar. Kerr’s ef cost us massively in the end. Lawson got it together but Pijper beating him was ridiculous to be honest. Thought Thomsen gave his all as did Cook. Only 6 points from Rowe’s rides. Redcar had Pijper in possibly his best ever meeting this season. Some good racing tonight but the gates were very favourable to gate 2.

Give Kerr credit, it will come back and bite you on the arse.

All square but Rocketman struggling tonight. Just not on it. With Redcar having King and Wright in 13 and 15 it’s not looking great. Gate 2 great but gate 4 dreadful.