Steve Shovlar

The crowd was not huge. Decent is the best way to describe it. Thought the atmosphere was very flat until the end obviously. Different clubs have fans that react differently to the racing. At Poole the roof comes off the stand while at another club the race is received with almost polite clapping. Certainly in this semi the result was decided by the weather conditions which affected the race track, especially at Poole. What I am not sure of is why Poole had to have the first leg. There is an advantage to go second so why go first? Made no sense. As for next season, who knows? Pretty sure three are nailed on if they want the spots. Klindt, Grajczonek and Covatti should be invited back. I don’t believe Holder has done himself any favours and hasn’t improved at all this season. Same can be said of Kurtz who tends to go missing when the pressure is on. How on earth we finished top with these riders is a testament to a weak league as this has been the worst Poole team for many years. The thing is, the team is run as a business and if there’s no money you are not going to get quality riders. The months of r/r were not improved with Wells and Jonasson, though the latter did his job in the first leg. Neither have any chance of returning next season. At the end we were beaten by a lesser team (no disrespect intended) who basically wanted it more. We should never lose under such circumstances. Poole riders not fancying difficult conditions is not the Poole way. We expect total commitment to the cause. This has been the Poole way for the last two decades. Not feigning injury because conditions are not to a riders liking. That is gutless, weak and pathetic.

I am actually off for a weeks flying in Bassano Del Grappa. Flying to Venice in a couple of weeks time, the train up to the alps. Wonderful.

Just got back. Horrible journey in the rain and gales. Here’s a little rant, mostly aimed at underperforming Poole riders. A frustrating couple of meetings. Poole were are far superior side but luck and a bad attitude played their part to even things up. The short and sharp rain shower just before the first leg allowed Ipswich the opportunity they took this evening. I believe if the track hadn’t got the heavy downpour we would have won by 20 plus points and would have got away with it tonight. But an EF for Covatti in heat one when well clear, plus him losing a steel shoe latter, was unfortunate for us. Add to that the attitude of Holder and Kurtz and we were always going to come unstuck in the later heats. We had no cover.Our two reserves were actually worse than useless tonight. Both Wells and Jonasson, together with Holder and Kurtz, couldn’t handle a track which had been doctored, (which the home team are entitled to do)and basically gave up. They didn’t want to know. Nicolai Klindt, Josh Gracjzonek and Nico Covatti did all they could and should be praised for their efforts. Yes the track was diabolical with Iversen far from happy but they got on with it. Kurtz and Holder have let their club down, their team mates down and the Poole fans down. I am pretty sure Middlo is pissed off with them right now and so will be Matt Ford, who has just lost a big payday due to these big girls blouses. It was an abject, dismal performance and not of a standard we expect from our team. Where was the passion from our “top two?” Sure Ipswich got lucky in the first leg with the weather, but we should have managed to defend against a team, with due respect, who are not as strong. I hope next season sees the return of Klindt, Gracjzonek and Covatti. Those three have battled all season for the cause. The same cannot be said of the other two, who IMO haven’t shown the right attitude when it matters. When is the last time we have seen Kurtz actually battle through? Not this season. Holder? The same. This seasons Poole team has been the weakest I have known for years. How on Earth we finished top is anyones guess. Well done to Ipswich in making the final. I don’t think you will stand a chance against either Wolves or Swindon but at least you are in it. And that’s what counts. Congrats.

End of day lost it on a covatti ef and losing a shoe and the five min shower on Thursday. Thats how close it was. Some you win some you lose.

Bloody pissing down and everyone is blocked in the carpark. Stuck here!

Well done Ipswich and best of luck in the final. raining. Well done to Kurtz and Holder in riding like utter twats in the most important meeting of the season. a proper well done to Klindt and Josh and Nico for battling for the cause.

Being well beaten Bob. Cant turn the bikes and being left standing.

Our riders wobbling. Home advantage. We are struggling to turn the bikes.

Well done to ipswich deep doctored track allowed so nothing wrong. Crap meeting though.

You here FB?

Deep tricky track. Not much else to say. Our top two missing and Covatti blows up.

Two minutes. In a few minutes.

Currently interviewing Hawkins. No urgency at all.

Rain getting close and bt are faffing with rider intros. Madness.

At the stadium. Rain not far away. They better not dither or it might not go the distance.

Forecast is not great. The rain is due around 9 pm give or take an hour. Just under 4 hour trip from here. A gamble to go.

As it was said by Allen and King, rain equals away team advantage. Harris said rain equals no home advantage and Klindt said when it rain the away team always have an advantage. My guess is the usual setups are gone and home riders never feel as secure as normal.

Forecast starting to look a bit iffy now for tomorrow night. The bbc show rain hitting the area around 7-8pm. Not going all that way for a call off. Will look again in the morning.

So did Ipswich choke last night? Or did they choke?

A shame. I would have hunted you out.

So Pirates take a ten point lead to Ipswich for the second leg. But for the rain I believe it would have been game over already but Ipswich have a very good chance of making the final. All to play for. I think I might make the long, long hike up for this. Weather looks OK. Thoughts?

Trying to change the setup of the track catches out the home riders setup. Tonight was a prime example when the track was different (rain caused) the home team suffered. Ipswich will set it up like every week so their riders know their setups, or they will be chasing for it during the meeting. I think Saturday is balanced on a knife edge. 50-50 either team could go through.

The track tonight was never slick. Track times were 4 seconds off the norm and the fastest time was just under 63 seconds, which would have been the slowest race of the season before tonight. Nice smooth track tonight as well. No bumps.

He was fine in the press conference where he got Rotn.

Just got back. I don’t think I have ever in my 46 years of watching speedway ever seen a meeting of two halves like that. It was quite frankly ridiculous. I got to the stadium at 6.30 and they were watering the track. Then at 7 pm there was a short sharp shower which lasted about 5 minutes. Enough to wet the ground. The track still looked in very good condition though. However, as the riders came to tapes in heat one we got another shower which lasted 2-3 mins. The track looked a little greasy. What the rain had done, together with the heavy rain we have had over the last two days, had made it greasy and tricky. The outside line by the fence came into play and the Ipswich riders were gating and getting straight out wide and then were impossible to catch. We were being mullered. To such an extent that by heat 8, and 12 points down, all hope had vanished into the ether and everyone around me, myself included, chilled and accepted that this season was not going to be our season. It really was men against boys. Led by Chris Harris who was revelling in the racing conditions. There was no holding him out, and with Lawson proved a potent force. Then something happened. Klindt and Josh G gated over King and held him off to reduce the gap to 8. But the next heat proved false hope as Harris won a good battle with Covatti and Brady was last. Ten down and looking at the Ipswich team it was hard to see where we would get a heat advantage from, when you consider how well the Witches riders were doing. Heat 11 and a shock 5-1. Holder who had been poor in his first two rides popped out with a battling THJ, in front of Iversen. We were wondering how long it would take Iversen to split our boys but as the laps went on he wasn’t closing. A remarkable and unexpected 5-1 to reduce the deficit to 6. THJ was then brought out in place of Wells in the next and what a cracking race it was. THJ gated with Klindt but Harris got between them and then started to chase down and pass THJ. They battled side by side for a lap before Harris charged under THJ entering lap four but THJ wasn’t moving and Harris touched THJ calling a slide off. The fact that Harris also fell gave the game away and an awarded 5-1 meant there was only two in it. Heat 13 and it was game on. Poole gated and a challenge from Iversen petered out and beyond our wildest dreams we were two up. Thoughts were that we could possibly draw or win the meeting. Heat 14 and the wheels had come off the Ipswich bus as THJ and Josh G gated and won at a canter. In heat 15 I must admit I was surprised at the Poole picks but it turned into another great race with Harris climbing all over the Pirates for three laps before charging under both entering the 4th lap. The Poole boys then going either side of Harris to stun the crowd and open up a ten point lead to take to the second leg. It’s far from over. Middlo said afterwards at the press conference he would have been happy with 8 before the meeting and very happy with ten. Ipswich will come back hard at us after this. The team to go through is far from decided. I will say if we hadn’t had that rain Poole wouldn’t have been so poor in the first half. THJ was named rider of the night. He said he was much happier with his performance. So were we. I have never seen a team collapse like that. From being utterly dominant to losing 6 of the last 7 heats by 5-1 or 32-10 is frankly ridiculous. And people say Middlo is not a good manager! He doesn’t know what losing is about, unlike myself who had given up the ghost. Sorry for the length of this post.