Steve Shovlar

If Lynn think they can walk up to Ben Cook tonight in the hope,of talkingnhim into signing for them for next season, they are probably 3-4 months too late. And I should imagine he is getting offers from Poland (League one) as well. Pretty sure he will start next season as Poole’s third heat leader. Mid way through this season something just clicked and from following the rider around in front in the same line, he suddenly got very good at gating and his passing ability kept forward. Tonight was a culmination of his development. One race to get to know the track, then pow! Zack isn’t far behind him and is younger. Have a good feeling that these two are the next generation of young Aussies breaking through.

Long journey back but for the 50 odd Pirates fans it will pass quickly. Commiserations to Leicester. Spoke to Gary May but he said nothing he could do to stop the onslaught. Some great racing tonight on a very good track.

As requested Poole gave Lions first two heats to start even. Then mullered them.

All too easy.

Leicester have been practising all afternoon. Nothing going on now. Just spoken to the BSN guys and they are expecting the viewing figures to be smashed tonight.

Arrived on Kings Lynn and its much colder than when I left Poole this morning. Certainly jacket and hat needed. Weather is clear and dry and all systems go.

Because three of the Poole team have never ridden KL. Poole go well at Leicester. Plus Leicester have a big practice session this afternoon. Just pulled in for a coffee north of Ely. Been s clear run and taken about 4 hours 45 mins. So many speed cams about it will take the same to get home. Lovely weather though. Think it will be cold tonight got my woolley hat.

Moving to Kings Lynn gives them a better chance of winning the title. The downside is loss of revenue so I think they would rather have a big crowd and defeat than winning it in front of 4-500. Leaving early to make sure I am not under stress in traffic jambs. Luckily have some good business on the way so will be able to say business trip. Come on Poole let’s do well deserved back to back titles! Same 1-7 we started the season with.

Only club with more fans at the pairs was Oxford.

So Leicester are practising all afternoon tomorrow at Kings Lynn but Poole are not allowed in the stadium. And Poole have 3 riders who have never been on the KL track. Understandable if Leicester were practising on their own track but this will give them a huge advantage tomorrow with setups, lines on track etc. Going to be very hard for Pirates to not lose the lead in the first few heats. And some on here want Poole to throw the first two heats? It could be 10-2 regardless!

Remember it well. And the horrendous journey home with many road closures and had to do a motorway awareness course for getting a ticket for doing 56 in a 50 on the M25 at 2 am and not a soul around.

Seriously, are you asking Poole to pity Leicester?

Too obvious. Poole fans would have outnumbered Leicester 2 to 1.

Why would we do that? You seem to think we should start from 0-0 as Leicester couldn’t get their track sorted? Why in earth is it Poole’s fault? We had to struggle for over half of last weeks meeting due to the track not being great.

You keep thinking that. In fact there are several posters on this thread as well as you who are trying desperately to make this second leg as meaningless as possible. Yes we are all aware of you and others hatred of all things Poole but the final does mean something to both clubs. Don’t forget this farce has nothing whatsoever to do with Poole. We rode last week on a track that was far from normal, caught out the team taking away any home advantage and it was only when the track settled in the latter heats we managed to get a small lead. Under normal circumstances we would have had a 55-35 scoreline. Leicester have done their best to sort their track but it’s come down to this. Yes it’s a farce. But no other choice. Let the best team win, let’s learn from it and make sure it’s not repeated next season. The big winners are BSN who will have hundreds of extra viewers.

Perhaps Poole might have had too much advantage at Belle Vue. Steve Worrall is good around there, Danny King excellent and Lawson no slouch.

Imagine supporting a professional team who win Cups and titles.

Nope. Poole will win it. That’s put a jinx on it!

That is a completely ridiculous view. Matt Ford was the only real go-ahead promoter in the U.K. and if others had followed his lead the sport would have been in a much better place. And as For Sandhu being hounded out. Good riddance to bad rubbish. A dreadful man who closed Coventry, made then sure it was utterly vandalised by smashing up the place and now trying to build a housing estate there.

Of course not! Just because the other team have struggled to get the second leg on doesn't’ diminish the importance of the competition. In it to win it and tomorrow one team will be the Champs! But it’s highly frustrating that not many will be there and Poole fans will be down to probably 10% of who would have been there if it hadn’t been rained off last week, and that’s very unfortunate. I believe the Leicester management could have done far more for their fans. Why haven’t they arranged coaches to help the fans get to Kings Lynn? Tickets for travel at cost price. Then it wouldn’t cost the club on travel but they would make on entrance fee. Seems a panicked bodge job with almost zero thought for Leicester fans and certainly none for travelling Poole fans who have an extra 2 hours on their journey. An utter cluster %u&! It’s like they have washed their hands of the whole shebang, so they can start their planning for next season in the top flight, where after this debacle they are welcome to be.

With all this unpredicted around today it will show if Buster can get a track race worthy in a day.

Leicester will get gate money of course. Get the fans to the stadium, get the money in the gate to cover the rental if the stadium. Or charge £10-15 coach. Either way give their fans the opportunity to attend.

Just watched part of the live Pirates podcast on YouTube with Zack Cook. Neither he or Ben or Nathan have ever ridden at Kings Lynn. The three are taking all advice from Richard Lawson who will give advise on bike setups and which lines to take. Going to be a baptism of fire. All the Leicester team know the KL track.