Kent Whistle Gang

I reckon that upwards of 95% of the people in the crowd for Kings versus Dons won't give a flying fig about what the visitors are called. Maybe it is a hook to boost the crowd with some of the Wimbledon faithful. On the other hand, it could be a sincere attempt to salute a sadly missed and much respected club. Either way, it's speedway and that's good enough for me; my old favourites, the Canterbury Crusaders, folded more than a quarter of a century ago so I'm loving this new lease of life. Judging from the attendances at Central Park, so are a large number of other people. Stop all the squabbling, get yourselves down to Central Park, and be thoroughly entertained. If you're going to sit in the stand, ask for a discount because you'll only be using the edge of your seat!

Looking at IoW's home results this season, only Dudley have done better than 48-42 (Coventry equalled it). What a long way the Kings have come from the 63-31 and 61-32 defeats at Smallbrook earlier in the season. Well done to all the Kings' riders - many congratulations.

Waco - I couldn't understand how that 'like' got there until I realised it's from another member of the gang! I'm Kent Whistle Gang and the like is from Whistle Gang. With regard to the track lighting, ironically, the dog track is lit perfectly. Wonder if there's an easy way of changing the angle slightly, so that it illuminates both? Spectators are a resourceful bunch, so we'll manage in the stands I suppose, but didn't you think the 1st/2nd bends were looking a little unsafe towards the end of the match? Fully accept your point about that being the first meeting under lights, didn't mean to seem impatient. It's just so nice to be supporting a local team again (faded Crusaders fan) that you want everything to be perfect. Silly old sod!

What a match. After Kent took the 1st heat 4-2, the lead changed hands 4 times. Visitors electing for R/R backfired again this week. Hopwood has been really good round this circuit on his 3 previous visits but R/R only yielded 4 points.That was balanced out by some misfortunes for the Kings though. Boxall broke his own bike in one race, then got a win out of Compton's machine, followed by another 0 in the last heat on Kingston's bike (Jack later confessed he forgot to switch the fuel on!). Kingston himself fell twice when in, or closing in on, scoring positions. I reckon Kent could have got 5 more points but for the bad luck, making the score 52-38.greyhoundp calls it right when he singles out Kingston as the ace in the Kent pack - the second he gets his radar working and learns to scope out where the threats are coming from, he will be unstoppable. Right, following on the heels of the sound system debate, was the track lit well enough for the riders (especially bends 1 and 2) and was the lighting in the main stand bright enough for the spectators to see and fill in their programmes? For me the answer to both those questions is no. Discuss.

Wondering if Adam Kirby will be fit tonight after his ambulance trip at Stoke. This could be yet another opportunity for Sam Woods to show what he's got.

As a BSF newbie, I haven’t been able to respond before now because I am still restricted to 3 posts per day. However, the delay has been useful because it has given me time to reflect on the situation. I genuinely thought I was contributing to the ongoing debate about the Central Park sound system, but it looks as though my comments have been mistaken for a personal attack on Bryn. This was never my intention and I apologise unreservedly to Bryn if he has been offended by my comments. I tried to be diplomatic and respectful, but obviously failed. I think what we should be concerning ourselves with here, is how to improve the speedway experience for the Kent Kings’ spectators. The sound system is clearly causing problems for people, me included, in several parts of the stadium – just look at how many of the recent postings have been about that and not the speedway itself.

Well, in that case I'm afraid to say that Bryn, with all due respect, is actually part of the sound problem. I remember making a comment about him a few weeks ago as we made our way out of the stadium. A voice in the distance shouted out, 'He's a legend, leave him alone'. For the Heathens match we had a first time family sitting in front of us. They were continually turning round and asking us to repeat the announcements, which was difficult for us because we couldn't understand most of what was being said anyway. At one point the father returned from the toilets and said the announcer was even more indistinct in the bar area. He went on to say that he heard several people complaining about it and that his enjoyment of the meeting was being spoiled because he couldn't make out what was being said. Maybe Bryn is a legend but I think the time has come when he ought to be considering giving up the mic work.

Also, why did the announcer keep repeating that Lewis Blackbird was absent through injury? He was fit and well and riding at Scunthorpe, that's why he wasn't at Central Park.

Was that Derek Barclay on the mic for the Heathens match?

R/R was a huge mistake - only 2 points earned from Blackbird's rides. He would surely have hit double figures. However, the ref missed Isherwood fidgeting before the off in heat 10, which gifted a 1-5 to Dudley. Also, Morris definitely squeezed Boxall into the fence in heat 13, converting a 5-1 into a 4-2. Should Boxall have punched Morris? Of course not. However, Boxall is a fighter, literally, and that's how trained fighters respond. Also, Morris is no stranger to controversy - witness his confrontation with Lewis Rose at Stoke in the NL4TT a week earlier. The bottom line is that there isn't a NL manager who wouldn't love to have a rider like Boxall in their team. Fortunately, for the moment at least, that team is Kent Kings. Full respect to the Heathens and their supporters - the title is yours to lose now. Kent will be happy just to avoid the wooden spoon in our first NL season. Looks like Stoke will finish bottom of the pile this time around.

I'm not exactly sure why Dave Stummings feels the need to resort to name calling, and making snide remarks about the Rye House connection. It would help to move the debate along more productive lines if he could try and be a bit more grown up about it. That post is only going to invite responses in a similar vein. The question here is about the state of the Buxton track for yesterdays meeting. Either it was fit to race on, or it was unsafe. How does it help to make comparisons with other tracks? It's like the Tories blaming everything on the previous Labour government.

Nikko, you posted yesterday that you had seen photographs of the Buxton track. Can these be made avaialbe for us to view?