Sings4Speedway

I fully accept that plenty of riders have numerous falls early in their career's (both whilst pressured & on their own) lets not forget Danny Ayres was hardly regarded as a smooth rider in his early rides. The difference is showing levels of improvement over time & what the rider / club does to attempt progression? Danny Ayres like Danyon Hume also mentioned on this thread went off and got as many additional rides in as they could to hone their skills / run at a level they were more suited to and then bring that experience back to the NL. Its not Locke's fault he is taking the opportunities presented to him its the Raiders promotion who should take responsibility for taking a rider with very little speedway experience and thrown him into the NL (just because a couple of other grasstrack riders had successfully made the transition) .

With all the sponsorship he has picked up at B.V i should think so too. That said good luck to the lad. Plenty of potential & good backing should see him do well.

In terms of scores and entertainment i thought it was a pretty decent meeting. Branford & Morley were a cut above and well supported by Priest although no lack of effort from Ayres & Shanes (who looked frustrated riding @ 3 and has not yet formed a decent partnership with Mason). Wood was always going to struggle @ 1 whoever the opposition. As predicted the meeting was swung on the lower order with 8 points coming from RR, some decent rides by Thomas (who was lucky to escape a fall when over riding) and take a bow Danno Verge who battled and led Branford for 2 1/2 laps. Leek picked up the scraps but Saul was well off the pace and as for Locke....credit where its due he cleared the track / continued every time he could but the falls were so numerous i lost count and looks desperately put of his depth. A lot of time and development is required and the NL is not the level he needs to be at right now. However i don't blame him as he keeps taking the opportunities offerered, i personally think its poor of the Rye promotion to keep exposing him & others to such risk and with this being about as good a performance as the Raiders are capable of they still came up short.

Branford in good form recently and may relish the differences made to the Kent surface but Morley is having a slight dip at present. However as always if these 2 can manage a full 28 between them (and i think he who D'Ayres will have a say in that) where will the rest come from? 10 from Priest perhaps? Hunter may get half a dozen but i can only see duck eggs from the bottom 3 who have an average of 4.5 between them. Much will depend on how many The Kings reserves get tonight but they should be looking for heavy pay packets again. Mason with an injury is a concern as his efforts this year have been conservative at best. It "should" be a comfortable home win but theres something nagging that it could be closer than many expect.

In that case i would highly recommend you take trips to Somerset, Scunthorpe & the revised Rye House as i think your top 5 would get a shake up.

Not quite that simple but not too far off as i suspect there is a selection of paperwork etc to get through first but ultimately thats how it works. The riders will find you as the reduced MDL this year is leaving many searching for extra track time. Lawrence, Garry and co have done a great job reviving Carmarthen, the Milton Keynes name has been running on for several seasons now, Exeter & Weymouth are in action at Somerset & i believe Hull + others run from Scunthorpe? Would be great to have a defunct team tournament? Same day knockout cup for example to give all those missing their former teams something to cheer about.

That is a very valid point although you have a full 1-7 tonight so just being greedy Im sure i remember Drury getting a little miffed at some riders doing additional meetings last year and i know the same applies this year.....

Tough decision. If Kent could get a guest for Clifton and run RR for Mason it would make them stronger as all barring Branford could take an extra ride but there is only really Richard Andrews or Jack Smith around on reasonable averages and not sure Brum would allow their riders to help Kent? Alternatively we could have Carr in for Mason or Hume who flies around Kings Lynn but it limits the options for RR. That said Kent are meeting Kings Lynn at the right time as its Hazelden & Whitmore at reserve and im not convinced they will be as potent a threat as Kinsley has been previously so the unbeaten run should continue.

Connor?

Anyone know what happened to the dream team thread? Would be interesting to see who i thought was wise to include at the beginning of the season?

So who is making way at Rye house? Saul replaces Banks but currently they are using Locke, Leek & Bowdrey? Im assuming Kenny will lose his place again?

Which Mildenhall Tigers pose the biggest threat? Will any take a heat win? Will Mildenhall clear 30 points? How many times will Ruddick be on his backside? Which Brum riders will max out? (Im tipping Hume) Will Ritchings find some form? Much to discuss.....

Ooh sitters........must read things more carefully!

Has an attitude problem full stop. Plus is not what most (Ben Hopwood apart) would consider "race fit" however it could now mean that Conor Locke is not the rider with most falls per meeting from now on........

Crumbs. No arguing that the inclusion of banks in the 1-7 has been as pointless as his scoring powers but i would be very surprised if any Raiders supports were excited about this.

What a cracking meeting. Thoroughly enjoyed a good contest between 2 good sides of which the better strength team won over the 2 legs but a meeting in which the lead swung to and fro throughout providing plenty of excitement until late on. Starting with Brum Waj. Racked up the points nicely for a consistent tally Bacon. Was excellent throughout Hume. Best ive ever seen him ride & was as close to Ayres as anyone. Ritchings. Below par, picked up easy points without looking competitive. Perry. Rode better than his score suggests & especially considering his return from injury. Smith. Outstanding (barring the naughty move in ht 2) JPB. Will have better days, was shuffled into the tougher heats to make way for a more in form Smith. As for the Kings Greenwood. Hope he was embarressed to collect his money. Equipment of effort? At least one was seriously amiss. Thomas. Better than his score suggests and rode a huge win in ht 8 when it really mattered. Shanes. Awesome as ever. Gating is improving but still able to swoop around everyone from the back. Mason. The curse of number 4? Average at best and can see a change required if Kent are to kick on... Ayres. Run out of superlatives. Gated superbly & never looked like being beaten. Verge. 2 great rides in ht 2 but looked adrift of the pace after that. Clifton. Suffering with injuries i suspect. bashed around again and didn't really mount much of a challenge all evening. Overall i would watch speedway like this happily every week. Great appreciation from most fans especially the travelling Brummies and the home crowd (except the few idiots who boo'ed, shame on you) would liked to have seen the rest of the Kent side out congratulating the Birmingham team and not just Ayres but all in all an excellent advert for the NL as echoed by Graham Drury' kind comments.

Too much of this happening this season. Not sure if the refs have been told to keep races running but its going to end in a biggie somewhere. Probably seen a dozen occasions where a rider is down and clearly not going / able to get up and yet the race runs on until it gets too close for comfort. It might not be popular but i would much rather races stopped as a precaution than watch someone injured by letting it continue.

Providing the weather doesn't spoil it i reckon Rye might? Kennett in superb form, Kasper & Morley likewise and what odds on Lanham having a blinder.......obviously the home side are all in good nick too but something makes me think that Rye can take a point here.

Would't be unhappy with any of those especially in that order. D.Greenwood is the obvious choice given his recent record around Central Park but there is something poetic about Morley being involved in such a key meeting as he was part of the Kings journey from the start.

Did Toms Bacon & Perry take rides after the meeting? How did they get on?

Bitterly ironic that Matt Williamson the guest in question who was at the heart of this ruckus had a bit of a stinker last night!

An off night for any rider could swing this tie. Think that Brum will have enough about them to run out winners at home but providing Kent can keep the score within 10 (which is easily achievable) then prospects look good for Monday. Not only is this a massive chance for the Kings to pick up a piece of team silverware but could have a large impact on the Kent attendances as many will opt for Speedway if the result looks close but perhaps football if Brum hand out a thumping tonight. On a side note i believe the football is being shown in the main bar? If so surely its the answer to both. Watch the speedway then the football to follow? Sounds like win win (except perhaps for England)

Not sure even the scb can get Cradley any away points this season.......unless they sign him at reserve

Horrible to hear all your stuff was stolen. Did you advertise on here what was taken out of interest? Hope whoever was responsible gets their comeuppance!

Sadly for Raiders fans its not straws that have been drawn its riders selected with little / no experience that has hurt you. It should't be the case that riders are heading for the tapes to take part in their first speedway race in NL meetings. Locke & Bowdrey were signed as Grasstrackers were in favour again at the start of the season assuming they would be like Georgie Wood (well they are not on the grass and certainly not on the shale). Hunter deserves more time as he has ability but building a team with him at 4 is crazy. It might be too soon for Leek & where has Banks disappeared? There were riders in the pipeline that would have made the Raiders a very potent side but the new promotion wanted to put their own stamp on things and must stand by their decisions.....