SteelShoe

Poole could still win at home without the track prep witnessed last night. they are very shrewd in repeatedly building a competetive team. Surprised to hear you say you could fill your program in after turn 2 the majority of times at Belle Vue.

Gonna be interesting watch which teams 3/4 pairings comes out on top for sure.

Rich is a very slick gater like his Dad was. Couple that with the experience he has gained over the years and he is probably at the peak of his powers. West Cumbria has produced some very good riders who have generally benefitted other teams.

Do Poole have the wrong mindset here though?. Speedway shouldn't be all about winning right?. Speedway is about excitement from which comes entertainment, that entertainment is created from a number of variables the biggest by far being the excitement generated by riders racing and passing each other over 4 laps. Preparing tracks with the sole intention of quite simply outgating the opposition knowing races will be all over after lap 1 turn 2 just reinforces the view shared by many people that in speedway you know who is going to win after the second corner. This is just one of the reasons detrimental to more fans wanting to watch. Beware self interest and shortsightedness.

Poole have proven they can compete anywhere in the Championship this season. I've watched them break a few Redcar hearts at the ECCO Arena in the last 2 or 3 weeks so I know how tough a task the Tigers face but they can do it. If Poole win again then I'm pretty sure they will earn the due respect.

no they would have said the Tigers outgated the Pirates in the majority of heats.

The performance on Friday of Mr Consistent Lawson is the major contributing factor for me, another 14/15 points and it is Pooles title. My heart wants to see the Tigers do it but as a 7 they need to lift it to another level to achieve it.

Ching Ching

The gauling thing is Poole have riders who can handle a bit of dirt. To sacrifice putting on a more entertaining spectacle for supporters and paying public in the wider interest of a sport that is in accelerated decline is hard to fathom. If Glasgow had gated better that result could easily have been reversed.

The Tigers fans will be hoping Bomber is the best he can be in both legs because Rich Lawson definitely will be. It is hard to call but after watching Poole dismantle Redcar twice at the ECCO Arena over the last 10days it is going to be a tough ask for the Tigers. I hope they do it, nice to share the trophies around and the club and fans deserve it.

Generally I would say racing this season has been close but passing may have been reduced due a lack of track moisture during the very dry weather. Yeah costs are not commensurate with money taken at the gate. Reports of riders not being paid and some clubs running 6 figure deficits isn't viable long term.

I'm all for new clubs but would be very surprised if a new club came straight in at Premiership level. Yeah I did misunderstand re National League. Would be nice to have a NDL team in addition to a Championship side but only if it was fully costed and didn't jeopardise the financial viability of the club.

I'm only counting 5 so far Belle Vue, Sheffield, Leicester, Ipswich and Kings Lynn. No Birmingham and Oxford .Have I missed anybody? Few extra meetings ? You expecting more teams in the NDL than the Championship then ?. Can you really take a one off individual meeting where a number of the riders were of a similar decent Championship level and competed well against each other with what you could expect to see every week if we were in the NDL. After saying that the NDL wasn't a bad standard in 2023. If the status quo remains then I doubt anything will change. A couple of big playoff crowds doesn't mask the generally poor attendances witnessed at many of meetings last season and the financial difficulties many encountered. 5 Premiership teams doesn't excite me personally and raises questions. Going to be interesting to see what happens. Nobody llkes change but sometimes it is necessary. If it isn't broke don't fix it it but when it is that case is harder to make.

What an absolutely cracking meeting, those young boys really put on a show well done to them all. Feel for Vinnie tonight he didn't deserve that twist of fate. Big well done to Luke Harrison who kind of won it without being noticed too much. Shame the track had dried late on in the meeting which somewhat negated the effectiveness of the outside which had been working well earlier.

think he blew an engine Neila. I was absolutely gutted for him. After working his way through from 4th to 1st he was cruelly denied the championship with a mechanical issue.

If you gonna screw em over timing is everything 😃

Is this purely a time suspension bearing in mind that was Workingtons final fixture. If it is then it is no penalty at all really.

Went along to this fully expecting an exciting meeting and the Bears to push the Pirates all the way, somewhat inexplicably neither materialised. I have never witnessed a meeting at the Ecco Arena without a pass in 15 heats after the second bend. For whatever reason it was gate and go and invariably the Pirates were sharper in that department. Congrats to the Pirates who seem to manage to do what is necessary when it counts the most. Sure the Bears will be determined to regroup for the KO Cup meetings.

Not what I heard Steve. My view his he treat Worky with disdain because he had already been tapped up for next season with the Pirates being chief suspects.

Rumour was he had cleaned out his workshop at Worky and moved his bikes to Poole 🤷‍♂️ unverified I must add.

You may well be right .

He was riding in the amateur meeting last sunday, looked good.

Reading between the lines, from the club statement it sounds like financial viability is the major contributing factor to me. If someone comes forward to buy the club and I hope they do then I would think a new promotion would want the club to be more financially viable. The reset is coming it quite simply has to.

A close result on aggregate but the result I expected. The Monarchs quite simply didn't have the heat leader power to see them home. Victor Palovaara is a shadow of the early season rider we witnessed while you could have bet money on Sedgy being last in heat 15. MPT never looked up for the challenge at any point which must have been a huge disappointment to the Monarchs faithfull. It would have been harsh and hugely disappointing for the Tigers if they had failed to reach the final after finishing top of the league so well done to them.

Well done the Bandits, lack of recent racing for some of the Comets was obvious early on while the 44 points from an impressive Berwick top 4 sealed the day. Some very entertaining races but Comets must have given up on squaring up the meeting in heat 15 to take it to a superheat.