Bitza

Well have to say I'm not so sure, it's the final bit of commitment that makes all the difference, I feel he is holding back like he feels he really can't afford the risk of an injury at this time. Once you have that thought in your mind it's hard to shake, it's all about responsibilities imo. To compound matters Zac doesn't seem on fire either judging from his last few meetings. The upcoming semi/final(s) could be far tougher than expected. Time for all the Pirates to step up.

Have to agree while Poole looked solid enough in the heats, they never looked great. Had they made it through to the final Oxford would still have been my favourite to win. I kinda wonder if this evening might prove to be significant to Lawson's future at Poole, face it the semi wasn't pretty from the Rocketman's perspective, his race craft is strong but when it comes to laying it all out on the line he seems to holds back. (I do however sympathise bearing in mind his circumstances).

UK championship is a great place for young riders to develop and gain a broad experience, plus Poole is a club where you are likely to actually win some silverware. (A big for instance is Vinnie Fordd, for whom I'm guessing his half season at Poole will possibly turn our to be the highlight of his career. Sorry a bit cruel but do you disagree?).

Assuming the reasoning behind squeezing the Championship team averages down, is to create a distinct gap to the Premiership and also persuaded clubs like Poole and Glasgow to move up, so making the top League a TV viable proposition. Then it's hard to believe (except that it's UK Speedway we're talking about) that the whole matter hasn't already been decided in principle at least, with all parties concerned. Bearing in mind the size of the task/risk for clubs swapping leagues.

I'd agree with that. If Lawson stays he would surely need to knock European racing on the head. Will be interesting to see how Lawson goes against the Championship's best on Wednesday. Might be crucial in making up the minds of the Pirate's promotion on which way to go? I'm not Master's greatest fan, but he would do a job. Kerr is simply a matter of value, he has been great for Poole this year, but can't see much potential for further improvement, but might be good for consistency if there were wholesale changes. The issue with Rushen is maybe where Poole comes on his priority list, he does pack in alot of racing. Poole's biggest problem is definitely finding a replacement for Zac. Morris is I think an interesting proposition. Would be more than happy with Cairns, Lightcap and Bailey.

You could have been even more upbeat, cos Berwick are still on for a double, granted 58-31 down after BSN first leg. But after Saturday's performance skys the limit.

After three heats it seemed like Berwick were going to throw last night's match, some come back from seven points down. Congratulations Bandits, bonus point well and truly won!

Well yes I wrote Scunny off, what happened to Berwick and Plymouth I kinda thought it could be a great year for those two. In fact of course Berwick are still in with a chance of a double. (BSN 58-31 behind, after away leg).

Maybe it was just his personal take on it.... it's slick so I won't be doing any passing? 😜

Troy is talking about tyres he is obliged to race with, not the track surface.

British Speedway Promotion Ltd, well surely that name contravenes some trade description law. Seems to me that the Championship may not be perfect but it is working fairly well, a reasonable number of teams racing to a decent standard. The main problem in British Speedway that needs to be addressed, is the Premiership, too few teams, racing close to second tier standards. If the aim is to make the Premiership TV viable, improve the product. Don't stifle what's working to make a poor product look comparatively better, because the British Premiership is still going to be second rate compared to the other European leagues. Message to BSP Ltd, get off your ar.es do some promoting, work towards making the Premiership a premium product, work on the bits that are broken not the bits that work.

At last something other than a track whin.. British Speedway setting the championship team average lower in order to make the Premiership look superior is such a bad joke, it totally pathetic management. Time for a new UK Speedway Authority, or new team to manage the existing one. If the aim was to degrade the UK version of the sport you couldn't do a better job.

So what do people go to look at, the racing or the track?

Well I enjoyed myself, there were plenty of passes, riders were riding different lines, no particular gate became a graveyard. The track did deteriorate over the evening but then which track stays great all the way through? Complaining about the track seems to be some people's standard reflex post, regardless of the racing. They are of course welcome, but it never adds much interest. Poole finish top of the league, regardless of whatever other teams do. Two things are significant, first the points difference Poole's is over plus 200 while other playoff teams are around 50, the second fact is that Poole won all available bonus points. Bring on the play-offs.

By my maths Poole only need a win to top the league, because I'm thinking it then goes to points difference. Special mention to the Galdiators thanks for tonight's efforts, shame about the bonus point debacle.

Congratulations Plymouth, hard luck with the superheat, and thanks from a Poole fan.

Sure a bucket full more and we'll be nicely topped up, thanks for the kind thought.

Well IMO Plymouth should be pretty happy with that, especially if they can secure a Collosium loving guest for Nichols. Plymouth could do Poole a bit of a favour by winning this one.

When you say the population of the Poole area is the same as Cumbria, you must be including your sheep as well right? Also worth noting that Poole has many fans travelling a fair distance for meetings, hence why the recent closure of the A31 was an issue for some.

I'm definitely in two minds over the league playoffs. Logically we have a league, a knockout and a hybrid competition(BSN) three different formats kind of testing different attributes of a team. So maybe it should be left at that? BUT the playoffs give us more club speedway to watch and like TheWellBehavedWorall says has dealt up some outstanding finals, last year at Ashfield and the year before at Wimborne Road. So on balance let's carry on and enjoy the playoffs.

Well if Poole gets all three of the remaining points they end up on 30, but Glasgow can now potentially end on 31 and so top the league. See from your edit this isn't required

Well you blew that one I'm afraid, two more opportunities.

Well that's about where I'm at, pity though because it's always nice to end up top of the league and now it's advantage Glasgow.

Somebody on Facebook suggests that Lewis Kerr has injured himself this evening, can anyone confirm?

I'm thinking Nichols broke his collar bone, giving him more grief now than when he did it? Anyway my point was that broadly speaking Injuries are more likely to lead to absentees in the pairs competition than the other causes being speculated.