NJC71

Surely this is the responsibility of the referee? You would think eligibility for rider replacement rides would be something the referee would check out before the meeting starts, not as if it's hard to get hold of the averages. You wouldn't think he/she would just assume the printed averages were correct.

This meeting really turned on the second bend, lap 2 in heat 1. Jorgensen out in front and looking quick with Pijper in behind, the Diamonds not threatening and a 1-5 looking a formality. Then Jorgensen packs up, the unlucky Pijper spins round taking avoiding action and then packs up himself. A 1-5 turned into an incredibly fortunate 5-0. Wilson and Lunna then gate on a 5-1 in heat 2 but make a hash of it and are picked off for a 5-1. Wilkinson then falls under no pressure while leading heat 3, another 5-1 awarded to the Diamonds. Newcastle amazingly lead 15-2 with most of the deficit wiped out when it could easily have been 13-5 to Scunny and a lead stretched to 24 points. After that it was pretty much one way traffic, Jorgensen presumably not recovering from his mechanical problems and failing to score, while Pijper and Wilkinson both spoiled good heat wins with ineffective rides in between. Good all round performance from the Diamonds who took full advantage of Scunthorpe's problems. Henry has not convinced me this season but the others all look in decent form. Rosen in particular rode well tonight. Despite the one sided nature of the meeting there was some good racing and nice to see it flow well and all done and dusted by 8.20pm.

A team turning up with 3 guests and rider replacement. And people wonder why crowds are poor.

Disappointing night for the Diamonds on the back of Thursday but the Panthers deserved to win. Track was much better than last week and as a result it was a good meeting. For me the Panthers bullied the Diamonds a bit tonight and were more aggressive in the 50-50's. Robert Lambert may not be Mr popular with the home crowd for his none show on Friday but he was great to watch tonight. The BSPA decision not to give him a wildcard in the British Final just does not make any sense whatsoever. Absolutely crazy. Ostergaard & Barker are always good value here and Simon Lambert rides this place much better than he used to. Very unlucky not to score more than he did and hope he is ok after a pretty horrible crash in heat 14. As for the Diamonds, Steve didn't look that quick early on but pulled it round and did very well to win his last two rides. Ludvig looked very quick once he changed bikes and gave it everything but his abysmal starting left him far too much to do. Main problem for us tonight was Lewis Kerr, superb at Ipswich and generally going well on the road but for whatever reason he just hasn't got going at all around Brough this year and seems to have lost his confidence a bit on his home track. Really good and very competitive meeting though.

Are teams allowed to use r/r or guests indefinitely nowadays? I thought there was a 28 day rule or is it because there is an acceptance that there is basically nobody out there to sign. It's a serious problem for speedway. It is almost becoming rare to see two seven man teams on the tack and I can't remember the last time I saw two teams tracking line-ups without r/r or guests. At least the Diamonds will be back to full strength. Hope we get a surface which allows good racing tonight, it was very dry and slick last week. Personally I'm looking forward to seeing Robert Lambert ride.

Presume the reason for Rosen not taking the R/R ride was fitness. Perhaps he was feeling his injury and being saved for heat 14. Great and totally unexpected win for the Diamonds. Good all round display but what a difference it makes when your number 1 bangs in 14. Great display from Lewis Kerr.

I'm not sure changing race days would make a fat lot of difference in terms of available riders to sign. We certainly couldn't to be paying a Polish rider to fly over here every week so not sure who the riders are that currently ride abroad and might be available to us if we moved to Monday. Just looking back at an old Speedway Star annual from 1991. There were 9 teams in the Elite League. 91 different riders rode for those clubs during the season. There were 17 National League clubs (as it was then). 189 different riders rode for those clubs. There was NO doubling up. So that's nearly 300 riders appearing in Britain that year. Compare that to this season so far: 8 clubs in the Elite League 33 different riders (excluding this doubling up). 13 in the PL 99 riders. So 130 odd. Ok so we have a few months left but safe to say there'll be less than half the number of riders competing in Britain this year than there was in 91 and it's only going to get worse. Massive problem imo.

Beg to differ but not cracking entertainment for me, it was a poor meeting. Track was very dry and dusty. These continuing gusty winds won't have helped but surprised they didn't try and put more water down during the meeting. As a result there was no grip at all on the outside line and hardly a pass all night. Richie passing his brother in heat 15 was the only one I can recall. Didn't suit Lindgren who was desperate out of the starts and had absolutely no chance of passing anyone on that track tonight. Steve wasn't as good as he has been lately and Kerr started and finished with two poor starts but gated well in between. Covatti was good once he got going and provided the only entertainment with his exciting style. Somerset were nothing special but made the gate when it mattered. It was always going to be tough for the Diamonds tonight. As for team changes I have no idea who is out there who can make a difference. The sport is in a desperate state with lack of riders. I'm afraid gone are the days when riders were queuing up for team places.

Not surprised it was a poor crowd for a few reasons. Firstly I don't think it was a very appealing fixture, there was never any realistic likelihood of the Diamonds scoring 60+ as they just aren't strong enough to do that at the moment. Obviously we've had a few rain offs this season so a difficult one, but running a League Cup match a month after the PL has started isn't ideal. Then there is the weather which has been awful for this time of year and it was yet again cold and windy last night. And finally both sides were using rider replacement which I honestly don't think helps. I don't know what the solution is but rider replacement is a real turn-off for me and the BSPA need to look at solutions as people want value for their money, i.e. seeing two seven man sides. The meetings at Newcastle also don't tend to run quickly, not helped by the continued use of r/r. When it's poor weather the prospect of standing around for over 2 hours is another turn off. The first four heats last night took an age to complete. I really think that's something that happens too often and needs sorting out especially when it's cold. I appreciate resources are stretched and delays will occur but we really should be able to get through 15-20 1 minute races in better time. As for the team, it was built to a budget which is hard to argue with. It was never a team that was likely to challenge at the top of the table and I also don't think having Rosen back will all of a sudden turn us into a top 4/6 side although it will certainly help us become more competitive. Steve Worrall has been absolutely superb, Lindgren and Nielsen have pretty much scored as expected but the others have been up and down and overall have probably not scored as well as hoped. I'm sure the promotion will be keeping their eyes open but I can't see who is available. Don't forget it needs someone who we can afford to pay (including any loan or signing fees), who is clearly better than what we have and who can commit to all of our fixtures. There's absolutely no point in suggesting riders who clearly aren't available. With Anton due back it would seem sensible to allow the team a couple of weeks to ride at full strength before considering any changes.

Somewhat over the top and not very intelligent reaction from Havelock. I somehow doubt "999 out of 1,000" supporters would have agreed that North should have been excluded. In reality it was a tough call that could have gone either way. He needs to think before he speaks. That aside it was an enjoyable meeting and great to see a big crowd at Swindon tonight. Also good to see a track with plenty of grip. Hope Hans makes a swift recovery, that was a nasty one.

Couldn't make it tonight but shocked (and pleased) to see the result. That must be the weakest looking Diamonds side I've seen for a long while. Can't understand why we didn't go with a guest at number 1, especially with Henry in such awful form going in to the meeting. Considering the line-up it's a hell of a win. Really poor result for Glasgow though.....

Cook didn't miss the two minutes. He got to the tapes in time. The only possible contentious decision for me was when Masters gave Lindgren a nudge going into turn 1 but Ludde didn't come off until he lost it coming out of 2 so it was probably a fair decision.

Good meeting on a very good track tonight. Both teams gave 100% and there was plenty of good racing. Plus (for once) it all ran in good time. Much better. It was always going to be tough for the Diamonds tonight without both Rosen and the normally solid scoring Neilsen. Edinburgh are once again very strong but if they have a slight vulnerability it's at reserve. However without Nielsen and with Rose, although giving everything, still not looking as quick as last year we weren't able to take advantage. The 1-5 in heat 2 was a major blow. Henry also had a dreadful night, looking down on power after his problems at Berwick. We couldn't afford that to happen tonight. Lindgren gave it everything and was unlucky at times but perhaps he needs to use his head more as he gated well but seemed to create his own problems, going too wide at times on the first bend. Heat 13 was particularly disappointing as he and Lewis Kerr gated well ahead of the Monarchs top 2 but made a real mess of the first bend and somehow managed to turn a possible 5-1 into a 1-5 by the time they hit the back straight. One rider who made no such errors was Steve Worrall who was absolutely magnificent tonight. Hard to believe this is the same rider who was struggling so badly for confidence and points around here only a couple of seasons ago. That has to go down as the best individual performance I've seem from a Diamond since the Larsen, Bach, Lemon days given the strength of the opposition. Have to give credit to the Monarchs. They have this happy knack of building strong teams year on year despite the constraints of the points limit. Cook and Masters must be the strongest top 2 in the league with plenty of back-up from Wolbert and Sedgmen. Riss also looks promising. They will clearly take some stopping again.

I think that's a good effort from effectively a 4 man team. Outstanding score from Stevie Worrall on his former track. Superb.

I've heard the tinted goggles idea from Pablo 133 who rides MX. Far too sensible an idea for speedway to introduce it.

Accept that there were reasons for a lengthy meeting last night but I have felt for a while that meetings at Newcastle go on for too long. It is rare that a meeting is over before 8.30 and 9pm finishes are not uncommon. It's something the promotion need to look at as people have early starts for work on Monday or children to put to bed and I'm sure would welcome getting home at a reasonable time. The low lying sun has become a real issue over the last 12 months or so. The strange thing is I don't remember it being a problem in the past so why has it become such a problem recently? Has a near by building been pulled down or something? Obviously a difficult one to resolve but if it's going to cause delays on such a frequent basis it needs some thought. A few things I'd like to see: - racing start at 6.30pm prompt, that's racing, not the parade. - two minutes on as soon as the result for the previous race is announced - an agreed period of extended delay if a rider has two races on the trot (say 4 minutes). That would get away from the inconsistency that we saw last night - riders straight back to the tapes if there is a false start. Too often we see riders going back to the pits followed by a fresh 2 minutes being announced. I can't see any reason why meetings shouldn't be done and dusted in 90 minutes and if they generally were I think people would have more patience on the odd night when they run over.

Referee was terrible although that doesn't excuse the behaviour of certain elements of the crowd. Speedway does seem to attract some odd people. I find it quite embarrassing. Hope Anton isn't too badly injured. A broken collarbone (if confirmed) would be a blow. His exclusion in that race was questionable as was pretty much every other decision the referee made tonight. Great performance from Josh Bates who rode superbly and Jan Graversen who had easily his best meeting at Brough. Accept there were a number of falls, but again that's 2 and a half hours to run 15 one minute races. It's way too long and there is far too much standing about with nothing happening, which when it's cold like tonight is not much fun. We had the silly situation where we have a 15 minute break due to the sun again (although no announcement) and then it's decided (when the sun has gone in) that we're having an interval? Best part of half an hour with no racing. And with the referee playing the clown it started to feel like the meeting was never going to end.

Bit harsh to say it was poor. Sheffield have a strong side and the Diamonds don't have proven Owlerton performers so 36 was respectable imo. We should do better at Scunny although for some reason we don't have a particularly good record at the EWR.

I can recall a Lemo inspired win at Sheffield in recent history... The Diamonds have exceeded expectations so far but our team doesn't look well equipped for Owlerton so if we can stop the home team hitting 60 that would be a decent effort. That said I think we'll also win easily in the return fixture.

Very good win although Redcar seemed to throw a lot of points away. Had my reservations about this Diamond side and still worry about us on the road at most tracks but they've done nothing wrong so far. Very solid all the way down tonight and encouraging to see Steve win heats 13 & 15 as he did at Berwick. Much better from Rosen and a good night for Nielsen too. Fear for the Bears though. Bjerre is quality but I don't see much improvement in the rest of that top 5 and they don't have a high scoring reserve to compensate. Early days but it doesn't look a strong enough side to me even when Robbo returns.

It's a team that obviously lacks top end power. We can possibly get away with it if Lewis Rose could do what Lewis Kerr did in 2013 but if not I fear it could be hard going particularly on the road. I guess they can only build a team with what they have. A struggling team is better than no team.

Personally I’m not as obsessed with having a big hitting number 1 as some. We introduced one last season and were arguably weaker after the change as the balance of the team wasn’t right elsewhere. That said I do have reservations. If it is to be Henry and a 3 pointer the team will be very similar to the one that started last season but arguably slightly weaker with Steve in for Robbo and the 3 pointer for Schramm. Lewis Kerr and Lewis Rose will though have the benefit of a further season behind them, expectations on Anton probably won’t be as high as they were 12 months ago and Steve, although definitely on a false average is still young and improving so there is plenty of scope for improvement. It will definitely be tough for Lewis if he is to line up at number 1. That means he will have to ride 2 or 3 times against the opposition top 2. He will though have either Henry (if signed) or Rosen alongside him at number 2 so it’s hardly a bad pairing. I’m sure he’ll be up for it but it is a big ask. With such potentially weak heat leaders the strength of this side will have to be its depth so it is vital we get a decent reserve alongside Lewis Rose and that the rest of the side perform consistently well. We certainly won’t be able to carry anybody as a lack of last places and strength in heats 2, 8 and 14 will have to offset the lack of firepower. Without mentioning names, one or two riders who have a tendency to not perform on occasions will have to rid that from their game if this side is to do well. Also worth remembering that crowds are in the hundreds not the thousands these days and this side will no doubt have been built within a modest budget. My gut feeling is that this side will finish mid table at best unless someone like Lewis Kerr has a massive year and puts 2 points on his average or Lewis Rose does something special from reserve but as ever avoiding injury will be just as important. Time will tell.

Joe Owen all day. From a Newcastle perspective worth mentioning David Bargh and Mark Thorpe. Thorpey's rise from inconsistent reserve to 10pt number 1 in 1991 was amazing and such a shame his career was curt short by injury. David Bargh remains one of my favourite riders and was brilliant to watch at his best. They were an awesome double act. Can still remember that incredible 48 hours when we won the Gold Cup with a last heat Thorpe/Bargh 5-1 and then did the same at Exeter the next night when Exeter was viewed as an almost impossible place to win at. Those were the days.... Les Collins at around the same period was my personal favourite visiting number 1.

I have always backed Ludvig but personally I would look elsewhere simply because he's just never provided any real consistency and there are too many tracks where he just doesn't perform. Certainly has the ability but if it was going to happen for Ludvig it would have happened by now. Henry would be fine as long as he's not expected to ride in a heat leader position. He doesn't have the ability to get the big scores that Ludvig does but he's more reliable and scores more solidly on the road. If we go with a Kerr, Henry, Rosen, Lindgren, S or R Worrall top 5 it would be solid and would be very strong at 2 and 4 but would obviously lack proven heat leader strength. It would really need a Kerr or Worrall to have a massive year or we'd be very weak in the big heats and risk ending up with the same problem we had last season. Lewis Rose would also need to have a major impact from reserve for that team to be successful. Not impossible but asking a lot.

Presumably no Aaron Fox at Edinburgh next season with Clegg and Branford at reserve. Possible option at reserve alongside Lewis Rose? Guested for us several times last season and more often than not did very well.