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That's the thing about sport - not ever competitor is "on it" every time! Which team has the most "on it" riders this evening will probably win!

http://www.sheffield-speedway.com/news.php?extend.3110 THURSDAY’S TEAMS: SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder, Craig Cook, Tobiasz Musielak, Kyle Howarth, Adam Ellis, Stefan Nielsen, Connor Mountain. BELLE VUE: Max Fricke, Jye Etheridge R/R, Matej Zagar, Charles Wright, Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Tom Brennan.

Aces return to Owlerton looking for revenge after their home & away defeats in the Northern League Cup. Aces stronger septet now with Zagar replacing Allen, but it must have been a long time since the Slovenian rode Owlerton. 2005 with Reading Racers I think! Fricke's form after winning the Warsaw GP seems to have improved and who knows what the enigma that is Brady Kurtz will do. Sheffield are solid outfit, from seeing their results but Cook's form has been a disappointment, while Musielak has been up & down on his return to these shores after a few seasons away. The Tigers will be keen to bounce back strongly from their home defeat to Wolves last Thursday.

Don't know how it came across on the stream but watching it live, it was a good meeting which got better as the racing developed. As the promotion were keen to get it finished early and I was texting updates I didn't get chance to go to the toilet until the gap between heats 10 & 11 when the announcer was interviewing Fricke, I was regretting the refillable soft drink at the Harvester long before then! First comment is that it is nice to park on tarmac rather than a muddy field - 1 improvement on last year, I'd say the crowd was slightly down compared to the twice I visited the EoESg last year. The only rising stars that looked competitive in this company were Brennan & Thomas, guessing Lemon thought Douglas may have issues swapping to his second bike - mentioned by Masters when interviewed so took a punt using Brennan. In fairness Douglas & Masters gave up chasing Fricke and team rode Brennan out of it toward the end of that heat. Thomas kept Kurtz honest for a few laps. Gate 4 appeared to have a big advantage at the start which disappeared by the end. Without doubt the best ride of the night was MPT passing both Witches in heat 7, other than that Panthers were disappointing - the couple of times Harris gated a queue formed behind him, but I only recall Holder passing him, it was obvious Holder was way quicker throughout, Harris only got in front from the gate by grass tracking to push Holder wide. King was the slowest non RS on show, when he did make the gate and he did a few times he went backwards. IMO Fricke was the quickest rider on the night, with Holder & Doyle not far behind, think Belle Vue made a mistake choosing gate 4 in the semi, advantage had gone. Kings Lynn probably deserved to win, best pairing overall and their 7-2 over their local rivals was the best heat. I had moved from start/finish straight stand to first bend so I didn't get stuck on car park for final, Lawson was obviously looking what was going on behind him throughout, because of fence & no elevation couldn't see if Ellis clipped him entering the last lap but it looked like he did. Other than that Ellis was largely anonymous! Sheffield got to final without me really noticing him. Similar story for Kurtz, who is proving rather an inconsistent enigma, the only thing I remember him doing of note was making a mistake that allowed Ellis to pass him, nothing like peerless previous visit to Alwalton. Wolves seemed to start strong, Masters looked good, Douglas looked slow. Douglas swapped bikes and was much quicker, but Masters faded as the dirt went wide, yet he was the first rider to sweeping outside pass overcoming in Lawson heat 6. Nearly a month until the next round at Foxhall! Lets hope Peterborough don't declare their top 4 unavailable and go with three RS riders. I can se some iffy pairings towards the end of this from the teams out of contention - the only negative comment, for now.

Of course they could but it's very unlikely. I'm sure some maths genius could figure it out!

OK great, thanks for confirming.

Updates has a line-up, I'm far from convinced it is correct - the clubs are listed as riding in alphabetical order?

Zagar rode for Bydgoszcz on Sunday.

Max Clegg is a rising star?

Weather forecast for P'Boro Monday is a little damp.

I assume each pair races the other pairs once?

Remains to be seen if Zagar is fit. Regardless he surely hasn't (g)raced the Owlerton shale for 15+ years, has he? 2005ish with Reading? Bydgoszcz are at FZG on Sunday, he is listed as riding on sportowefakty.

i was planning on visiting the EoESg on Monday, has the format been confirmed?

Interesting, Becker is listed as riding for Dackarna this evening.

Would Harris have been a better choice. Or King? Wolves are at Owlerton, so Panthers or Witches riders are the only ones available.

Oops. Thought Wright passing Pickering in heat 15 denied Stars a point, I was incorrect.

First two track grades the tractor was removing dirt from the inside which improved, but no rider ventured beyond 2/3's towards the air fence because of the build up of loose material there, the build up must have been 8 inches high exiting turn 4 midtrack by the end. It had been there for a wile, tractor never went near it.

Well watching it on catch-up and skimming all but the races I wasn't sure which riders were who Riss & Barker and the camera operators don't help, but Witches needed a 5-1 - King hadn't had a good night but was only option to partner Doyle.

A more interesting & enjoyable meeting than I'd expect from Foxhall. Sheffield put the point the Aces nicked from their visit into perspective. Foxhall was always going to be the one track Musielak would struggle on this year. King seems to be trying to hard, Batchelor looks spent, why was he in heat 15?

Track very strange today, looked like allot of loose material on it, riders barely moved off the white line. Came good by the end and lots of tractoring. Except for Brennan passing Thomas in heat 4, while races seemed fast they were also quite spread out. 3 good race at the end, Fricke passing TS Iversen, Pickering passing Fricke in heat 13 and the best of all Wright passing Pickering in heat 15. Stars unlucky not get a point, inside gates big advantage tonight. MPT was poor, in his own words he needed to "grow some balls", I'm sure Zagar would have excelled on that track. Suspect the absence of the Slovenian affected Kurtz who looked nothing like the rider that scored a 15 point maximum on BHM, says when Zagar riding it feels like a weight of pressure is lifted. Was surprised Worrall wasn't used in het 14 but Thomas had been decent in his previous rides.

Obviously been more rain here, it was torrential as I passed the airport but dry now. Roadworks by the old greyhound stadium.

Spotted with rain 15 miles South West but very brief, not enough to wet the ground. 1 ride for Wright, 3 for Brennan will yield more points than I'd expect Etheridge to score. MPT is best guest available, lacks the star factor Zagar brings but can't see it affecting the overall score 53-37.

Well if the weather is anything like it is 60 miles South it's turned into quite a nice day, so my Monday afternoon pilgrimage will commence shortly.

Arrival due at 13:30 flight from Katowice? Or 15:40 from Krakow? Guessing, can't see anything else due into Manchester airport today from Poland.

No cancellation as yet.