Mimmo

As others have said, a good meeting which was definitely helped by the not so regular grading, which in turn also lead to a much swifter run meeting, which is what the public want. Obviously on this occasion, Belle Vue were weak in certain areas, but then so are we at times when riding away, just look at the Lakeside meeting on Good Friday. Nicholls and to a lesser extent Fricke were top draw, well supported by Worrall. The Aces rider that took my eye was Nielsen, who has made a torrid start to the season, but he showed some form last night. I do however accept that both Lewis Kerr and Ashley Morris were off song, which no doubt boosted the scores of their two reserves. I think the future is bright for the 'Stars' because I doubt that the two reserves will have another night like that this season (at home), and if I were an 'Aces' fan, I wouldn't feel to disheartened, because I doubt Zagar and Cook will have many bad nights like that either. At the end of the day, everybody rides as a team, and its up to others to cover for fellow team mates who are struggling for whatever reason. Now changing the subject, what on earth is the Buster Chapman column all about in the programme? It's been identical, word for word, for three meetings on the trot now, and having known him for many years that's not his style. We are paying £2.50 for a programme, which is about par for the course, but we shouldn't have to be reading exactly the same things on both page 3 and 7 every week for our money. Finally, well done to Dale Allitt who stepped up to the plate, and did a tremendous job in covering for Rob Lyon. Like the riders, you did us proud.

Hi Laurence, Are Peterborough going to take the Castleford fixtures as originally advertised? Thanks Mike

So that's what's called speedway racing is it.............................I DON'T THINK SO!!

It's a brilliant publication, and costs less than a lot of speedway programmes. Well done to everyone involved in this weeks great effort.

Blimey, this meeting isn't being spoken much about by Lakeside fans!!!

Pleased to hear that Lewis has been declared fit to ride by a doctor, subject to SCB approval. Lets hope that the bad weather holds off, so that the meeting can go ahead.

I think the end of the world is nigh in this part of Norfolk, the weather is horrendous now. It'll be a miracle if the world is saved and this meeting goes ahead!! Don't think Jaybea would agree do you???

Sun is back out now, but my thoughts are the same as Star Lady, is it really safe for four riders to be out on track in such strong winds. I can see a lot of the track shop merchandise distributing itself round the stadium tonight.

Rain and Hailstones coming down by the bucket load in Heacham at this very moment.

If this wind keeps up as strong as it is, we could be on track blown around with the two teams, as it's difficult to keep on your feet at the moment. It's bin collection day here today, and at the moment, the road and gardens look like a recycling centre with rubbish everywhere. Despite all that, still very much looking forward to watching the meeting tonight, but must confess that with it being shown live on SKY, added to the fact that the Italy v England footie match is being shown live, I get a feeling there won't be to many of us there. Good luck to both sets of riders tonight, I'm sure it will be a great night of racing.

Thoroughly enjoyed last nights meeting, but why oh why do we have to watch such a lot of the tractor doing lap after lap when there is curfew in place. Race times weren't getting any slower, and riders weren't getting into trouble, so why the need for all this waste of time? Hope Olly finds his injuries aren't so bad as feared, and now look forward to the next time I can visit the EOSG.

Obviously delays following accidents can't be avoided, but I thought the plan this season was to speed up proceedings, and last night took far to long. It was one of the coldest nights I can remember.......well, so was the Rory Schlein Testimonial........and as you say, why have an interval too. Sadly, quite a few people left long before the end, with at least three saying "We won't be returning". To those people I would say not to judge things by this one meeting, because they don't always take that long to reach a conclusion. As 'Trees' said, thank goodness we've got a proper programme this year, and yep, I also thought Matt did a good job out on the centre. Hopefully we'll soon get some warmer evenings, and meetings that finish by no later than 9.30pm

Fantastic news Kenneth, like everybody else, I'm delighted for you. My wife has both breast and lung cancer, so I fully appreciate what you and your family have gone through in terms of worry. Enjoy your life, which I'm sure you will, you must be walking 10 feet tall today.

Quite right norbold, the dirt-track as they were then called, was constructed at the City Way Stadium in 1931, and some trial meetings were staged in December of that year. The first actual meeting took place in August 1932 being an open meeting entitled 'The Chatham Scratch', and was won by Clapton rider Alf Foulds. It was in 1969 that the late Martyn Piddock won a demonstration race and as a result, the City Council granted permission for racing to be re-introduced to the stadium, only to learn later that Kent County Council had refused the planning application. I can remember a home meeting being advertised, but against whom I can't remember, and I made the journey from my then Motspur Park home, only to find an empty stadium on arrival. As someone else has said, they did ride a few meetings as Rochester 'Bombers' before moving to Romford, and like Bryn, I have the programmes hidden away somewhere in the loft or garage. I think the stadium was going to be demolished in the late 70's or early 80's, and can only assume that happened, and that there is either a housing estate now on the site, or another dreaded supermarket.

Although I'm yet to see confirmation, I understand that the NJL will run with six teams in 2015, those being Berwick, Castleford, Newcastle, Northside, Redcar and Workington. The Midland Development League has already published it's full 2015 fixture list on this site, and I'm sure all followers of the NJL are now eagerly awaiting the same thing to happen for this league. It certainly promises to be an exciting year for this level of racing again, and I for one can't wait for it to start.

Should be in the running for challenging for honours.

Cheers pal.

Laurence, You've shown the Castleford v Stoke meeting as taking place on both the 21st & 23rd August, which should it be please mate? Thanks Mike Sorry mate, not picking holes, just trying to get my own records correct. You've got Coventry v Belle Vue listed for both the 14th & 24th April. I would imagine the latter is correct, but would you be kind enough to confirm please? Ta much. Mike The list also shows Stoke v Belle Vue on both the 27th May & 27th June. Is Wolverhampton v Belle Vue a TBA meeting, as its not on the list? Thanks again. Mike I assume Buxton v Milton Keynes shouldn't be on the list for the 23rd August, as it's scheduled for the 24th May. Mike Probably a typing error here mate, but I assume the Long Eaton v Coventry meeting on the 9th May should be at Leicester, and not Mildenhall as shown. I know it's not easy trying to sort out fixtures, as I have to do the same for a bowls league, and it's a thankless task isn't it? All the Best Mike

Bloody disgusting when you look at the amount of people that are in this country sponging off everything and everyone they can, with no intentions of ever doing anything. Just hope that Sheffield can find an adequate replacement for Taylor, and that he's able to return in 2016, and the same goes for all the guys stuck in the middle of this situation.

GROUP A 1. Mitch Godden 3-3-3-2-3 = 14 2. Jack Kingston 1-1-2-3-F = 7 3. Jay Pearce 2-1-3-1-2 = 9 4. Kyle Doy 0-2-1.5-1-2 = 6.5 5. Aaron Vale 2-X-1-1-0 = 4 6. Ricky Pay 1-0-2-0-1 = 4 7. Chris Neame 0-0-1-0-R = 1 8. Lee Bassett 3-2-1.5-2-1 = 9.5 9. Ash Walters 0-1-0-0-1 = 2 10. Dan Berwick 3-3-3-3-3 = 15 11. Kelsey Dugard 2-3-R-3-3 = 11 12. Matt Saul 1-2-0-2-2 = 7 1) Godden, Pearce, Kingston, Doy 2) Bassett, Vale, Pay, Neame 3) Berwick, Dugard, Saul, Walters 4) Godden, Doy, Walters, Vale (Exc) 5) Berwick, Bassett, Kingston, Pay 6) Dugard, Saul, Pearce, Neame 7) Berwick, Kingston, Vale, Walters 8) Godden, Pay, Neame, Dugard (Ret) 9) Pearce, Doy & Bassett (Dead Heat), Saul 10) Berwick, Godden, Pearce, Pay 11) Kingston, Saul, Vale, Neame 12) Dugard, Bassett, Doy, Walters 13) Berwick, Pearce, Bassett, Neame (Ret) 14) Godden, Saul, Walters, Kingston (Fell) 15) Dugard, Doy, Pay, Vale GROUP B 1. Connor Dugard 2-1-3-3-2 = 11 2. Chris Shallcross 0-0-0-0-0 = 0 3. Russell Little 1-3-2-0-3 = 9 4. Rob Mear 3-2-3-3-3 = 14 5. Edward Kennett 3-3-3-3-2 = 14 6. Charley Powell R-3-2-2-1 = 8 7. Marc Owen 1-2-1-1-1 = 6 8. Sam Heath 2-1-1-1-R = 5 9. Tom Brennan 3-0-2-2-3 = 10 10. Nick Laurence 2-2-1-1-2 = 8 11. Chris Stanton 1-0-F-F-0 = 1 12. Dan Smith 0-1-0-2-1 = 4 1) Mear, Dugard, Little, Shallcross 2) Kennett, Heath, Owen, Powell (Ret) 3) Brennan, Laurence, Stanton, Smith 4) Kennett, Mear, Dugard, Brennan 5) Powell, Laurence, Heath, Shallcross 6) Little, Owen, Smith, Stanton 7) Kennett, Brennan, Laurence, Shallcross 8) Dugard, Powell, Owen, Stanton (Fell) 9) Mear, Little, Heath, Smith 10) Dugard, Powell, Laurence, Little 11) Kennett, Smith, Owen, Shallcross 12) Mear, Brennan, Heath, Stanton (Fell) 13) Little, Laurence, Owen, Heath (Ret) 14) Brennan, Dugard, Smith, Shallcross 15) Mear, Kennett, Powell, Stanton F FINAL: Chris Stanton, Chris Shallcross, Ash Walters, Chris Neame E FINAL: Ricky Pay, Sam Heath, Aaron Vale, Chris Stanton, Dan Smith D FINAL: Ricky Pay, Nick Laurence, Marc Owen, Kyle Doy, Matt Saul C FINAL: Jay Pearce, Charley Powell, Russell Little, Nick Laurence, Ricky Pay, Jack Kingston (Fell) B FINAL: Tom Brennan, Connor Dugard, Kelsey Dugard, Lee Bassett, Charley Powell, Jay Pearce A FINAL: Rob Mear, Edward Kennett, Connor Dugard, Dan Berwick, Tom Brennan, Mitch Godden (Exc) LADIES RACES 1. Ruth Smith 3-3-3-3 = 12 2. Leah Westwood 2-2-3-2 = 9 3. Holly Knell 3-2-R-2 = 7 1) Smith, Westwood 2) Knell, Westwood 3) Smith, Knell 4) Westwood, Knell (Ret) 5) Smith, Westwood 6) Smith, Knell

Sounds like it's going to be a great season of MDL action again, and I very much look forward to it. I've already noted in my diary to go to Scunthorpe on the 31st August for the MDL Riders' Championship.....bring it all on.

With a lot of 2014 MDL & NJL riders moving up to the National League this season, which is fantastic, I just hope there are enough riders left so that we don't see Arthur Scratching riding for Milton Keynes at Castleford one week, then King's Lynn at Castleford the next week, then only to ride for Castleford against one of those teams the next match. I hope also this year, that clubs programmes leave space in their main programme to accommodate these fixtures, and to leave enough space to make team changes and the like. Some of last years race-charts were so small, it was difficult to write in the spaces.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the action you see, I certainly hope so anyway. Undoubtedly the league has been watered down a little this year, something the Elite League has been doing for years, but give those new kids a few weeks, and they'll wow you. I just hope the good folk of Sunny Sussex will still give the club their support. The crowds at King's Lynn at times, like some of the other tracks, are quite abysmal for National League meetings, and being a regular around the country for this level of racing, it's impossible for me to understand. Obviously you get crap meetings at times, but then you do at any level in any sport. But as admission costs are lower, which is a hugely important factor to people in this day and age of expensive living, the quality of what is served up, is generally good value for money. So good luck to you all at Eastbourne (except for when you meet King's Lynn ) along with all other clubs in the National League.

I agree with you 'Parsloes', I think Marc will be a top rider in this league during 2015. He was a tremendous asset to King's Lynn last year, and as a supporter of National League racing, and King's Lynn in particular, our loss is very much 'Eagles' gain, and I wish him nothing but the best.

Like you guys, I'm desperate for the NL fixtures too. We all have things in our lives to organise apart from just speedway, and it really is unfair that they are so late being published. Over the years, I've always tried to put speedway first, and build the rest of my many commitments around that, but unless they are out within the next fortnight, speedway will have to go to the back of the queue, which will be sad, because that's not I want. Not only will I miss the meetings I would so dearly like to attend, but the tracks involved with miss out on my families admission and programme money.