mikec

Any news yet whether BBC Radio WM are covering this match live?

I agree too CB, no real home advantage as yet for the Aces. Matej Zagar touched on that subject in the post-match conference in the Peter Craven Suite. No complaints from him about the track, just a lack of consistency in conditions in home matches to date (due to the bang average Manchester "summer" so far), making set-ups hard to find. Thought Wolves were excellent, especially early on, & they are a live threat for the title for me. An Aces/Wolves 2-legged playoff tie would be some contest! After a couple of fallow years for Freddie Lindgren, enjoyed watching him back near his best, was quality all match. Whether the Aces make the playoffs or not, Max Fricke has to be the first name on the Aces team sheet for 2017. Bound to be on an attractive average, great temperament, smooth racing style, quick - & improving rapidly. Gonna be interesting to see how far he can progress - he's the real deal in my opinion.

That looked horrible, really awkward landing, hope Pawlicki's not too badly injured.

Rob Lambert's performed well on his previous visits to Belle Vue this season, looking forward to watching him again on Weds night. With the SWC Final just over 3 weeks away, great to have Lambert, Cook, Nicholls & Steve Worrall all in action at the NSS, a golden opportunity in front of the Sky cameras for them to impress & stake a claim for a Team GB spot. Should be some great racing between two teams with designs on the EL title, can't wait!

Seen Paul Starke excel at both Leicester & Belle Vue this year, a lot to like about him, he's good to watch & I hope he continues to improve. His score tonight doesn't surprise me one bit.

Thought Kings Lynn reserves were competitive tonight, best I've seen Lambert race. Seen Batch get plenty of stick on here too about racing in the wet, thought he got stuck in.

Enjoyed tonight's NL action at the NSS. Thought Stoke put up plenty of fight, with Ben Wilson & Danny Phillips at the heart of their best moments. Track rode well again, albeit a bit on the dry side. Best to err on the side of caution with rain around pre & post match not too far away. Those slicker conditions didn't suit Jon Armstrong or Tony Atkin, certainly no lack of effort from them, great to watch. Best race of the night for me was heat 14 with Rob Shuttleworth & Danny Phillips dicing for 4 laps, terrific stuff. Nice touch from the Colts walking out in front of the grandstand after the match to meet the fans for autographs, photos etc. Nothing too much trouble, was really well received, credit all round. Just finally brought back a few memories in the second half watching the young lad in the kevlars complete with tassles, very Screeny/Douggie Wyer-esque - definitely not enough of that in modern day speedway!

Been thinking the same about Kyle Howarth. Remember watching him race in the same Belle Vue Colts side as Jason Garrity & they were around the same level - that certainly isn't the case at the moment. Being a local lad & ex-Belle Vue, I was sad to see Kyle struggle last night, hope he starts to progress again soon - though if he could wait til after Monday night that would be ideal.

Unsure about the rules regarding Sam Masters being able to ride for the Wolves following the Edinburgh rainoff. He was there though, sat at table next to me in the Peter Craven Suite. Was chatting to CvS pre match, all very cordial, seemingly no problem. Think he'll go well round the NSS, a shame he wasn't racing tonight.

Enjoyed the forum tonight. I thought the panel spoke well, it was light-hearted at times but covered some contentious issues too (Tai, EDR, amalgamation etc) & they said what they thought. Would like to see it replicated at other tracks with different participants on the panel, maybe take it to PL & NL tracks, where there are different issues & viewpoints to be expressed, while still have the common goal of helping British speedway become strong again. Here's hoping.

Great to read to enjoyed last night's match, was only post-interval where the Aces got away. Really enjoyable meeting last night, but the Coventry match was better, hope it finds it's way online sometime, a must watch. About 10 miles from the airport to NSS, a group of you in a minibus it'll be cheap as chips.

Well at least you predicted the number of sets correctly. Not sure about this Poznan track, the outside line looks a tough place to pass, although Pepe worked some of his magic earlier. I suspect the Gorzow v Leszno match will be a far better spectacle. Fine ride from Gala to hold off Dudek. Maybe Wroclaw can rescue something from this match..??

Looked good did Scott, solid performance, similar to what he does for the Aces. Drabik massive miss of course for Wroclaw, think this'll be close, 46-44 Wroclaw.

Hello all, missed first few races, how's Scotty doing? Agree about that stand, very impressive, stands out a bit, have yet to see it full. Hope you're right about our favourite Scottish British tennis player too. Excellent ride from Nicholls to hold off the hard-charging Jeleniewski.

Another enjoyable match at Belle Vue tonight & another 3 valuable league points for the Aces, against a battling Lakeside Hammers side. Though not quite as spectacular as the Coventry fixture, there was still plenty of exciting racing on offer, Steve Worrall at the heart of much of it. I almost look forward to him going from 15m handicap now! He has to be a good bet for a rostrum place at the British Final on current home form. Lakeside contributed plenty, particularly through their reserves with both Bridger & Mear clearly taking a liking to the new track. Nilsson looked quick & a threat all night despite not winning a race. AJ had a bit of a "nearly not quite" sort of meeting, no lack of effort, & no shame in losing to a rejuvenated (& flying) Craig Cook in the later heats either. Wouldn't be surprised to see these two sides meet again come playoff time.

What's happened to the excellent looking Robins side I watched here in Manchester barely a month ago? Congratulations to the Lions - oh & my bookie is delighted too!

Great action between Kildemand & Jonsson in heat 13, AJ trying everything but no way past. Then revenge for AJ over Kildemand in a cracking heat 15. 17 points for Max Fricke, looked really quick.

Excellent race between Thorssell & Pawlicki in heat 8. Good to see Max Fricke showing good form again tonight, had 8 pts from first 3 races - & now won heat 9 by a mile which included Kildemand, Hancock & Vaculik. Impressive.

Rob's spot on, heat 8 with Garrity v the Worrall twins was special & the heat 6 battle between Nicholls & Bomber was quality too. How Sky would have loved covering that match yesterday! Congratulations to both teams, that was a definitely a match I won't forget in a hurry!

See this being a real close match while the Aces have still to establish any home advantage. KK & Bomber will enjoy the wide, sweeping bends of the new Kirky Lane. Prediction 46-44 Aces. Good to hear there's plenty of Bees fans making the trip north. Do yourselves a favour if you can & buy your tickets online & print at home, it'll save you a lot of time & queuing when you get here. Ticket office only has three windows & it gets really busy.

Enjoyed my trip to Brandon last night, got to admit that when I saw that Branford was guesting for Bates, I couldn't see anything other than an Aces win. However, it was a really spirited team effort from the under-strength Bees, led brilliantly by Chris Harris, great to see him in that sort of form. Thought the heat where Sargeant pinched 2nd place off Steve Worrall + Jason Garrity's last two rides in particular epitomised Coventry's determination to get something from the match - & continue the Bees outstanding record against the Aces in recent times. The Aces didn't have enough riders firing on all cylinders. Max Fricke's excellent form continues & Richie Worrall did his job. However after two paid wins, Zagar couldn't get anywhere near Harris. Craig Cook was a bit up & down, though rode a storming heat 13 to just about keep Harris at bay. The Aces heroes from Monday night at Wimborne Road, Nicholls & Steve Worrall, weren't at their best, with Nicholls in particular looking relatively slow all night. Overall a decent match in front of a healthy looking crowd on a lovely sunny evening. Hope the campaign to save the Bees gathers pace & the Bees are on track in 2017 & beyond - good luck to all involved!

Great ride from Maks Drabik in heat 2 there, impressive.

Young Brennan & Kyle Bickley both looked smooth & quick in those laps after the main match on Friday night, look forward to watching their progress over the months & years ahead. Thought overall the depleted Eagles did pretty well on a track that is alien when compared to Arlington. As I said on a previous post Jake Knight in particular was good to watch, no lack of effort from the Eagles side as a whole. At start of the season I had no great expectations regarding the Colts, think I may have underestimated them a bit. The match at Brum on Wednesday will be a big test for them. Pleased you enjoyed the facilities at the NSS & hope you enjoy your trip back north for the Lakeside match - hopefully summer's arrived in Manchester by then, it was pretty cold by 9.30 Friday night!

Can only echo Phil's sentiments, really enjoyable match. Solid team effort from the Colts, all of whom were kept honest by the Eagles, & Jake Knight in particular. Some terrific races where he was involved - hope one of those appears online soon. Was great to see Martin Dugard at the NSS tonight, passing on his wisdom, enthusiasm & experience to the Eagles lads tonight. It did make me feel a bit old though, a class rider back in the day!

Signed, good luck to all involved with the campaign.