BobC

Strange meeting in many ways. Were Plymouth really that good? Or were Swindon that poor? Mostly Swindon poor in my book. Zach was superb, as expected, Cuppitt only scored when he got a couple of fliers. Got loads of speed but doesnt know how and when to use it, all over the place. Greenwood only had one good ride, expected a lot more. Mason was as inconsistent as ever. Anderson and Sutton well outpaced, as expected. Difficult situation for Lee Kilby, but I do thank all those that helped the Sprockets out in trying times. Anderson and Sutton especially. Plymouth Boxall, as expected, untroubled all night. Andrews, got a paid max, Best Ive ever seen him. Smart, very awkward and disappointing.Seemed to lack interest. Walker, got stuck in and tried hard all night. Compton, very bland and boring Parker, I understand Ht2 was his first ever race win for Devils? Never far away from scoring more. Atkins, Comfortable and easy riding style and scored freely. Like him a lot. Ive seen far better meetings at the SBA, but hey ho another home win will hopefully tempt more to attend.

Plymouth take on Swindon at the SBA in the National Trophy. Beautiful day for it too! (Ok, Im 30 miles away in Torquay) The following copied an paste from the Plymouth Devils forum. The Plymouth Devils return to National Trophy action on Friday when the Swindon Sprockets are the visitors to the St Boniface Arena. The Sprockets are not competing in the League this year but testing the ground to assess whether to apply for membership in 2018. Due to this they have been able to cherry pick their side from any club not taking part in the National Trophy and team boss Lee Kilby, son of former Swindon and Exeter legend Bob Kilby, has assembled a strong side. They have Lakeside and Swindon rider Zach Watjknecht at No. 1 and the Bristol born racer is the best friend of Plymouth’s Callum Walker with the duo having had a titanic grass track battle a few weeks ago for the British Under 21 title. Zach was a league winner last year with Birmingham but moved to parent club Lakeside in 2017 also getting a top league berth with Swindon. He is partnered by the ever improving Birmingham rider Layne Cupitt, brother-in-law of Tai Woffinden. Layne has turned potential into points this year over doubling his starting 3 point average for the Brummies. Cradley’s Dan Greenwood lines up at No. 3 having had a superb meeting at the St Boniface Arena for his club recently and is a man in form. Alongside him at No. 4 is the evergreen David Mason , who has a good record at Plymouth and controversially was axed by Lakeside this week and has a point to prove. Skippering the Sprockets is Swindon born and bred Darryl Ritchings , who has stared 2017 in fine form for Birmingham . At reserve Swindon track Kings Lynn’s Lewis Whitmore with the No. 6 spot empty following Taylor Hampshire’s decision to take a rest from racing but the Sprockets have the choice of any other 3 point riders available. The Devils are at full strength as they have two fixtures in two days heading for Eastbourne on Saturday for a league match .The second half on Friday will feature two 125cc demonstrations with Bren Trigger, Zak Davey and Leo Rixon plus two quad bike races. The meeting on Friday is sponsored by BRIGGS EQUIPMENT and PRINCESS YACHTS. Teams : Plymouth … 1. STEVE BOXALL 10.30 2. RICHARD ANDREWS 4.26 3. LEE SMART 5.71 4. CALLUM WALKER 3.45 5. BENJI COMPTON C 8.95 6. ROB PARKER 3.00 7. HENRY ATKINS 3.00 SWINDON SPROCKETS 1. ZACH WAJTKNECHT 8.59 2. LAYNE CUPITT 6.54 3. DAN GREENWOOD 7.14 4. DAVID MASON 6.54 5. DARRYL RITCHINGS C 7.55 6. 3.00 7. LEWIS WHITMORE 3.00 Gates open 5.45pm. First race 7.15pm. Admission : Adults £10, Child (10-16) £ 5, Child (u10) free, family ticket (2a + 2c) £25. Programme £2.50 Read more: http://plymouthdevils.proboards.com/thread/8869/tough-trophy-devils-friday-preview#ixzz4iA3zdSMU

Copied and paste from my own post on the Plymouth forum. Plymouth 20 Exeter 16 Demons Henry Atkins 9 Saul Bulley 5+1 Rob Parker 5+1 Jordan Bull 1 Falcons Martin French 1+1 Craig Nethercott 4 Andrew Parker 3+1 Anders Rowe 8 Weymouth 17 Exeter 19 Wildcats Anders Rowe 7 Martin French 1 Saul Bulley 6+1 Mick Sutton 3 Falcons Henry Atkins 9 Craig Nethercott 3 Andrew Parker 2 Jordan Bull 5 125cc 3 riders only Sam Peters 12 Zak Davey 8 Leo Rixon 3 Men in Black Alex Gooch (Ipswich) 11 Dave Harney (Long Eaton) 9 Ron Jones (Coventry) 4 Bill Haynes (Wimbledon) 0 Interesting meeting. First time Ive seen Henry Atkins in race mode. Very accomplished. Same goes for Anders Rowe.Seen plenty of them both as mascots.Impressed.Saul Bulley was always in the mix and looks tidy. Great to see the 125cc lads too.Little Leo Rixon gained the biggest cheers of the night.Struggling with bike problems, he at least finished all but his first race.Even waving to us all while still racing! M.I.B wonderful to hear un silenced JAP engines. Very competitive too. I even got met at the entrance by Laurence! My only grumble was the PA. We were stood between bends 3 and 4 (for those that went along, Martin French fell directly in front of us). The speaker on the entrance to bend 3 was ok. Bend 4 was not working. Got loads of echoes from the speaker in front of the stand just behind the tapes. Music seemed too loud, while we could barely hear Grahams announcements. Otherwise a healthy looking crowd and I enjoyed myself. Read more: http://plymouthdevils.proboards.com/thread/8846/tonight-friday-19th-free?page=2#ixzz4heH1AQcr

Sat in MacDonalds over the road from circuit.Still raining. Going to be touch n go.

I like Stefan a lot. The only real bright light at Plymouth last season. Amazed he hasnt got a place in this League for this season.

KK to go along with James Surely soYesterday,James was spinning far too much.You could hear his engines screaming but not pulling him forward. Surely someone in the pits could help him? Im no expert, but I do notice when a bike doesnt sound right.Think back to Lee Richardson at Poole. He couldnt buy a point.John Davis helped him with set ups, starting techniques and first turns etc. Look how he progressed. I dont want James to go,but if he does Id like Joe Jacobs. However its more about who you get in at the top as the main priority.

Andersen a few seasons ago. He got paid around £2K per meeting, but had to finance all his own travel arrangements, van, mechanic etc. I was hugely disappointed with KK yesterday. Not seen him ride this season until today and was, Im sorry to say, not even in his own shadow. Constantly fiddling with his set up cant be good. Maybe too much? I am beginning to think his time is up at Poole. Shame as Ive liked him since he first rode for us back in 2003. Lots of unanswered questions for Poole right now. Swindon deserved their win, although got a little lucky when KK stopped in Ht13. A draw would have been daylight robbery though. Well done Swindon, you came, you saw, you conquered.

Late opening gates. Whats the problem? Doyle not decided if he wants to ride yet? :-)

Heavy shower right now,right by stadium.

Im 200 metres from the Stadium,sat outside having tea and cake. Lovely day here......so far.

Hope the weather is better in Poole than Torquay. Heavy rain right now. On my way to see my Dad who still lives next to the Stadium. Fingers crossed the weather forecasts are wrong. Otherwise we will probably see a Doyle revolt again.

The track up to Ht 8 was about the same as Wards meeting. No sign of Doyle and co trying to get it called off though. Funny that.

Such a shame. The Devils own website hasnt been updated. It only shows a meeting preview of the Eastbourne fixture, no result or updates The website is a massive tool for any club. Come on LR, sort it out, Poor pr =poor interest= poor crowds. You are trying new concepts, including a FREE meeting in May. Yet nothing, absolutely NOTHING on the main website.(at the time of typing this) Due to work commitments, I have not yet been able to get to the SBA. Cant make it until 12th May. Looking forward to it, no matter the results between now and then.

Have to say, Rye is one of Kyles least favourite tracks. Never really gets going there. Not sure about Kerr, so have to be happy with BWD's points. Not too worried about KK atm. After all, starting averages were huge. I believe its an average manipulation exercise, along with Holder at KL and others. Once new averages are declared, changes to teams will happen. Then we will see the riders points return to normal! While not winning, as most expected, at least the team are getting points on the board every meeting.

I have watched Jacks formative years at Plymouth. Very inconsistent. Today he could wipe the floor with anyone, yet next week can hardly turn left. Made a huge amount of ground to get up with those in front, round 1 & 2, to lose it all again on 3 &4. Over riding and sometimes down right dangerously. He always stuck to the inside when it was always best to sit mid to outside. No where near as good as Chris at the same stage. Watching his performances closely at Poole and Peterborough. He will come good, but may take a little longer.

As a Poole fan, I find this rather embarrassing. I had a friend who missed her flight back to the UK on Thursday afternoon.. She managed to get another flight back from a different Airport and got to the UK before midnight on Thursday.I know, I picked her up from the Airport! Had it not been for this, I could have perhaps given KK the benefit of the doubt. I am a KK fan by the way!! I tend to agree with Racers and Royals, this doesnt sit comfortably with me. I didnt go to either meeting as I was working, didnt even get to Plymouth in the end. However, it seems Poole ended up winning comfortably in the morning, with or without guest points and lost in the evening to a better side. They even got payback by choosing Garrity, as with R/R it seems they might well have won. Not at all happy with the way Ford has alienated most other fans against my home bred team. The sooner he goes the better as far as I am concerned. Poole will always be my team, but I cannot and will not continue to condone his miserable actions. Not now and then, but almost every meeting.

So is Pooles Jack Holder!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08lm8wj/spotlight-lunchtime-news-13042017 Speedway feature starts at 3 mins 10 secs.

Not quite right. Before 6pm, you only have 2 hours FREE parking. So generally get there after 4pm you are ok. Where I used to live, St Margarets Road, which backs onto the Stadium, all restrictions are not valid on Bank Holidays, so didnt apply on Good Friday or Easter Monday. Do check the signs as things may have changed since I moved away. Working now, so wont be there for either meeting. Hope to get to Plymouth instead.

Looks like Kerr will be missing on Friday as Scunthorpe are at Edinburgh.

See Page 52 of this weeks edition. Competition to win Cardiff GP tickets. It asks you to name the 3 riders and what GP was it? Except......there is no photo to look at! Classic.

True and almost every comment he made was rude to the people he spoke to. He called one chap an 'idiot' for wearing Swindon colours and cheering on his riders. Any chance he had he took glee and belitteling anything Poole. Very immature.

Excellent footage of KL v Poole race in the pairs. http://www.speedwaygb.co/homepage Ride of the night easily. Enjoyed it even though it was Poole on the receiving end!

Thoroughly deserved victory for Kings Lynn.Best Pair by a country mile. Pretty ordinary meeting until the later heats.Lambert way behind the Poole lads, then hit the right groove out wide and rode a brilliant couple of laps to chase them down split them and follow Holder home all too easily. Typical British showpiece. Announced that parade would start at 7pm prompt. It finally took place at 7.30pm. Although they kept the meeting running pretty darned quick,(in my car by 9.10) its so annoying when the riders for the Final were only being announced once the 2 minutes had come on and the riders were at the tapes! First time up there for a while, but found the 2 co presenters very annoying with their inane comments.