boz

Fair play to Glasgow, heatleaders were superb tonight. A bit of a strange meeting, Redcar only won 4 heats but still only lost by two. Cook and Jensen superb, Jensen always has gone well here. Sam Jensen really attacked the track, and Bailey and Bickley picked up useful points. The Bears did throw some points away - Riss with a thrown chain and Andersen dropping it whilst leading. There also won't be too many meetings where Riss only scores 4. Deserved win for the Tigers though, and hope MBA and Woolley are both ok after what looked a big crash (by the way, not sure how that was awarded with Riss and Vissing fighting for the lead). Look forward to the playoff clash between the two sides...

Have to admit I did not think 10 would be enough, but superb performance from the Bears! Fair play to Eastbourne too - takes two teams to make a good cup tie.

Agree with all of that to be honest. Allen was working his socks off, but no-one was realistically replace Charles scoring around the MPA. A lot of close, fast racing but not a great deal of passing. Good to see Stewart back to his best. Lawson was again excellent for the Eagles, and Kennett started superbly. Kerr and Newman had their moments, and have to say probably best I have seen Phillips ride. Slightly disappointee in Edwards who has rode well here previously. Tie is on a knife edge - good go either way. I think Eastbourne must now be favourites but you never know! Good to see a good sized crowd again as well. Last note, great to read the programme notes from Jitendra about the recent fan survey. Four pages of notes going into some detail around issues around facilities/rules/fixtures/press coverage. Great to have some transparent communication.

Was mentioned in Redcar programme last week it has been extended to the 19th.

Bears are hopeful MPT will be fit to ride on Friday, so hopefully pulls through and ok for this meeting.

Massive congratulations to Erik Riss - what a season this has turned out to be!

It was not an entirely serious point.. Once he changed bikes last night he rode well - heat 9 was a cracker and I'm still not sure how he finished last.

As mentioned, the edge was taken off after Charles injury - just hope he is fit for the KOC Semi but if not that at least for Cardiff! Fairly solid throughout - Greaves had a better meeting and good to see Woolley scoring some points. Not too concerned about Stewart - was very unlucky to come last in his third ride. Hopefully just lowering his average for next season... Andersen has been a much better signing than I expected, full value for money from him. For Somerset the heatleader all impressed although Covatti did not seem as quick as last week. Impressed with Rowe as well, always in the mix. Would like to see the 13 and 15 incidents again - I though Morris fully at fault for 13 but also Riss in 15..

But surely Plymouth can't go on without Wallinger? They will have to close the club down.

Thoroughly deserved point for Berwick - Summers was excellent alongside Covatti but solid points throughout the team. Slightly disappointing performance from the Bears but a good hard fought win. Think the track caught us out a bit at the start of the meeting and not a huge amount of passing. Wright was superb and probably the difference between the sides, a couple of great tussles with Summers. Riss started well and important score again from Andersen.

How about Tom Woolley - he was offered a place at Plymouth at the same time we offered him a Championship place.

Pretty routine win in the end - we got a bit lucky with the weather. Certainly interesting watching speedway with lightning going off pretty close by! Thankfully rain stayed away until last couple of races. Bears heatleaders and Stewart all looked excellent - all seem to be firing at the right time. Though Andersen rode better than his points suggested. Scary to think how good we could be if we had 7 riders! Jorgensen was good for the Diamonds, and though Worrall rode hard but was just not quick enough for the Bears top 3. Useful points again from Clegg.

Shower passed through about 10 mins ago but dry again at the moment (I am about 10 minutes drive from track).

Forecast does seem to have improved from earlier. Fingers crossed we get no further rain.

MPT looked very, very quick today - was getting good speed of the slick inside that no-one else seemed to really get. Riss an excellent home debut and Andersen continues to impress. Best wishes to Jordan - horrific looking crash. Fancy we would have won by more with him in his last two rides. Lawson was superb for the Eagles. Kennett started well but faded and Edwards was very good value. Disappointed in Kerr and Newman though.

Been a few heavy showers now. Going off the last Facebook Post will take another look at track at 6.

Quite enjoyed that meeting. Track was a bit slick due to the expected rain that never came but still a fairly decent night. Felt the Bears were fairly comfortable throughout the night, but Birmingham still put up a decent fight. Good solid effort for the Bears, and Stewart and Andersen thoroughly deserved heat 15. Sgood to see Woolley in the mix, brought the house down with his point! Birmingham battled hard, and thought Castagna in particular was excellent value. From what I had read on here, expected a white line hugger but he was anything but tonight - very entertaining!

Congrats to Scunny - they got the job done, although made to work for it slightly more than they expected maybe. Jake Allen was superb, Barker as expected and Ayres chipped in well again. Auty's points on paper dont look great but actually thought he rode fairly well. Great effort from the Bears though. After Greaves and Andersens 5-1 in heat 9 i genuinely thought we could do it. Just ran out of steam a little bit towards the end, but gives me great hope for the rest of the season. Wright and MPT both excellent as expected, Greaves again superb from reserve and thoroughly impressed with Andersen. Woolley struggled, but with a full side there will be no pressure on him. Interesting to hear from Jitendra in the bar afterwards, who bears no ill will towards Godfrey. We offered a few dates, and Godfrey asked his riders if they were free but they all weren't. It was a risk we took when signing Riss, but one that in the long term should hopefully see us in the playoffs..

Think there must be some crossed wires here, Yearby is generally a very balanced poster I find.

Just to make it interesting, looks like Riss's meeting in Germany may have been postponed? Could he make it back in time?

I don't think even the most optimistic Bears fan will be predicting a home win in this one! Stewart missing a massive loss on his recent home form, and obviously with no number 1 going to be incredibly tough. Added to that, Ayres superb form around Redcar this season can only see a 10 point away win.

I think it is still r/r for Bacon on Friday. Andersen does not come in until Sunday.

To be fair, the release from Redcar says what happened. Jack said he wanted to leave (rumour has it after being replaced in one of his rides by Nathan Greaves in the Leicester home meeting). He then changed his mind, but deal had ready been done with Andersen. A tad hasty by Redcar perhaps, but if a rider tells you he wants to be released how long do you give him to change his mind.

Riss is a great signing. Gives us a powerful top three. Do have to feel for Ulrich, he was great last night. He has struggled previously though. In the past we have stuck with under performing riders for far too long hoping they will turn it around - this time possibly pulled the trigger a bit too quickly but either way you can't win. Wooley signing will put Greaves under a bit of pressure to score - but we should hopefully be strong enough to cover his rides and I wish him all the best. Andersen flew round our place last season, less so this year but should be a decent replacement for Bacon.

Much better than expected from the Bears - not sure what Ulrich did after his first ride but a completely different rider after that and deserved his rider of the night award. Stewart was excellent again, and not too many people will pass Craig Cook this year so great effort from Wright. Greaves again quick and possibly deserved more points. Cook was in a class of his won for Glasgow - struggle to remember Proctor having a worse meeting here and Starke aside Glasgow did not offer too much support for Cook. I don't think 12 points will be enough, but should at least make Friday interesting.