cyclone

Thank you for wishing that this would further damage Edinburgh's business through a situation that was not of their making Some numpty who cannot even spell Alex Harkess's surname correctly, has previously implied on here that AH was probably involved in preventing Stevie Worrall riding at Armadale today . Given Stevie is a popular ex Monarch, and also home fans wish to see visiting sides track their own riders, to suggest that Edinburgh would scupper SW's appearance at such short notice beggars belief, given the press releases previously issued. I'd be very surprised if George English was blaming Edinburgh for this fiasco, but why not ask him on Sunday and let us all know his response. As far as I am aware, Swindon do not own BWD either, who remains a Somerset asset, so SCB 's might be correct that Newcastle are being treated the same way as Peterborough by the Official SCB.

I was hoping Monarchs would have considered moving Josh from riding in the opening heat away from home, in order that he could see how others were riding the track in the first two heats. They could have kept the previous pairings for the majority of races, albeit in a different riding order , if they had lined up as Wells, Mark Riss, Masters, Pickering, Eric Riss, Clegg, Davey. Not sure we will restrict the Diamonds to a six point win, given the impressive displays by Worrall & Lambert at Peterborough on Saturday. If Clegg cannot improve at reserve today, imo we should be looking at the likes of Liam Carr as an alternative option.

Dear justqueer, pity you had not examined the Monarchs away results in the aggregate competitions that they won in 2014/ 2015. To remind you, here they are, plus the home results in the PL Finals:- 19-06-14 Sheffield v Edinburgh LC SF 40-50 20-09-14 Berwick v Edinburgh PL PO 45-48 27-09-14 Workington v Edinburgh PL PO 40-50 05-10-14 Peterborough v Edinburgh LC F 44-46 12-10-14 Newcastle v Edinburgh PL KOC SF 44-46 16-10-14 Ipswich v Edinburgh PL KO F 37-53 24-10-14 Somerset v Edinburgh PL Final 54-42 25-10-14 Edinburgh v Somerset PL Final 54-41 27-09-15 Glasgow v Edinburgh LC F 45-45 04-10-15 Peterborough v Edinburgh PLPOSF 46-44 16-10-15 Glasgow v Edinburgh PLPOF 48-41 17-10-15 Edinburgh v Glasgow PLPOF 58-32 That's six away wins, 1 away draw, and 2pt, 7pt, & 12pt away defeats. So if you think the home scores gave a skewed advantage in the aggregate results, you certainly have a "queer" interpretation of the facts

Was told it was "someone from Kent" (not Mr Trump) who paid in cash at the time!

Don't know why some folk reckon Monarchs will run Tigs close or even win The reality is they have defeated home & away, the two teams who were, result wise, the poorest in the League, when they met them (i.e. Berwick & Scunny). Although Pickering has made an encouraging start, sterner tests lie ahead for him, starting on Saturday. Clegg has shown signs of slight improvement from his poor start, but is still suspect at scoring points away from home. Likewise Davey has struggled to beat opponents in the two away matches run. Tigers probably have the best heat leader trio in the League and Lunna & Bewley are capable of beating any visitor. IMO Monarchs will be doing well to restrict Glasgow to a ten point home win.

Source?

Berge scored 8 + 1 from 4 and 9 + 2 from 5 for Sheffield at the EWR last year, so he has a decent record there. Though his current form at Shielfield in particular has been indifferent, perhaps he will be more comfortable at Scunny today.

If this is correct, would be interesting to see if anyone reverts to the 2016 versions. There was a rumour that Clegg was unhappy with the new hard compound tyres, so will he be using the softer tyre instead, if permitted, tonight?

Not true, myself & friends in Edinburgh generally take delivery of Fridays, and occasionally Thursday, or Saturday/Monday. This week's arrived on Thursday. I believe the Post Office are the culprits for late delivery and I now accept that Friday is the norm for our area. I suspect that although the envelopes are marked First Class, they never carry a date stamp, and the Sorting Office use this as way to process them as lower priority mail.

The Reg is : "15.5.2 Where a Referee stops a heat, and the leading Rider has completed at least 2 laps, then s/he has the sole discretion to either order a re-run or award the heat based upon the positions when it was caused to be stopped; Riders, other than the one disqualified being advanced one place" Bridger had completed 2 laps before the red lights came on. Same thing happened at Armadale on Friday when ht2 was awarded.

If you post on a Forum, you should accept that others will reply to your comments. None of us can dictate who can or cannot reply to our comments - if you don't like it, then you can either stop posting or become less sensitive to feedback you take exception too. P.S. your response to a post by me earlier on this thread could also be described as "smartass" & "dumb", but I didn't respond with blubbering indignation.

Dave Dodd, Poole & Liverpool 1960 Clune Johnstone Marine Gardens 1939

Well done to Scunny - nice one

Not as confident, given that our 2,3, & 4 are in uncharted territory. Erik Riss's early form is impressive, so he looks ready to take the third heat leader role. However Clegg was poor in the Scottish Open and his displays for Wolves have been very mediocre, so he will have to improve rapidly, given he is now in the main body of the team. Pickering's debut reminded me of how Jason Lyons first started out, namely determined and fast but prone to overcook things at times. Also riding at no. 2 means he will not have the benefit of observing how others ride the track before he appears.

You are meant to join up the 6 Cardiff Picture jigsaw tokens printed in previous issues, and yes, they do display 3 riders

This topic would be more credible if the reality was that Australian newcomers were flooding the UK and depriving able British youngsters of similar ability of team places. So how many Australian newcomers have been signed on for 2017? - answer one, namely Josh Pickering at Edinburgh. IIRC in 2016, there were two rookies from OZ, namely Jake Allen & Jye Etheridge.( Bradley Dean Wilson is a Kiwi, who appeared in the NL in 2015 btw) Remember that such riders are already restricted by the employment visa criteria, as well as the 5 pt minimum assessed average in place for all new overseas newcomers. Is not more effective to do as already suggested, that all riders, including British, are contractually obliged to honour their UK scheduled fixtures, the exception being clashes with their own national calendar. If they break this commitment, then they are immediately barred from UK domestic Speedway. So where is the impending crisis that Shovlar is bleating on about? Just because a couple of his Poole side (Jack Holder & Brady Kurtz) have signaled their intentions to head to Poland asap, the drawbridge should be shut to all future talent from the Antipodes? The same scenario applies to Danes, Swedes, Germans, etc. and come Brexit, we can no doubt bar them as well, to be replaced by the flood of super talented British youngsters ready to take their places. Aye, Right .

If as you claim, the Poles continually fail to pay the full amount to the non Polish riders, can you explain why the likes of Chris Holder, Doyle, Woffinden, Lindgren,Pedersen, Iversen, etc. keep returning there? It's not as if the same stories of riders experiencing problems getting fully paid by their UK promotions are unknown and I'm sure you being a Belle Vue fan, will be aware of this

The early sixties Monarchs white crown on yellow & blue halves was naturally my favourite. The black Maltese Cross on an orange background of New Cross was a distinctive simple design.

Re Ronnie Rolfe, he had the distinction of winning the first ever meeting held at Estadio Bello Monte, Venezuela on 27th November, 1959 (I have the programme for this).

Re Fred Priest, I remember hearing the anecdote about the time he appeared for a short handed Edinburgh team at Cradley. Apparently after the match, Ian Hoskins commented "that they (Cradley) gave us a Priest but we would have preferred a Monk"

Jimmy Tannock & Doug Templeton were an unsung pairing for the Monarchs between 1960 - 67. JT started at Ashfield in 1952, then moved on to Motherwell 53-54 & 58, before appearing for Edinburgh in 1960. Never more than a second string but had his moments, including beating Gote Nordin at Old Meadowbank in the BL. Remember in the PL days on the parades Jimmy would ride round on his bike wearing a cap, with a fag dangling from his lips. Doug rode at White City (Glasgow) around 1953/54, ,Motherwel44 & 58 l briefly at Ipswich 56, then rode for the Monarchs from 60 - 69, then Tiges& Bandits up to 1976. A hard uncompromising rider who was one the top guys in the PL and had a decent record against the best in the BL also, but never made the big time in World Championship. Another unsung hero in my books was Jimmy Squibb who was also a fearsome competitor who apparently first rode in 1939 and finished in 1975. Great to watch him & DT jousting at Old Meadowbank in the PL.

Reg Reeves can be scored off for Liverpool - he rode there in 1951 & scored 2 from 4 for Walthamstow., likewise Allan Kidd only scored 3 from 2 there on 21/6/52 and Eric Hockaday 9+ 3 from 5 on 3/6/57. Reg R also only scored 5 from 4 @ Yarmouth on 9/5/50 and Stan Stevens scored 4 + 1 from 4 there for Rye House on on 14/7/59. Russ Dent had an e/f in his 4th ride for Newcastle @ Cowdenbeath but did score 12 from 5. However I remember seeing Alan Wilkinson scoring a 12pt max for Newtongrange Saints in his only appearance there at the opening meeting of 1970. I believe this might also have be AWs first ever appearance in an Official meeting. Agree Hans Nielsen only appearance @ Powderhall was an 18pt max for Denmark in 1978.

Soldier Boy was known to loudly support Ray Wilson at big meetings, so perhaps this was why it was assumed he was also a Leicester fan . Over the years I recall he switched his allegiance to Peter Collins, as he came to the fore and Ray's star began to dim. .

So was it a different Shane Parker that rode for Ipswich at Powderhall on 29/4/1990 who was listed with a GSA of 3.00 Gavan? Or has dontforgetthefueltapsbruv been providing you with the "facts"

Witnessed an horrific crash there, where Brett Saunders went through the fence, then across the stock car track, and iirc, had to have his spleen removed, as result of the injuries he sustained.