cyclone

Well the likes of Craig & Jason Doyle appear to be doing quite well in prospering in both the PL (which provides considerably more meetings than the EL) and the EL. They are both heat leader standard in the EL, having improved their EL averages whilst continuing to reap the benefit of a regular, uninterrupted racing schedule in the PL. Compare their situation to the likes of Lewis Bridger who rides only in the EL and the lower Polish League tier and whose career appears to have stagnated, As seems likely the Sky tv money will be shortly be disappearing from the EL, and any rider opting to abandon the PL for the EL exclusively, may well end up losing out financially. At the end of the day it is up to the individual rider to decide his destiny, and no doubt Craig will be counselled by those with better judgement than some blinkered internet pundit

What a performance from the Monarchs ,who have never come within 6 pts of the homesters on previous visits. 6 pts down after 10 heats, they manufacture a 14 pt turnround over the remaining 5 heats - fantastic ! Arithmetically if Ipswich were to win by more than 14 pts tomorrow, then Worky would go through, but even I do not expect that to happen

A Workington fan with a dislike for Cookie apparently

Due to the vagaries of the weather which can either ruin or cancel/abandon meetings, Speedway, like Cricket, is a risky business to commit outside broadcasting resources. I would imagine that the viewing figures for Cricket are far more substantial than Speedway and make the inclement weather a worthwhile risk. I can therefore understand why SKY are taking cold feet and will not reconsider live Speedway broadcasts until there are effective measures taken to combat bad weather..

As the final Play Off fixture (Diamonds vs Rebels) is scheduled for 13/10, that would be bad news - surely the local outcry would force the rugby club to relent. Only feasible alternatives would be to move fixture to Berwick or Newcastle (if they didn't make the Final),

Well done Worky to dispatch the Group favourites Cannot envisage Monarchs taking four points off Ipswich as apart from Cookie, we are poor at Foxhall Heath and unlikely to get within six points there. With the October Green Sheets taking effect, Max Fricke moves into main body and Derek Sneddon drops to reserve which will restrict Edinburgh's scoring options. On the other hand, Witches can now replace Ellis with a PL guest and together with the in-form Hawkins as the other reserve, expect this to be decisively in favour of Ipswich at home.

Worky now favourites to reach the PO Final after winning at Foxhall Heath tonight and would not be surprised if they repeat their result at Armadale tomorrow. Unlike the smug Suffolk mob, we realise that any visiting team when on their game can get a result at our well prepared track. With three ex Monarchs in their side and buoyed by their gubbing of the Witches, this will be a tough task for the Monarchs.

Would imagine Bates will be riding for Mildenhall in the afternoon - is Louis hiring a supersonic helicopter to take him to Brough Park

Will Tyson Nelson be missing for Rye House also ?

Congratulations to Rebels on reaching KO Cup Final. After the mauling the Monarchs got on Wednesday, only the super optimist would have believed we were likely to claw back a 26 point deficit. Somerset did enough to ensure a comfortable passage with Nick Morris once again being one of the best visitors to Armadale this season. For the Monarchs Jozsef Tabaka was outstanding and until getting caught up in traffic in ht 15, Cookie was his usual self. However if Monarchs are to make an impression in the Play_Offs , Sneddon, Pijper, and most notably Vissing, will have to up their game both home and away. Good visiting support again, who gave enthusiastic support to their team.

The recent away results at Leicester, Glasgow, Ipswich, Newcastle, and tonight's mauling at Somerset, indicate that apart from Cookie, the rest of the Monarchs have gone off the boil. Worky are still a formidable force at home, and even missing Morris, should still comfortably win both matches by more than six points per fixture.

Well done Somerset on an impressive display tonight which makes the second leg a formality for them. The astute deadline signing of Charles Wright has further strengthened an already power packed formation. They are now the best team in the league without doubt and barring injuries, will complete a league and cup double.

Would it have not been possible for Newcastle to race Redcar on Monday 23/9 and then Somerset on Sunday 6/10 to avoid EL clashes for double uppers ?

Apart from the development of safer fences, body protection worn by the riders should also be continually researched and designs enhanced. We now have various types of body armour, neck braces and air jackets, but it appears that they are not universally accepted by all riders for various reasons. For instance I spoke to one rider who has now discarded his air jacket because the inflation only occurred after he had cracked his ribs and in his opinion, exacerbated his injury.

Agree and would add that none of the six clubs involved should be written off, as they all have demonstrated during the Season that they can produce excellent performances home and away.

Not sure if AGM minutes will be in the public domain, but suggest you contact the Leicester Promoter (Dave Hemsley) as I would expect him to have a copy of the documentation and he may be willing to disclose the required information to you.

The great gate 2 vs gate 4 myth:- Actual results hts 1 -14 : Winners gate 2: Barker ht6 Cook ht 13 Winners gate 4: Risager ht 4 Cook ht 5 (equal track record) Points scored (removing doubling tr points) : gate 2 - 18 gate 4 - 18 Those who were there & accurately recorded the results, recheck for themselves. So on what basis do you reckon Tabaka was off the worst gate ? As you have previously stated you not buy a programme, do you record the gate stats by some other means and if so, on what basis did you conclude that gate 2 was the better option ?

Fisher or possibly Hougaard could come in at no. 1 for Ippo.

As Somerset vs Edinburgh was logged in the Official fixtures first, would expect Rebels have priority for Doyle's services on Wednesday.

Paulco is correct, it was changed this year, hence why newcomers remained on assessed averages until they had completed 4 home + 4 away matches at league level.

Never too late to point out the error of their ways to the Suffolk Sinners and send them on the path to righteousness

Apart from Cook, who by all accounts was a class above anyone else on display and won from both gates 2 & 4, there was only one winner from gate 4 (Risager ht 4) and one winner from gate 2 (Barker ht 6). So we have to endure more inane rubbish from some that Cook was given the favoured choice between gates 2 & 4. Some Ippo fans have previous in deriding Cook's efforts. There was a concerted campaign on here of falsely accusing Cook of causing the Bellego, Tungate crash in the PL 4s, which Chris Louis joined in on. When video evidence & trackside photos conclusively proved otherwise, very few of the accusers had the decency to acknowledge they were wrong and that Monarchs were deserved PL 4 Champs. The attitude of some Ipswich fans on here smacks of jealousy towards Craig, and rather than recognise a magnificent 18 point maximum and equalling track record, they concoct a bogus reason to belittle his splendid effort.

Quite often riders are signed up by PL clubs before an EL club subsequently takes them on as double ups. Furthermore EL clubs are now changing their double ups during the season for strategic reasons (e.g. Howarth from Poole to Swindon) or injury replacements (e.g. Screen for Roynon @ Coventry). Therefore you cannot always know in advance who will end up registered for both a PL and an EL club. The previous arrangement where PL fixtures always took precedence, meant the likes of Monday's Somerset vs Ipswich staffing farce would not occur. It has been suggested the new arrangement of double ups fixture priority was put in place as part of an agreement to ensure that those riding in Danish & Swedish leagues would honour their UK commitments over re-arranged Scandinavian matches and vice versa. IMO the EL have benefited at the expense of the PL, and the PL clubs should insist on a return to the 2012 system next year.

As Birmingham and Swindon are already scheduled for Monday fixtures, does this mean they would have first dibs on double-uppers Barker, Doyle, and Morris, if Somerset vs Ipswich was subsequently restaged on the same Monday ?

No problem with Cookie's efforts tonight, as once more he reaffirmed his position as the PL's undisputed number one Was not expecting the PL Fours Champs to pick up any match points at Foxhall Heath, so the end result was no surprise.