Sheffield Tigers Vs Ipswich Witches - Thursday 28th August

[Fromafar]

36 minutes ago, spin king junior said:

Initially coming in it did look a right old state but after all the work it looked good to me, but truly what do I know, I'm just some fat lad stood in stands who's only chucked his leg over a 125cc.

I was that confident it was going to run I'd gone to grab a pint and whilst in the queue they made the call it was off.

Do feel mostly for the visiting Ipswich fans which there was a good amount and can relate to how they feel- we went all to Birmingham many years ago and in very similar circumstances it absolutely chucked it down just before the meeting and got rained off its crap.

 

Also feel for the track staff who you could see were working absolutely overtime to sort the track. For people who are ultimately volunteers they certainly did not shy away from putting in the effort.

I think the riders could've given it a go personally. But we'll truly never know whether it was some being overly cautious or if the track wasn't rideable.

If it was a GP or in Poland don’t  think certain riders would want to go home.

[noaksey]

10 hours ago, DaveWayne said:

When do you suggest they should have run it then ? Looking at both team's fixtures, either one or both were riding every Thursday from the start of April to today, other than May 8th and May 29th when there were no Premiership matches at all.

Didn't Lynn also get dog's abuse for calling off a meeting the day before and all the experts on here saying the forecast rain didn't come and the track would have been perfect ?

The forecast for Sheffield in the late afternoon was for light rain and none after about 6pm so in theory the meeting could have gone ahead. There was a torrential downpour just after 6 which made the track unrideable and the  track staff did everything they could but not all the riders were happy to race so the ref called it off. How is any of this the fault of the Sheffield promotion ?

How long is the journey from Ipswich to Sheffield ? 3.5 to 4 hours on a good run ? Assuming nobody wants to risk getting there at the last minute, I would guess most fans would be setting off between 2pm and 3pm. Do you expect them to be psychic and call it off 3 hours before it has even rained ?

I would say that it is likely it won't need to be run anyway. If Ipswich win at home next Thursday then the playoffs will be sorted without this match.

Surely if there was a torrential downpour around 6 the turnstiles shouldn't have been opened until the match was going ahead?

[4thbender]

The sad irony is that the heavens opened AGAIN at precisely 9.20pm. Given an 8.30 start, this would have most certainly caused an abandonment at around heat 9 or 10, whereupon some obscure rule would have been invoked as to whether the result does/doesn't stand, after which half the crowd would have gone home in raptures and the other half would have become a riotous mob.

In the final analysis, it strikes me that the riders' indecision allowed the promotion to dodge a bullet!

[4thbender]

3 hours ago, Gavan said:

Seems like the right call to me 

Sheffield is the most dangerous track in the league and add on the conditions it could have been a nightmare 

And before the usual suspects start moaning Sheffield and Belle Vue are the fastest tracks by some way but Sheffield is narrower and as Jack Holder says it only has one real line out wide so it becomes more dangerous on that aspect alone 

Once again this myth rears its ugly head. What evidence do you have to make such an outrageous statement? As  I've written before, you have to go back eleven years to find an incident in which a rider suffered career-changing injuries at Owlerton. How many other PL or CL tracks can make such a claim?

Edited 42 minutes ago by 4thbender

[DaveWayne]

57 minutes ago, noaksey said:

Surely if there was a torrential downpour around 6 the turnstiles shouldn't have been opened until the match was going ahead?

I believe the rain started some time between 6 and 6.30, so the turnstiles were already open.

Are you suggesting that once it started to rain heavily they should have close the gates and leave people standing in the rain ?

Everyone will have a readmission ticket which can either be used for the rearranged fixture or refunded so it's not as if the club have gained by opening the turnstiles.

The only winners last night are the stadium owners who would have gained rental income and sold food and drinks to the punters.

[IainB]

11 minutes ago, DaveWayne said:

I believe the rain started some time between 6 and 6.30, so the turnstiles were already open.

Are you suggesting that once it started to rain heavily they should have close the gates and leave people standing in the rain ?

Everyone will have a readmission ticket which can either be used for the rearranged fixture or refunded so it's not as if the club have gained by opening the turnstiles.

The only winners last night are the stadium owners who would have gained rental income and sold food and drinks to the punters.

I'd suggest that there should be some kind of official policy as to what to do in such events that happen quite regularly.

[noaksey]

14 minutes ago, DaveWayne said:

I believe the rain started some time between 6 and 6.30, so the turnstiles were already open.

Are you suggesting that once it started to rain heavily they should have close the gates and leave people standing in the rain ?

Everyone will have a readmission ticket which can either be used for the rearranged fixture or refunded so it's not as if the club have gained by opening the turnstiles.

The only winners last night are the stadium owners who would have gained rental income and sold food and drinks to the punters.

The original post said around 6. 6.30 isnt around 6 but fine, the turnstiles have never been open that early when I've been to Owlerton but the regulars will know more 

As Iain says some kind of official policy on this can only assist. I walked through the turnstiles at Belle Vue just as they announced the meeting was off.