Scorpions v Gladiators 3rd July

[Hamish McRaker]

20 hours ago, torpointfanatic22 said:

Nicholls has been embarrassing, with no King we would always have struggled but losing to Harrison and Ablitt is shocking. To be fair it was a massive mistake giving him the tactical. Tate has been our best rider along with Thompson

Think if you look up Scunthorpe v Leicester matches from 2019 when Leicester won the Championship with Nicholls mostly riding at no.1, you might come across at least one instance of him being beaten by a very young Scunthorpe rider if my memory serves right. 

Can't recall any especially adverse Leicester supporter reaction at the time, even though he was then just a mere stripling of about 39. Not sure what the Scunthorpe rider/s are doing now 

[martinmauger]

Speaking as someone who can declare 'I was there' (cos I was) Scotty had some good races v younger Scunny riders, but at this stage of his career he understandably isn't going to ride halfway up the fence.  As a neutral, & therefore unbothered re: the result, some very good racing & Pickering was great to watch, if anyone needs a demonstration or explanation of the phrase 'full send', just watch Picko.  Good nite out Friday, enjoyed it as I always do at speedway....

[Paul Johnson]

5 hours ago, Hamish McRaker said:

Think if you look up Scunthorpe v Leicester matches from 2019 when Leicester won the Championship with Nicholls mostly riding at no.1, you might come across at least one instance of him being beaten by a very young Scunthorpe rider if my memory serves right. 

Can't recall any especially adverse Leicester supporter reaction at the time, even though he was then just a mere stripling of about 39. Not sure what the Scunthorpe rider/s are doing now 

Ryan Kinsley, if i remember us Scunny fans couldnt believe it, he blasted around the outside of Nicholls to win then he came into the next race and won that too

[hackneyrocket]

On 7/3/2026 at 8:59 PM, torpointfanatic22 said:

Nicholls has been embarrassing, with no King we would always have struggled but losing to Harrison and Ablitt is shocking. To be fair it was a massive mistake giving him the tactical. Tate has been our best rider along with Thompson

Scotty not too embarrassing tonight, if it wasn’t for him the score would have been embarrassing.

The only embarrassing thing about this post is your comment!!

[tyler42]

On 7/4/2026 at 2:24 PM, YeOldPitGate said:

Agreed he's never going to be the rider he was 10-15 years ago but the fact he's still going and is more than holding his own (most weeks not all) in the championship is a tribute to him. When I stopped going early 90's very few riders weren't in decline by the time they turned thirty but riders do seem to take better care of themselves these days and go on longer Hancock the ultimate example.

I would say the introduction of air fences, has definitely been a factor in riders going on into in to their 40s. Riders bodies in the 80s and 90s took a lot more punishment with solid fences taking no prisoners, hence imo thats why a lot of riders didn't make it past their mid 30s. 

[mikebv]

32 minutes ago, tyler42 said:

I would say the introduction of air fences, has definitely been a factor in riders going on into in to their 40s. Riders bodies in the 80s and 90s took a lot more punishment with solid fences taking no prisoners, hence imo thats why a lot of riders didn't make it past their mid 30s. 

Maybe a factor, but, for me, it's the huge drop off in the number of riders capable of holding down team places...

Hence the majority DU just to provide 15 teams of the "desired" levels..

In the 70's, hundreds of lads tried to be Speedway riders, and "training schools" were the norm at many tracks...

Now, so few come through, that the "old heads" actually keep the sport going..

 

 

[tyler42]

On 7/5/2026 at 11:27 PM, mikebv said:

Maybe a factor, but, for me, it's the huge drop off in the number of riders capable of holding down team places...

Hence the majority DU just to provide 15 teams of the "desired" levels..

In the 70's, hundreds of lads tried to be Speedway riders, and "training schools" were the norm at many tracks...

Now, so few come through, that the "old heads" actually keep the sport going..

 

 

I agree 100%. The majority of riders back then, as well as training schools, came from the grass tracks. Nearly all our big stars of the 70s and 80s came from the grass tracks. PC, Morton, Wigg, Doncaster, Loram, Screen, the list goes on and on. As you quite rightly say, a lot of the young riders of today have not reached the standard required to ride in the 2nd div, but we are so short on riders, they are thrown in at the deep end; Scoring the odd point off each other and then getting hammered when they go out against the main body of riders, is not good for them and neither the pay in public. 

Over the last 15 years or so nearly all our young riders have come through, the Neil Vatcher school of speedway. Rushen and Cairns have been fantastic finds. Also, riders like Howarth, Flint and Rowe have turned out to be useful league riders and, to a lesser extent, Edwards and Kemp.

Harrison, Piper and Scott are fine young riders, but international stars of the future? I don't think so. I hope they prove me wrong, because Rushen and Cairns at the moment are our future International stars. Let's hope someone might step up to join them.

Edited 1 hour ago by tyler42