Leaderboard

Like others, I nearly gave this one a miss given the result the preceding night and came because it would not have been fair on my driver. I am bloody glad that I did A cracking meeting with everything that is good about speedway thrown in - some brilliant racing, a fantastic come back, a little controversy, a last heat decider and all sorted in less than 90 minutes. Great stuff I am not sure what happened to the Monarchs but the Comets were clearly fired up, possibly stung by the - not unfair - criticism from the night before. A superb team performance, and while no-one really deserves to be singled out a mention (again) for Kyle Bickley. Huge improvement from the youngster. A mention, too, for Hoggy. I know I am biased here, but his efforts to whip up the home crowd and get them behind the team might just have made the difference between winning and losing. Sadly, this was probably my last trip to the Wild West this season due to holiday commitments. I have seen about half of the Comets home fixtures, and its been a ball. With two finals and a semi final guaranteed, it will be a huge disappointment and a major anti climax if they don't win something and there's no doubt that Laura, Steve, Jacko and some furiously loyal fans deserve it (especially after all the crap they have had thrown their way). Whatever the case - and I'll be cheering them on from afar and most definitely will not be betting against them - its pretty fair to say that this is the Comets best season since Ian Thomas introduced the sport to the town in 1970.

Just in from Workington - totally gutted BUT credit where credits due. Well done to the Comets. A total team performance, working for each other. A very jaded looking Eric tonight. Hope the Comets do the double. Laura has been a great supporter and friend to Edinburgh and no one would deserve some silverware more. A great performance clawing that deficit back. Take a bow Workington.

Having been there yesterday, and I for one, never underestimated that Worky could overturn the deficit last night, as I fully expected Klindt, Bach & Proctor to fully reverse their Friday performances, together with an excellent choice of guest in Allen. Quite simply, Comets were all fully on their A game, and would have blown away whoever the opposition were. Unfortunately for the Monarchs, we were the lambs to the slaughter Congratulations to Worky, and on this form they may well win their first Championship title, together with the Shield & KO Cup of course. Good luck and lets hope more locals come through the turnstiles to fully support their magnificent team.

How can the Southern Premier League mean anything ? The only person misunderstanding the post is you.

Miracles do happen did not think that was possible well done the Comets,as I have mentioned earlier after all the carry on about Friday race nights would be great to stick 2 fingers up at someone hope you get the treble.

Technically it was the correct decision as whilst Ricky was at the gate he was facing the wrong way using the back wheel to prepare his gate when he was excluded. For me it was a massive shame that a last heat decider with the teams all square was spoiled by a technical decision. Not convinced it would have changed the result but did leave a bad taste in the mouth. I'm sure the worky fans didn't let it spoil their enjoyment. A fantastic performance from the comets, from the track preparation creating a track perfect for their team and a struggle for the monarchs. They are quite entitled to do that and whilst it made it a bit of a gaters paradise early on did produce some cracking races. Then all 7 riders in the home team performed excellently with only 2 last places, deserved to win. For the monarchs, it is difficult to fault the effort of the riders but we simply weren't good enough in the conditions on the night. Fair enough getting caught out early on but riders should have been capable of getting the set up. Pickering and Worrall fighting really hard and all races they were in were exciting but the fact it took a monumental effort just to pass bickley for a 3-3 tells a story. Willie Lawson deserved a lot more than 1 point for his efforts and heat 12 would have been a massive turning point if it wasnt for a puncture with monarchs on a potential 5-1. Josh was brilliant in this race protecting willie and then after being baulked by the puncture managed to pass campton again on the last lap. Jordan stewart was out his depth his only contribution being keeping erik behind him in ht4. Although as he couldn't pass Stewart doubt he would have passed campton. That was the sign of things to come for the skipper who simply wasn't fast enough, he fought hard for 4 points but he should be hitting double figures. yet again the big 2 failed in heat 13, a story of our away season and rickys mistake in ht15 probably summed it up for him only 7 points for a no1 is not good enough. Least said about Victor the better, he can't be fully fit. A disaster for the monarchs on track and off track as the financial consequences of not reaching play offs or cup final will be huge. Well done to workington unbelievable change from last night and good luck in the cup final.

A great deal of uninformed nonsense posted here tonight. I challenge any other Club faced with a major floodlight failure to be able to install temporary lights (albeit with a delay) and then complete the meeting.

it was a good night to be a comets fan wells was officaly announced as excluded for delaying start but really should have been for preparing gate after his start line as already said facing wrong way spinning wheel to through dirt in front of the tapes is not allowed if ever a team needs fans to support them then this is the team I just wish I had the money to back them

Should ask Ben Morley or Alfie Bowtell they got the time to get there now and wont be doing anything else

Wow still buzzing from last night. Like most everyone else i didn't think it the least bit probable that we would overturn a 28 point deficit against a team that have ran us close at home on a couple of occasions this season. I Left Armadale friday thoroughly dejected and hugely disappointed in the nature of our defeat but i take my hat off to the whole team because they were brilliant to a man last night. Young Kyle had a big night and is clearly developing a racing edge . Was obviously detetmined to do his bit for the team and he did, his points made it possible. Well done Kyle. It was a brilliant night for the Comets fans. For those that decided Strictly Come Dancing was a better option well, you missed something special because it was one of those 'i was there nights'. You should have been there supporting the Club !. We needed a good start and we got one. The lads kept chipping away at the deficit to the point when we all started to believe it was doable at which point the seeds of doubt must have been flowing through the Monarchs side of the pits. The tension became palpable as it must have been for the Monarchs fans who probably still didn't believe there side wouldn't eventually get across the line. They must have gone away feeling like we did friday - absolutely gutted. I was so pleased for everyone concerned especially Jacko who is an unsung hero and Laura, she must have really enjoyed the performance and result. Because of the circumstances it must go down as one of the most memorable nights ever for fans of the mighty Comets. Hugely entertaining, intriguing, at times controversial and for Comets fans ultimately hugely rewarding. What more could you want for sixteen quid. Just Brilliant. Thanks to Jake Allen who seems a really grounded level headed young man who could potentially go a long way in the sport. Also thanks to the Monarchs fans that made the trip and helped boost the gate. Thanks to Hoggy who was once again brilliant on the mic. Up the Comets !!!

A scandalous decision to pull the plug tonight with the riders on their way to the tapes for heat 14. Us mugs that handed over 25 notes, were shafted by an imaginary curfew that didn't exist two weeks ago. I can't see anyway the sport can survive with the clowns that run it.

I absolutely love this sport but I, like many others, are finding this year just too much. One of my biggest bugbears at the moment is the constant whining and petty arguments from promotions off the track! In a struggling sport, there are too many simply in it for themselves and unable to get along and help each other out. Peterborough a clear example here. There are many others guilty, Mildenhall and Eastbourne in the National League also clear examples. All I've read and heard in the last three months is the likes of Rob Godfrey and Ged Rathbone moan on and on about why they're being hard done by in various scenarios. I haven't attended Peterborough once this year and that is purely based on this man and how he carries out his business. I fail to see how the sport will ever become improved when we have this constant bickering and whining. Until promotors are willing to help each other, surely they realise their own situations are not going to improve! Let the riders do the talking on the track, that is where the fans want the drama! Anyway, congratulations to Lakeside on the win. Glad they've managed to get to a final after losing their track.

Congratulations to Workington fully deserved, they created a slick and dusty track to suit there own and it worked an absolute treat. No different to us setting up Armadale grippy. I understand we may have been caught out by conditions to start with but that’s no excuse we should’ve been capable of defending such a lead. Once again we’ve failed to deliver in big meetings some just can’t seem to handle the pressure. Best of luck to the comets for the rest of the season.

Funny old game Speedway..... my hubby looked at Friday’s prog on Sat am and declared us the winners BUT I reminded him this was Speedway where anything can and does happen and that Worky could do to us what we did to them...... hmmm All I can say now is well done the Comets and good luck as you progress

What an incredible result . Has to be one of the greatest comebacks in cup speedway history , i'm sure even the most ardent Comets fan didnt expect to pull back a 28 point deficit against one of the strongest sides in the league. Well done Workington

Very slightly unfair here. I thought the track was prepared for the home side (I still have dust everywhere now) but its far from unheard of that racing will get better as a meeting progresses. Definitely happens at our best track, Belle Vue, and I seem to recall Jensen hitting Riss as early as heat 6. To highlight the difficulties Pickering and Worrall had in passing Bickley as a sign of the track conditions does not do justice to just how improved the Workington reserve is. The very fact that he outgated them in the first place - something that would have been unthinkable a couple of months ago - is evidence of how much he has come on, as was his win in heat 2 and a crucial third place in heat 14. According to my spy at the tapes, Stuart Wilson had had enough of riders messing about at the starts and one of the clerk of the course calls was a warning to pack it in or else. Wells can have no-one to blame but himself given that he was facing the wrong way at the time, although my understanding is that if he had not turned round it could have been Klindt that would have got the exclusion light.

Another new low for British speedway - just when you think it can’t get worse Feel for you & everyone else who were mugged off tonight. Worse thing is nothing will get done about it, in fact it won’t even be acknowledged as having occurred Fans will continue to be treated like dirt until there’s nobody left

Comets fans were understandably down on Friday night but what a difference a day makes,also very refreshing to read other teams best wishes,I know we give and take a bit of banter but we're all speedway fans at the end of the day,and the unexpected sometimes happens like last night,which is why we love our sport so much, and with worky on the verge of something special,which comes round very seldom, and maybe won't again no-one can begrudge us savouring it

Congratulations to the Comets a great fightback, I hope you go on to win the double.

Again, that is irrelevant. Many thought it would benefit Poole and I'm sure that the Poole management were amongst them. On paper he was a better rider. A thief who steals a wallet believing it is going to contain money and credit cards is no less guilty when it turns out to be empty.

Abusing the rules forces the BSPA/ SCB to then introduce more draconian rules to try to prevent that abuse. The end result in this case has been that riders with truly genuine season ending injuries cannot now be replaced and when that happens it is unfair to those teams and all because some other team finds it difficult to play fair.

I am still buzzing too!! Cannot believe we actually pulled that score back from Friday night, well done to all the riders, mechanics and staff. Good move in hindsight to put two good gaters out in heat 15, as much as Richie Worrall tried he could not pass Nicolai and Ty. The two Monarchs fans standing near us were totally dejected when Ricky Wells was rightly excluded from ht 15 but fair play to the Monarchs fans who travelled down to Derwent Park when many thought it was a forgone conclusion that their team would win on aggregate, me included.

So have I got this right? 1) NLRC scheduled for 3pm 2) Peterborough v Lakeside scheduled for 5pm 3) Lakeside ask for NLRC to be brought forward to 1pm so Morley and Bowtell can ride in both 4) NLRC start moved to 1pm so Morley and Bowtell can ride in both 5) Lakeside name two guests for Morley and Bowtell, both of whom are available to ride on Sunday This is REALLY extracting the urine

Wow what a meeting, from 1 to 7 a massive effort. Man of the meeting for me though was kyle Bickley, boy has the kid come on this past couple of month, a massive star of the future. I just hope the rumour I'm hearing of a move to Glasgow next season are not true, I think a move up there would be anything but good for his development giving the pressure and expectation that the tigers promotion up there put on riders.

No curfew last week and meeting went on longer. So how come we were fed this bullrubbish tonight. Don't lie and treat your fans with contempt.

Exactly, didn’t do a lakeside and call it off 2 heats early cheating the general public.

Did anyone really expect this meeting to be ran properly? It had no chance of being a success with Laurence Rogers being involved with the organising of it. The man is an arse who buggers up any speedway he has anything to do with.

Looks to me like Boro went above and beyond what you could expect in order to get the 15 heats completed Whilst a long delay is unfortunate it wouldve been much easier just to pack up and send everyone home feeling short changed and I think Boris effort should in this case be wholly commended

You really are a complete moron Starman

god you are embarrassing and a total imbecile ,speak to me on monday and call me" half hearted" Grandstand front row one tier back from the firstbend, you got the photo

how often do you tell people to read your posts correctly ... irony

Not quite sure why the usual Poole guff has polluted this thread but I’d have thought that as a general point if a team (any team) were able to replace a rider who had a ‘season ending injury’ with another after a deadline and that rider rode elsewhere despite being ‘injured’ then the replacements points should be declared null and void and the team made to use a three point replacement if the original rider didn’t return to action despite riding abroad. Common sense surely?

a well known local , just like to add that if you are facing the wrong way after the 2 mins has expired, then you are deemed as not ready for racing and was rightly excluded while spinning his rear wheel and preparing his gate.

It's always been that way... Its just become more obvious over the past couple of decades as satellite TV has taken over most of what the BBC used to show.. I believe they are taking steps this year to prevent the orchestrated block voting for minority sports after Rea came second last year.. If only we could get a British, blind, one armed, non binary, dwarf winning a British Speedway GP... Winner, winner, chicken dinner...

A massive congratulations to Robert re season 2018. An average of 9.93 in his 2018 meetings with third place in the WU21 and the European Championship plus being crowned British Champion Sincerely hope he gets in to the SGP for 2020. British Speedway is at last on the way up..... Robert Lambert , Dan Bewley, Drew Kemp ,Kyle Bickley plus others..... all looking like British success is on it’s way. A big thank you to Neil Vatcher for doing a tremendous job with the BYC which is bringing a steady conveyor belt of British talent

Fair play to the promotion. The easiest thing to do was to call it off but they battled on in adversity to get the meeting completed.

Despite how disappointed I am with our teams performance tonight (apart from Lambert and TJ)..I have to respond to your post and say what a load of nonsense you are talking. Rathbone is certainly not part of the BSPA mafia that is ruining this sport. And to prove the point why did he and the promotion bust a gut in the face of adversity to get the meeting completed when it could have been abandoned and restaged. I bet not many other clubs would have done that so to conclude you are talking utter b####### and people like you could cause defamation of character with crap like this and it ain't on.

message to rene bach . i for one knew it was possible , we done it against ipswich (sorry baldyman ) a few years ago and we knew you all could do it . keep the faith in the worky supporters and they will support , support the team until the end . we moan , thats what humans do . moan . now back to that Peterborough shambles .

Rathbone was asked in the pits at Rye last night why he hadn't moved the start time back to 7pm. He said he didn't want to as it would lose him money on the attendance. Also, had Rathbone accepted several dates at Arena, the tie would have been completed earlier. But he was too scared to face the Hammers on their home track, as he knew the Hammers would wallop his team in Essex. The BSPA wouldn't allow the Hammers to race some meetings at Arena and some at Rye, so he knew they would have to hold all meetings at Rye. So, it's entirely Rathbone's choice to race on this day and at this time. Considering Peterborough signed a rider the Hammers were told was illegal when they were going to sign him, in Nicholls (and another in Kennett!); they get to face the same team 4 times without a home track; and the opposition had to use a 16 year old National Leaguer today at 7..... I find it hard to see why Rathbone could feel hard done by at all this season! Dark pits at Peterborough, I hope everyone can see what they are doing with their bikes!

Couldn't make it last night due to family 'last supper'/taking youngest to uni. today, but what a turn around, I, like probably everyone else did not expect that. Full marks to the Comets for a performance which must give them confidence for the further challenges that lie ahead. I must admit the thing that has struck me is how genuine the good wishes seem to have been from seemingly everyone, but particularly from the Monarchs fans who must have been gutted, but who have been so magnanimous in defeat. A big thank you from us Comets and it only goes to prove that whilst the banter does possibly occasionally appear to overstep the mark it is banter and we (the supporters) are part of one speedway family.

Well done Ben and Alfie a great result for the IOW and Lakeside....

dont you understand the non league structure,im sure you dont which certainly doesnt surprise me, your pretty much the complete idiot,youve gone way past the accolade of being the village idiot However you have now called me stupid which i can assure im not ,we need to meet on monday,iwill meet you as you walk past selling the mags or perhaps we could have a chat in the car park.

Ok I'm sure this meeting was great to be at, big crowd, great stadium, as close a finish as you could wish for but... The starts, while not as bad as some meetings of thst era, typically had the riders already strung out by the first bend. The track was rubbish with just one line - if that was a GP today everyone would be complaining about the poor track prep and lack of passing. The racing certainly not a patch on the SWC or what SON served up this year. I disagree with the poster who suggested Mich could have bodes his time - what were there, two passes round the outside all meeting? Camera angles have certainly improved- not sure how people praise the production when there is no replay of the heat 12 close finish, and heat 2 was missed altogether. I'd also suggest that Briggs as comments guy adds far less than Tatum. I get why people enjoy this meeting, and fully understand it being memorable due to the dramatic finish but - I certainly wouldn't trade thst meeting for the world class fare served up the last few seasons in the SGPs plus SWC/SON.

No he only mentions it when our riders do badly and then says he isn't anti Poole but alway wants us to lose.

Noone ever said that Poland had to abide by GB rules. Just that as soon as Hans lined up at the tapes in a competitive meeting anywhere in the world then by definition his injury had not been "season ending." And only a "season ending" injury was eligible for a guest replacement. You can argue from there the merits as to whether guest points should have been retrospectively removed, or simply the guest facility removed from that point onwards. A season ending injury has to cover the globe otherwise it would be open to abuse (And in this instance I am not disputing at all the seriousness of Hans' injury)

i honestly think that the orange FLASHING light ( 2 mins ) is enough and has served its purpose very well over the many years in speedway . maybe if ricky was facing the correct way , he may have seen that the 2 min light was out and he was still not ready for racing. even with a clock on the centre green , he was still facing away from it. so he would not have been able to see it . but a seasoned pro should be aware of time limits by now . ricky wells 0 stewie wilson 1 . game over .LOL. looks like thr Edinburgh fans have gone to ground . watched EM tv last night . tweedle dum and tweedl dee were full of themselves saying that they were in the final , no problem . think again babies . we are in , youre not . looking forward to seeing the final EM TV broadcast .

A team bends rules to give them an advantage.... so what's the issue? Been happening for years and will continue to do so if the "rulebook" allows it. Whilst there are Lemmings that continue to pay to watch this "sport" it will not change anything. The "Promoters" don't care about each other... as long as they are not the ones taking the hit. More of a jokesport everyday....

If the meetings have been moved to allow Lakeside to put out their own side then this is a poor show from them Would still be tight mind you. The NLRC could easily take 2.5 hours and finish at 3.30 and its not inconceivable that Morley and Bowtell will be involved late into the meeting Is it realistic to expect them to pack up , travel from Leicester to Peterborough and set up in just 90 minutes? Lakeside have certainly pulled put all the stops in their choice of guests and there is no doubt they are stronger as a result On the face of it although within the rules it appears against the spirit of sportsmanship It almost has me wanting the Panthers to win!

Well unless they were going to be alright with him wanting to ride heat 15 clockwise I think so

None of those teams play in the southern premier league.