Halifaxtiger

I was defending the Armadale circuit on Monday from some criticism because I have rarely seen a bad match at Edinburgh and while the second half of the meeting was pretty one sided there was some decent racing in the first part - enough for me to keep defending the track, anyway.

Dry. Doesn't look like it had rained or will rain other than the odd spot.

One last thing: I never ever eat speedway food but my pals from Plymouth told me that the burgers at Berwick are the best in the country. Can't comment on that, but they were bloody superb

Perhaps I should have said I was reasonably sure he said that..... He certainly did tell me that last weeks meeting was superb, as did Banditforlife. One swallow doesn't make a summer, though. We'll have to agree to disagree about Shielfield being a racers track. In my experience, it isn't and indeed never will be. What I give the Berwick promotion for - and I have said many times that Berwick have stepped up their game more than anyone else in the last few years - is that they do their best to ensure that it is as good as it can be. Even if it is accepted that the weather wasn't to blame for the track - and you live there, I don't - that on Saturday was wholly exceptional as far as I am concerned.

I was surprised that wasn't all four back.........but the decision to exclude North was definitely correct as far as I could see.

After the shambles last year, I decided to give this one a miss and saw an excellent meeting at Glasgow instead. From the contents of this report and knowing how fair you are (in actual fact, if anything, you are slightly (if not reasonably) biased towards Stoke) I made the right choice. It contrasts badly with the reports of the NL pairs at Mildenhall, which by all accounts was very good indeed. One day big meetings will be allocated to those that have shown they can put on a good show, not those that put in the best bid. In the end that will be best for the sport both in terms of its reputation and finances.

Thoroughly entertaining meeting. Have to say at the end I was rooting for the Tigers (which is probably why they lost). They rode their luck a bit but it was a battling performance, with Screen making a mockery of that I saw about a fortnight ago. He can stll beat the best. Jacobs, too, had a good meeting. Somerset are going to be a real handful for anyone in the forthcoming play offs.

I am sure my mate said it had rained heavily in Tweedmouth overnight (and he lives there). The track was poor but I made allowances for the very heavy shower that hit the place about 3pm and the forecast that we were due for more later (which didn't happen). Berwick is never going to be a brilliant racers track, but the current promotion have pulled out all the stops to make it as good as it can be. I can forgive them a one off at least partly caused by the weather.

Usual decent EWR meeting, with the highlight a storming heat 13 contest between Bech and Auty. Plymouth really seemed to have picked up two superb signings in the two Danes, because Jensen was equally as impressive.

We have had our disagreements in the past but I'd say every word of that is spot on. Well said indeed.

Without being too cruel (because his crash was horrific) Davey getting injured significantly assisted Edinburgh. He would have had to have had two more rides and its entirely possible he wouldn't have scored a point. The meeting would have been a lot, lot closer. I wasn't too impressed with the side the Tigers put out at the start of the season but what could go wrong has for Sheffield, particularly with injury. They had just rebuilt the side when Stead got injured, Koppe started to motor then the same thing happened and Roynon, too, seemed to be getting it together when he broke a collar bone. On top of that Haines - who could score some big points at Owlerton - retired. Merely brushing all that aside is most unfair and they are anything but the only team whose season has been destroyed by injuries. Very impressed with Greenwood. Agree on the crash - in a way, I am thankful it is only a broken leg.

To be fair, it does make a great deal of difference where you stand. I was the 1st/2nd bend and got the full impact of the dust. I doubt if there was any of the 3rd/4th bend.

Nonsense. Getting covered in shale dust is not 'part and parcel' of the game. I went to three matches last weekend and at only one was that the case. Exceptional weather conditions can lead to dust at the best prepared circuits but that wasn't the case on Sunday. When a track is awful the actual people you should be questioning about whether they are bothered if a track survives or not is the promotion, because they are doing nothing to attract fans and and a great deal to put the existing ones off. Yes there were rocks sticking up and no, it isn't normal at Buxton. Quite simply, the inside of the track had worn away so much it was down to the base.

Your choice, but I think that's unreasonably pessimistic and there's a chance that Sheffield will keep this reasonably close especially if Albin bangs in a decent score. Plymouth put in an incredible backs to the wall performance on Saturday; no reason why the Tigers can't do the same. Weather permitting (and the forecast looks good now) I'll be there.

If I was to give a message to the Leicester promoter I would say that the racing at BP has been miles better in my visits this season than any (with one exception) in the past. I'd give him a great deal of credit for that.

I think you are dead right. If water isn't in the shale it won't bind properly and you get dust, stones and blue lines. The week after the Mildenhall match (see above) Hackney were at Hi Edge and, as I sponsored Barrie Evans at the time, I went. About an hour before the start there was a short but heavy shower and the track that day was the best I have ever seen it (if memory serves me correctly Paul Starke said the same thing).

As always, comaprisons with other sports only have limited value but its rare that there isn't some sort of play off - entry to the arguably the biggest football league in the world is partly decided by one, for example. While we might all have our own individual preferences, it is surely what benefits the sport as a whole that counts and what must decide the way to go. There's no question that the play off matches pull in bigger attendances, create far more interest and generate more excitement - as Rob has accurately said, the contrast between the damp squib ending of 2011 when a large number of meaningless matches were played out and the fantastic end to the 2012 season is a stark one, and I think it is clear that in terms of what is best for the sport play offs win hands down. For myself, I was a dyed in the wool fan of top of the league wins the league until I went to the amazing Scunthorpe-Mildenhall NL play off final in 2011. The second match was undoubtedly the best I have ever seen and had the effect of completely changing my view. Does anyone know when the cut off is ?

I agree and am certainly not like that. Partly due to fact that it is comparatively close to my home over the last few seasons I have been there more than most and usually like going there. It simply isn't true that the track is always dreadful, but it has been in the past and was on Sunday.

With respect to Scribbler, I think in her case its Rob Godfrey. He posts as Moorwell. Its a lot more prevalent in the NL with Jayne Moss, Dale Allitt, Malcolm Vasey and Laurence Rogers all getting involved.

The problem is Bryn that in my experience some of them do bite. I'll never forget Dave # Name Removed #'s aggressive, abusive rants on here when confronted with criticism and I myself have been on the end of that, despite the fact that everyone I have spoken to agreed with what I had said. I can just imagine someone approaching David Hemsley after a home defeat and the reaction they would get if they were critical. Its not true of everyone, though. Dale Allitt, Laurence Rogers and Dave Hoggart have all given patient, reasoned and persuasive responses to questions and comments I have made in the past and its why I have a lot of time for them all. I think I would be immodest if I am claimed credit for that but I did tell Hoggy that he was 'missing a trick' by not using the BSF to engage with fans. The reaction to his post was very favourable indeed, both with Sheffield fans and those from other clubs. Its absolutely true that there are those who will never be satisfied, who will want to know the ins and outs of everything or who just have an axe to grind or a hidden agenda. As I also said to Dave, its a matter of sorting out the wheat from the chaff, the reasonable from the unreasonable. You are never going to satisfy everyone but the more thinking members of this forum will soon grasp what is being said, what the limits are and appreciate the comments made. The thing is at the moment I think that the members of this forum are just seen as troublemakers, ignoramuses and simpletons by most members of the BSPA, and that's simply not true - most of us care as much about the sport as they do. To me, its better to engage with your paying public and take the stupid stuff on the chin than ignore them altogether.

Don't ever let ignorance stop you posting, will you ? I am not a Mildenhall supporter (I would have thought the fact that I have been there twice this season would make that clear), nor is Rum Old Bird Adam's mum. I am struggling to see where I said that the track was 'downright dangerous' or make the connection between Buxton's track and me being a team manager's guest at Belle Vue. I was there yesterday, you weren't. Enough said, I think. Its the last bit that really sticks in my craw, though. If a track closes down because of bad reviews from a fan, its entirely the fault of the fan and absolutely no responsibility of the promotion concerned whether that review is entirely accurate or not. That's the kind of ridiculous nonsense pumped out by some members of the BSPA and a few of their closest supporters - take what you are given, be grateful for it and don't complain when the product is crap . To me, its that kind of arrogant, condescending attitude that has contributed to the sport in this country being on its knees.

Perhaps he should have said semi-impartial. I notice you have not deemed to contradict my comments about ruts, rocks, stones and dust. That doesn't surprise me in the slightest. I am in no position to contradict you saying that no-one from Kent complained, but Steve Boxall was definitely on the phone to the referee at one point. As I said before, I doubt if he was on about coffee from the food wagon. I was there that day against Mildenhall and Michael Lee's comments were absolutely justified. If anything, it was worse than yesterday and I certainly know of two fans who haven't been back since that day. The last time I went to Kent the track was poor (although not as bad as yesterday). It puts my views into perspective when I say that despite being Adam's long time sponsor and regarding Nikko as a valued friend it didn't stop me being publicly critical about their track either. As Moosetash has said, I call it as I see it without any bias, favouritism or hidden agenda's. Boxall maybe experienced but isn't infallible. As for the others riders fall al the time. You can't take back something that has been said. Absolutely.Count up how many other times he has fallen this season, how many riders he has knocked off and take into account a long phone call he had with the referee and then judge. Was there any forecast for rain? Not according to Met Office and XC Weather and it didn't rain at all during the meeting. Ruts are part and parcel of all tracks. Your experience should tell you that as are slick surfaces In my experience (which as you can see is pretty wide) ruts are part and parcel of crap tracks, not all of them. He doesn't like losing either: I dare say he doesn't but as I have said I was there that day and his comments were spot on. How can you call yourself impartial when you make statements such as' lost us'? I think others called me impartial, not me, and those are Michael Lee's comments, not mine.

To be fair, I should retract the 'unsafe' remark. That was made in the heat of the moment after a series of falls - Ryan Blacklock definitely came off - and riders losing control, including Liam Carr and Adam McKinna. It says everything that one of the riders who did come off - and indeed later withdrew from the meeting due to injury - is one of the best and most experienced in the NL. I'd like to have heard what he was saying to the referee when he was on the phone shortly after, although I somewhat doubt that he was complaining about the price of coffee from the food wagon. If the track wasn't unsafe, it was certainly bloody awful and that's anything but the first time that I have seen that at Buxton. I got home an hour or so ago, absolutely covered in dust from a track that was watered just once before the meeting (unless you count the dribble that comes out on grading) on a breezy and intermittently sunny day. I was also battered by a series of sharp stones that came off the track surface (despite standing well away from the circuit). Nikko is absolutely right in his assessment of the first bend - it wasn't a blue groove, it was far worse than that. Indeed, large rocks (which presumably constitute the bases of the track) were sticking up on the inside line after about heat 9. In addition, I was told that there was a huge rut on the third/fourth bend. I was listening to Dean Felton telling me about his plan's for the Fence Fund meeting and he deserves a huge amount of credit for the effort that he is putting in, because he is leaving no stone unturned in order to ensure that it is a major success. To be blunt, it is a pity that the same sort of effort is not put in on match days to ensure that they are a similar success, because what I saw today has ensured that I won't be going again for a while. EDIT: It was the sort of track that caused Michael Lee to make these comments in 2011: "The track conditions were very disappointing and the falls and crashes caused by that, lost us at least seven points. It's shame as, if the surface was right, it could be a great little speedway.......... but to be honest, in the end I am just glad the boys are all in one piece after riding on a track like that."

To me, two points dropped by Somerset and one gained by Plymouth. The Devils really were there for the taking and Somerset just didn't take the opportunity. Having said that, it was a real fighting performance by Plymouth and they fully deserved a point. There wasn't a lot of passing early on but witthe score so close the meeting was always good and heat 15 was an absolute cracker, with Doyle chasing after Lemon and Davies and Jensen passing and repassing.

Usual decent OTA meeting with some good racing from Newman,Bech,Jensen,Morris and Nielsen. Somerset were very impressive and will be a real handful for anyone in the play offs. Plymouth seem to have a winner in Jensen and the way the Devils have stepped up from the Bowden era cannot be over stated. Big thanks to Pirate Nick.