Halifaxtiger

I have heard that too.

Some very good racing on a grippy track - Bach, Hall & Palm Toft in particular (showing that not just Comets riders can go for it and attack the track). Plymouth didn't seem interested, particularly after Barker fell in heat one. Some people in the main stand where delighted when it was announced that Barker had withdrawn from the meeting due to injury. Beggars belief, doesn't it ?

I don't care how accurate she is. If she thinks she can do better, tell her to put her name forward. You're not alone, Sue

Little cruel, but watching him at Rye House on Saturday I'd say he made a major mistake switching from Stoke.

Until he went round Josh Auty on the last bend, that was. That was anything but average.

I can only comment across the entire spectrum (EL, PL & NL) but: Best Track: Scunthorpe, Workington & Plymouth. Honourable mentions Sheffield and Rye House Worst track: Stoke's for the NL fours. Never seen anything like it (Belle Vue ? Says everything that I haven't been there this season). Best overall experience(track, stadium presentation): Dudley - at £10 the cheapest, too. Honorable mention: Workington. Most impressive riders: Jason Doyle, Rohan Tungate, Niels Kristian Iversen, Stefan Nielsen, Josh Bates, Tom Perry, Richie Worrall, Ben Reade, Nicolae Covatti. Best presenter : Kevin Long (Mildenhall) Ian Jones (Dudley), Bryn Williams (Isle of Wight). Honourable mention: Rob Godfrey (Scunthorpe). Worst presenter : that bloke at Sheffield who can't tell the difference between Gary Irving and Tom Young. Best food : Mrs Tsunami's meals at Newcastle Never touch the stuff at tracks but I am told that the burgers at Berwick (straight from Anderson's Butchers) are fantastic. Best fans : No question, Plymouth. Worst fans : Coventry. Most amazing meeting: Sheffield v Glasgow at Owlerton (also worst team management decision that night). Most underrated track : Lakeside. Most overrated track : Somerset. Best smack in the chops look : Squall & Spinny junior when I won the raffle for the second time at Sheffield

Usual good quality Scunny meeting with a top class race in heat 13, Auty slipping between the team riding Barker-Fisher pairing, only to lose out on the line to Barker's fantastic last bend outside charge. Great stuff. One thing : if Rob Godfrey and his crew can prepare a surface of that quality less than 24 hours after a stock car meeting on the same track, I fail to appreciate why everyone else can't as well.

Then here's another. Hoddesdon has never been one of my favourite tracks but I enjoyed both meetings. No dust, decent racing (little bit more grip on the inside and it would have been near perfect) a sunny evening and a pretty decent crowd. As someone who attempts to keep his posts as objective as possible, its very pleasing to report that on this visit at least much of the criticism of Rye House is unjustifiable and based upon past experiences and, no doubt, prejudices. I'll be back .

Sure you are being modest, Phil, but I think Mildenhall are a better side overall. With Heeps and Stoneman, I'd say they would have been odds on to win a straight two legged contest between the teams. Jacobs is riding as well (if not better) than ever, Nielsen is simply brilliant and Blackbird is a true heat leader as this level, capable of beating anyone, anywhere. Halsey is inconsistent and the number 6 is a bit of a concern, but Bates is the best novice I have seen this season. A lot will depend on who replaces Heeps, because I got told yesterday he won't ride again this season. Roynon is the best rider in the NL and Perry must be one of the most popular, a terrific young prospect. However, I don't rate Bekker or White Williams (never have) get Morris away from the white line and he isn't half the rider and Greenwood & Ritchings are inconsistent. Mildenhall always seem far more fired up too. If I was a betting man, my money would be on the Fen Tigers.

You too Twist your Dad's arm and come to Stoke on Sunday. I'll probably be standing with an angry pensioner from the Isle of Wight Norwichkev does that

Nice one, Spinny. Few lads coming up from Plymouth so I am coming to this one.

Rotten git. PMSL I heard the news about Lambert on the radio travelling down to Dudley

The weather did spoil the match a bit (I was amazed no-one tried to clear the lake from the first bend) but it was still a decent meeting with some close races and a fair bit of passing. Blackbird may hear more of his actions in heat 9. While he had every right to be aggrieved at a shocking refereeing decision to exclude him, I don't need to state how dangerous parking your bike across the track while the race is still going on is. Best I have seen Jacobs ride for a while, and there was a nice touch from the Dudley announcer at the end of the meeting to congratulate him as he had been injured in his last match at the stadium. Perry moving up from reserve will make a difference because he can't have a couple of extra rides (or block tactical changes as he did last night) but I doubt it will affect his scoring that much as he was averaging the best part of 10.00 per match before he dropped down. There's no doubt that the presence of Roynon and Morris would have made a significant difference at West Row (although I wasn't impressed with Morris last night - move him two feet away from the kerb and he doesn't know what he is doing) so would Heeps at Monmore Wood. There is every prospect of a very attractive couple of fixtures if (as expected) they meet in the play off final, with two evenly matched teams on (hopefully) two excellent racing tracks. One last point. I had the pleasure of the company of 4 Heathens fans (again) last night - dad, sons and grandson, with the little lad having his first taste of 500cc stallions. The sight of three generations all having a top night out watching the racing was enough to warm the heart of any speedway fan.

About 4.30, thanks again.

Weather updates would be appreciated.

I have no doubt that it was idiots from both sides yesterday. The problem is that Mildenhall are just another club who have an issue with the behaviour of Dudley fans - Rye House have commented here, I have heard a lot of adverse remarks at Plymouth and the least said about Buxton the better. I wonder why the idiots from other clubs only show up when Dudley are the visitors ?

I couldn't believe the match was on after the downpour I went through to get there or that we would see 15 heats. In the end, the only thing that threatened to stop the meeting was a strange and unexpected wall of fog that advanced rapidly after heat 13 towards the track. Cue Stoke fans urging the referee to get on with heat 15 Buxton has never been one of my favourite tracks but it definitely improves after receiving the benefit of some rain, and this was quite possibly the best meeting I have seen there with some close racing and a last heat decider (which, to be fair, was never in doubt). Couple of very impressive performances from Blacklock (easily the best I have seen him ride) and Carr.

I am sure you are wrong on this one - the problem with Plymouth is not its finances but the man in control of them. My suspicion is that when the Devils were making a huge amount of money a big chunk went into that gemtleman's pockets, now they are making less he still expects to take the same wedge. The gate against (admittedly) Workington was around 1,200, and that's enough to keep every PL team in the country reasonably in the black. Word is that get rid of Mr Bowden, putting a winning team out and the already decent gates will at least double and I don't think that is in the least bit over optimistic. Alan Dick says in Speedy Star that the problem is the money they owe due tp the track improvements, not the losses they are making on a weekly basis. It surprises me that they are not losing money on the gates that I have seen there but, accepting his statement, that does make a purchase more likely.

Can't argue with any of that ............but that hasn't been raised by either promotion as an issue

They don't. Its sod all to do with them what time a meeting is run. I suspect no-one actually knows, that's why they haven't responded. Quite I have helped prepare the stadium for racing many times (most often with Robert Huggins on the tractor, one of the best track curators in the business) and there's absolutely no doubt that it could be ready by 3pm. I doubt if that is a factor at all. In any other week, maybe, but here there's no question in my mind that running the meeting at 3pm would result in a substantially bigger gate than running at 4.30. For a start, there would be one guest as opposed to two guests and two lots of rider replacement. No doubt which the floating supporters would prefer to see. Secondly, many Dudley supporters won't travel (some out of sheer bloody mindedness, some because their team is significantly weakened).

As someone trying to be objective here, one of the clubs clearly isn't telling the truth (or there has been a major misunderstanding). Dudley say there was an agreement to move the fixture forwards, Mildenhall say there wasn't. I am not sure if it is Dudley fans or Mildenhall fans being gullible here, as both seem to swallowing whole what their respective promotions are saying. What I do know is that the 3pm start time suits everyone except Mildenhall (perhaps the Stoke gate was down because everyone thought the match would be off due to the weather).In addition, I have no doubt (and I have helped prepare Mildenhall Stadium for racing on more occasions than any of the current promotion) that the meeting could be held at that time. With the exception of yourself and taking into account the comments on facebook, the silence of Mildenhall fans on those two points is nothing less than deafening. My real issue is that the decision not to have 3pm is one promotion almost certainly putting its own needs above those of speedway and its fans in general. Mildenhall certainly aren't alone in that, but it is that kind of selfishness that creates many of the problems and difficulties that the sport has. I can help but wonder what time the match would start if Heeps was fit and if it was Leicester v Ipswich............

The only thing is if the promotion can do it for the Stoke match (advertised to start at 3pm) why can't they do it for the Dudley one ? What circumstances are there that would make the difference ? Personally, and based upon considerable experience, I'd say there's no reason at all why you can't get the stadium ready for 3pm. The fact that Mildenhall are not willing to do so on this occasion when they have done so before simply adds credence to the Dudley fans suggestion that the Mildenhall promotion are running scared of them and even that there was an agreement to run at the earlier time that has been reneged upon. I am convinced this issue isn't just about Dudley wanting what suits them best - its about Mildenhall doing exactly the same thing, with speedway and its fans, as always, being the losers.

Sadly, Kev, where the Dudley fans are right is that this meeting would unquestionably be better if it was run at 3pm (although I have little doubt that that is not their motivation for raising the issue). The meeting would be deprived of the hugely entertaining talents of Heeps & Perry anyway, but there's nothing anyone can do about that. There's no question though, that a meeting with one guest would be infinitely preferable to one with two guests and two lots of rider replacement. If the match could be held at 3pm, it should be regardless of who gains and who loses and whether a promise was made to run at that time or not. I fear that the decision to run at 4.30 will severely affect what should be easily Mildenhall's biggest gate of the league season, because the Dudley lot and many neutrals simply won't come (to put it into perspective, 3pm I would be choosing where I go for my speedway this weekend, 4.30 the wife can ). Given that consensus was on Saturday night that Mildenhall won't top the NL prior to the play offs anyway, the possible result of this match shouldn't really come into any decision on the start time.

Spot on, Adz. I can't help but wonder whether all the squawking from Dudley fans on here regarding a 3pm start is motivated by a desire to have all the riders there and have a better meeting or the fact that they have a much better chance of winning if that is the case. I suspect it is very much the latter. The home team chooses the start time for their meetings, not the BSPA or another club. If it suits them to start at another time (for whatever reason) they can do precisely that.

Pretty much spot on, Adz. I too was very surprised at just how easily the Fen Tigers won this match because I also thought it would be close. Then again, my prediction skills never were up to much. For all Nielsen's brilliance (aside from coming off, he never looked like being beaten), a fantastic ride from Kerr and Jacobs performance, Bates was man of the match for sure. I thought he was pretty good when I saw him at Lynn last time but he has stepped up big time from then, beating riders with greater experience of the NA track and racing in general comfortably and not doing it all from the gate either. Very impressive indeed.