scotchopper

Ht14 was a 50/50 and from the home straight i thought he made the right decision. It goes both ways though, Ht4 on Friday should have been all 4 back and Theo wouldn't have been last in a rerun. There were still 16 races to go so you cannot blame the ref for losing you had more than enough chances against a weakened monarchs team to win. I'd hate to think what the score would have been if Mitchell and Joe were there, Theo and cookie were fully fit and Max hadn't trashed a bike on Friday.

It's crazy! on friday we complain about a slick track and consistently being outgated by newcastle. Today diamonds fan complain about the exact same thing and the monarchs turn them over. With virtually the same riders. LIndgren was excellent on friday and is on a very exclusive list of riders to beat cookie at Armadale. Although no riders have beaten him at Brough park yet this season.

Unbelievable, well done boys. Bring on the bears. Woohoo

Not sure how much water was put out before the meeting but the water bowser was out several times during it. They were obviously not happy with the track as there was tractor grading after almost every heat. That never happens at armadale, despite this and the number of crashes the meeting was still complete before 9.30 which was a good effort. It was an incredibly tough meeting with some real dodgy looking crashes, twice 3 riders racing for the same spot in turn 3 ended up with at least one in the fence. And ht3 had to be rerun three times, 2 crashes before they even reached the first turn. Gutted that wee Joe is injured and hope it is not significant, hope all riders and bikes are sorted for Sunday. 6 disqualifications and 3 each on a difficult night for the ref probably evened things out. Well done Newcastle your riders were well up for it gated liked demons and earned the win. Tully's first turn in ht5 was the best at the dale since the starting gate moved and if he can get going like that everywhere you will be hard to stop this year. Although we have said that a few times over the years, good luck to the lad. Special mention for Theo pijper, he was obviously in agony after every heat racing with broken ribs. Then had to pick himself off the floor in ht4, should have been all 4 back as lewis and Max left him nowhere to go but he probably got a fine for his trouble for not clearing the track. Only robbo in ht13 beat him after that and a fantastic last to 2nd in the final race when passing had been non existent since very early in the meeting. Take a bow. We'll be back although unlikely to be on Sunday with all the injuries and mechanical gremlins.

For edinburgh you could always stay in the city centre then travel to the meeting on the bus from waterloo place. Far too many hotels to mention on here

thanks for the info re printing tickets. I had just reserved tickets, was able to log back in and pay for them and now have the ability to print tickets. Phew, today is the last day of the cheap 2 match ticket for both meetings in prague. I'd advise getting your finger out if you haven't already. I've ended up in section J1 so close to the 4th bend, hopefully far enough along the straight and high enough to avoid the shale. It was half the price of section A and B and I'm only 1 or 2 seats away from them so worth the risk imo. although that may be the reason for the price change. cannae wait now

Did anyone pay for tickets? It appears to just reserve seats so you can pick them up in Prague. All looks good but concerned you have to pick them up by a certain time but won`t be in Prague until the day of the race off. In some ways I would prefer I had paid for them just now. What are other experiences?

i was very sceptical about this signing but have to admit i was wrong. a very promising debut, his win was the catalyst to a comfortable win for the monarchs. well done mitch

point was that the standard of the opposition had an influence on the scores of darcy at away meetings. made slightly tongue in cheek obviously but i'm sure you got that. This is emphasised by darcy only scoring 7 in the league match vs edinburgh at kings lynn. armadale is far from perfect but too many people blame the size of the track for a riders poor performance.

haha got the big wooden spoon out again paulco. of course his lower scores had nothing to do with the monarchs being title contenders that year. you have to factor in the standard of the opposition where did glasgow finish in the league in 2009?

well my dad and i will be 2 of those who would normally be at ashfield but will be at hampden. shame as i quite enjoy my trips to the west when the monarchs are on form. keen to see max square up against the young tigers as well. cup final has been moved to sunday to avoid a clash with the champions league final. ridiculous decision. without counting the chickens too much there is a good chance the meeting will be meaningless so maybe the glasgow promotion want to get it out of the way.

"fantastic battle between the two wee men" quality commentating. excellent performance from the monarchs and it could have been better. vissing in ht11 made the gate and it should have been a 5-1 had he not locked up. joe should never have excluded in ht14 shocking decision. i'm sure he would have won that as well sending monarchs through the 60 mark. loved ed the monarch with the "should have gone to specsavers" moment at the ref

i would really welcome the start gate moving. it's a great idea. as far as i am aware armadale is the only track where you cannot stand beside the start gate and i want to stand as close to the start as possible. i want to watch the riders prepare for the start and how they interact with the marshalls and each other. i also want to see close finishes. it should also help the interaction between fans and riders i think. i am assuming the main reason why it is where on the far side is the ref's box. interesting to see how they solve that problem. another reason to look forward to this season, bring it on.

you are assuming that the others have sought and gained approval already. i haven't seen anything official about max having all the approvals. i assumed they were waiting for all the state championships etc to be complete before applying as i struggled to see how he qualified as well. obviously that changes now he won last night so if my reasoning is correct they apply tomorrow. this is just guessing on my part and i have no idea about any of the others. when it comes to harley it did seem odd how quickly the appeal was won unless glasgow were able to point out a result that the mc had missed that made him eligible.

i don't understand why the mc don't publish the reasons behind their decisions, as some have said there may be valid reasons for denying joey but tell us what they are. that is the majn problem i have with the mc as everything seems shrouded in secrecy. being on the mc will always leave alex and his cronies open to claims of bias but the bottom line is speedway cannot afford an independent panel. these guys put a lot of work and effort and give up so much of their time to speedway for very little reward. if promotions of other teams really think they are biased then vote them out at the agm. this is alex harkess 3rd year as chairman so he must have plenty support.

what's the latest with the tr rule, is it still only up to ht12? if that's the case can't see max at no 3 to start. i'd be tempted to start him at no 2 just for that extra support. pijper 3, sneddon 4, masters 5 and joe 7. after the first average change sneddon can move back to 2 as either max will be flying or smokin joe will be in the main body of the team. the alternative is pair masters and fricke at 3 and 4. all depends how well they go, i need to keep reminding myself that pijper finished with a better ave than sam last season. i really like the idea of a different riding order at home than away and don't understand why more teams don't do it. unlikely monarchs will do this as they always seem to drag their feet about changing rider order.

you should have seen him at leicester. i know he looks like he's not trying but he does have talent and is still pretty young. i think he is worth a go as we have had plenty no 7s that struggle to average 2 he hasn't mastered armadale yet but if monarchs 7th rider averages more than 3 then he is doing his job. helfer managed that last year despite some incredibly poor races.

fantastic new plrc champ from 2011 and 2012 hopefully more trophies to come and of the team variety!

no idea about tigers fans george i don't tend to read threads about them. back on thread hopefully the monarchs line up will get finalised at the video night on friday.

more like a childrens playground on here than a kitchen. unfortunately just a reflection of the general apathy to our sport that is major issue at the moment. thankfully when we really needed it a number of fans really stepped up

great showing from cookie, with him in the team it would have been monarchs in the ko cup final instead of ipswich! well done somerset.

In hindsight the decision to put back the cut off date for league fixtures was a mistake or at least at that stage they should have put something in place to cover this. There would have been outrage back then as well and the final 6 may well have been different (i don't think monarchs would have made it). But that would be better than the current debacle, the league shouldn't be decided like this! btw I agree that the decision made was the only sensible option. Although they should announce now what happens if they cannot get the final raced.

i'm sure edinburgh could run it next friday, fat lot of good that would do. our off night is saturday so we could race tomorrow aah wait workington have a match. thoroughly disappointing all round. this really is a joke. the funniest thing is that the best solution is to award newcastle the title for finishing top as there is a pretty good chance borh legs of the final could get rained off.

gordon bennet i didn't expect that to be so conclusive. very well captured. disappointing it wasn't spotted, poor refereeing

i have a lot of respect for tommy, it is very difficult for a young scot to get decent speedway experience. to travel all the way to scunny for your nearest league meeting for very little (i assume) reward. he is frequently at armadale for 2nd halfs so it is a nice little reward for him to get to race in a monarchs race jacket and hopefully a boost to his confidence. it will be a big surprise if he scores any points but will be good experience. i would far rather we had a full team but that has not been possible for a number of matches and missing cookie has cost us dear at the business end of the season. you also cannot blame monarchs for taking the cheaper option given it is the last match of the season with nothing for us to play for and it is not tommy's score that will decide the result. as we all know guests can make you stronger or weaker for example masters for scunny a couple of weeks ago got you a point at the dale. this is likely to be the difference between scunny and monarchs making the final. most teams will have their own sob story. rules of speedway an imperfect sport that we all love.