topsoil

Every silver lining has a cloud eh? :-)

So many ifs and buts to this tie. I've seen Lasse Bjerre be brilliant and poor at Berwick, TJ and Matty Wethers could be big spoilers tonight, are Jye and Coty fit?, will Dany Gapp be jekyll and hyde over the two legs?, will Berwick have any backup to Spud and NBJ tomorrow night? For me it is a 50/50 tie. Decent weather today, hopefully big crowds for the two legs and a good cup tie atmosphere.

Not exactly free if you've paid for a season ticket

True dat

58-20 to Eastbourne with Graham Jones to top score with 10

I remember two seasons ago when Berwick had a bad start to the season (the time of Lewis Bridger and Dmitri Berge) that a lot of fans were going to stop going because the team was losing. When pointed out to them that the racing was probably the best we had seen for a while at that time, they responded they did not care, all they wanted was the win. Now, apparently, it doesn't matter if you are winning, it all depends on the racing. Speedway fans, don't you just love them?

This sums up the forum for me

With a very weakened team, you could promote a meeting however you want, but fans will not attend, which in turn would be a financial disaster. Just what a club, which looks like it is already struggling, needs. And if the person responsible was the promoter, would you like to see him resign? Then what?

It's scary how much the crowds have dropped off from last season. In spite of a very successful run of results at the end of last season and beginning of this. I hate to think what the crowds would be if the team was losing.

I thought he had said "should he be withdrawn, IRR would come into play"

Very rarely find a reason to go on to the forum these days because of the depressing nature of a lot of posts. Any sign of a debate and it soon descends into somebody becoming a "troll".

Eurovision? really? I hope that was tongue in cheek. Not much you can do about the length of time it takes to run a meeting like tonight, because of all the accidents. I was actually amazed that none of them required ambulance delays, especially the Kennedy and Etheridge (heat 3) crashes. i actually thought the racing was better tonight, more passes than usual, maybe the rain overnight actually helped the track? The crowd tonight was very poor. It was more like a typical Berwick Rangers crowd than a speedway crowd. Very concerning given the good start to the season the club have had. Imagine what it would be like if the team was getting beat like Berwick Rangers?

Why would speedway supporters and the promotion in Leicester be concerned at a Manchester club being in the F A Cup final and as for being worried about clashing with the Eurovision Song Contest? I really hope this was tongue in cheek.

You've been listening to the voices again

I take it Nicki Barrett won a 80 / 125 / 250cc title? I was only concentrating on the actual World Championship / Grand Prix. No wonder I was stumped :-) Love teasers like this though.

Don't think any of us sitting at a keyboard is in any position to mock a rider who has come back from such a serious injury. He gave it a shot and hats off to him for having the balls to do it. But it was best for all concerned he stepped down.

Unless this is a trick Anthony Barlow ice racing or Richard Hall / Theo Pijper longtrack answer I'm stuck.

I missed a lot of the 90s and early 2000s so I'm going to guess either Nicki Pedersen, in his Newcastle days, or somebody in the 1991 season, as guests?

Having been on the wrong end of Edinburgh more than a few times, that was sweet tonight. An extra meeting to look forward to now and a big night for the club.

That means two world champions have ridden for Berwick then :-) (I can remember Tai guesting as well at one point). I'm not counting longtrack before anybody points out Kelvin Tatum.

Yes, that sounds about right.

Wasn't that an end of season competition, rather than the one at he start? I thought it was Workington who beat us in the final.

Certainly can't remember Berwick qualifying from the group stages. During the Peter Waite era, the Premier Trophy / Shield was used as a warm up / average manipulation for the League campaign. That coupled with our inability to win at any of our neighbours meant we very rarely looked like qualifying. Berwick have a habit of finishing seasons in better form than starting them.

This has got banana skin written all over it, Ricky Wells flies around Berwick, as did Heeps last year, Andersson and Pickering have both won races at Berwick in the past. I know Sedgeman doesn't like the place, but you can count on him chipping in with a few points and generally an unexpected win at some point. All six Berwick riders will need to be on their game tonight. It would be a big achievement for Berwick to reach the semi final stage and a big boost for the club. Got to win this one first though.

Would have taken a point before the meeting, but disappointed not to take more having seen the way things ended. A point could still be vital, if we can beat Edinburgh at home tomorrow night.