topsoil

Unrelated to this meeting I know, but looking down this list, it's mainly second half riders, does any of the Glasgow fans know if there is any developments on the club looking to get an academy track up and running on land near the stadium? Similarly any Edinburgh fans heard anything about the land that one of their former directors had planned to turn into a track?

It might just be me but I think British speedway is in a better position this season because they are tending to look from within where it comes to getting riders. It's probably done British speedway a favour. Stop chasing riders whose costs clubs can't afford. It will do British speedway on the whole a lot of god to try and produce some home grown riders for a change. Cuts down on travelling costs, fans relate more to local riders, brings more riders into the sport and in time might provide a stronger national team.

Thankfully, it is easier to attract people to the sport when the basic product (racing) is good. I am a fan of a club, but I'm happy enough as long as I am entertained and see a good meeting.

Can't argue with that. A line up of Morris, Bridger, Vissing, Doolan, Gappmaier, Carr, Etheridge would do for me. Not sure if averages would have fit, but it's all ifs and buts anyway. No idea what was said / went on between Vissing and the promotion, but we lost a good rider there.

Good to see Liam linked up with a National League club. It maybe what he needs right now, get his confidence back up by scoring a few points at that level.

Can't argue with any of that. Up until Saturday the racing this season has been better than it's been for a long time. Even in the latter stages of Saturday there were some good races, especially involving Lewis Bridger. To me, the promotion have done a lot of good work this season, the only thing missing is a competitive team. Hopefully the break will allow the promotion to have a re-think over the lineup and learn from their mistakes on track preparation. There is still a long way to go this season, if a decent side can be put together, certainly long enough to have a respectable season and win fans back. It just so happens that the last two matches (and perhaps next one against Peterborough) will be the three which will attract the least travelling fans. I wonder, for meetings like this if it would be worthwhile to try some sort of promotion to get bigger numbers in.

Comfortably the worst meeting of the season so far. Defeat was expected, but at least the racing to this point has been far better than previous seasons. That went out the window tonight, certainly early on. Track preparation obviously messed up this week. I have complimented the way meetings have been pushed along this season, but a 30 minute delay after first heat on a cold night won't impress anybody. Then we had a reserves race with all four riders struggling to turn the bikes and even more experienced riders like Bridger, Morris and Schlein making big mistakes. I'm hoping that Nick Morris was just a case of being caught out by the track. The only silver linings to tonight was the return of Lewis Bridger to something like his real form. His passes on Heeps, King and Schlein the highlights of the night for Berwick. Cameron Heeps was a revelation compared to the Cup match, he was the match winner tonight. Berwick badly missed Gappmaier, but not sure they would have won even with him. Perhaps the three week gap is a blessing in disguise as it gives the promotion time to make big decisions about the line up going forward. This obviously cannot continue, as the drop off in crowds over the past two weeks, while expected to an extent when you compare Galsgow and Edinburgh travelling numbers to Scunthorpe and Ipswich, is frightening and more meetings like this won't encourage fans back. Hopefully the right decisions will be made because a decent team going forward can still salvage something from the season, there is still a long way to go.

Just my opinion but I think Roy Clarke is doing a fine job. Last night he was given an almost impossible task of keeping the home fans entertained between races when the majority are feeling miserable because of the score. He gives good interviews and is knowledgeable about the sport. Also last night Dennis was bang out of order once over, Roy asked him a genuine question (think it was details of an upcoming meeting) and got the reply "i don't care". End of that conversation then.

Oh dear. Talk about kicked when you are down. You could point to a couple of bits of bad luck tonight, heat 1 when Ryan Douglas jumps the start, goes to the back, but instead of punishing his own mistake, the race is stopped. Berwick were on a 4-2, the re-run is a 5-1 against. Then Bridger drops a chain trying to go round Douglas in heat 6. But overall just too many riders under performing. Easiest thing in the world to start pointing fingers and criticise, I'll leave that for others to do. What probably won't be said is that there was again good racing tonight, Bridger's last to second in heat 13 (good to see Lewis Kerr up and about that was a nasty one) and the heat 15 between Bridger and Palm Toft was excellent. Several other heats with passing as well, but that will be lost amongst the negativity around the result. The crowd was, as expected, well down tonight and the result tonight won't have done anything to help matters. Silver linings? Dany Gappmaier had his best meeting as a Bandit, brilliant tonight. And the NJL team won. Maybe time for Gary Havelock to make some more drunken video messages on twitter?

For years fans have wondered why exact crowd numbers aren't published, but does it really matter? And even published figures are open to debate. For instance, do you include season ticket sales, even if the supporter doesn't attend that particular meeting? What about the under 16s who get in for free at the likes of Berwick, do you include those or just the paying public? Published crowd figures, like every other statistic, while handy to be used for comparison purposes, are just another cause for debate. Rather than just crowd numbers, the sport should be concerned about core values like rider numbers (current and future), media exposure, keeping costs under control, providing entertainment, safety etc.

Another tight one in prospect tonight I reckon. On paper you would think Berwick have the upper hand amongst heat leaders, Bridger and Vissing should score well tonight. Scunthorpe have a bit of depth about them though, Michael Palm Toft is a cracking rider and Carl Wilkinson has been round Shielfield enough times to know the quickest route. Bringing in Mark Riss will also help Scunthorpe, he scored well for Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. Forecast for a decent day, rain yesterday but I think that might have helped the track as we've never had any for a while. There will no doubt be a drop off in crowd levels tonight as Scunthorpe, understandably, won't bring nearly as many travelling fans as Edinburgh or Glasgow. Hopefully the racing will be up to the standard it's been so far this season. Here's to the first win of the season.

Four very good crowds so far this season at Berwick, the one exception was Ipswich in the Cup, but even that was bigger than most of last season. Far better racing this season as well. Just a pity about results. It has also been good weather this season so far, which helps a lot. The next two meetings will probably have a drop-off, Scunthorpe and Ipswich won't have many travelling fans (understandable). So far the presentation and racing has been far better this season. The new promotion are getting a lot of things right. It just needs results to follow now.

Different fans want different things. I just think that a lot of things people have asked for, faster paced meetings, better racing, we are getting this season so far, but the results aren't there.

Disappointed to lose tonight especially after an 8 point lead. The edge was taken off a bit by the fact there was some really good racing tonight. Gappmaier and Perry in heat 2, Doolan's third to first in heat 3, Summers' cut back to drive up inside Vissing, heat 14 between Gappmaier and Lunna, all great to watch. R/R certainly worked for Berwick tonight and Gappmaier had his best meeting of the season, really impressed with him tonight. If I was a neutral tonight I would have come away pretty impressed with that tonight. Good crowd, plenty of close, hard racing, passing in most races, 21 heats including 6 junior races in a touch over 2 hours on a well-prepared track. I have to say the track preparation has been far better this season. Even the junior meeting provided some good racing, the young lad McGurk gong from last to second off the last bend. But there was a lot of talk around tonight of fans won't be coming back because of results. That's their choice of course. Each to their own. Will be interesting to see the crowd level next week.

You can drop Berge and Carr all you want, but that doesn't mask the fact that Berwick heat leaders don't beat opposition heat leaders and we don't provide enough heat winners throughout the team. One heat win last night and around half a dozen in away meetings in total so far this season. Edinburgh have riders who are struggling too, Davey and Clegg. The difference is the rest of the team makes up for that.

Relay what is said above, a real shame for Ryan Blacklock. Only got to see him in Berwick colours for a couple of matches, but what I saw I liked, a real 100% effort trier, who it's so easy to get behind, you want your team to be full of characters like this. As for the meeting on Friday, Bridger should score well, Doolan and to a lesser extent Vissing will take points off the second strings and reserves, any other points are a bonus. 60-33.

This is where good management and support system around the team kick in. If a rider is struggling, work with him, help him, if there are problems, sort them out. Gating seems to be a problem throughout the team, is it something to do with set-ups? Gating looked better against Ipswich, when the starting gate was like a ploughed field. Do they need to make the starting gate deeper? The riders apparently under pressure have talent, look at Berge in the World under 21 last year, look at the way Liam finished last season. They don't suddenly become poor riders. They may lose confidence, they may be on machinery which is not working as well as it once was. That's when the riders / management need to work together and re-build confidence, work at things. Then at least id things still don't work out, you have given it a good chance, then look to make changes, if the right riders are available.

Or Adam Pietraszko and Jak Rempala?

60-33 Lewis Bridger putting in a Graham Jones type performance from the 70s

Can't see Berwick getting more than 30 next Friday. Only Bridger (don't know if he's been to Armadale before), with his liking for technical tracks and to a lesser extent Doolan are effective there. Unless there is a turn around in form I'm expecting another very tough night next Saturday.

Must admit I'm not fully up to speed with the rules, but can a 2 point rider be dropped for a higher averaged rider, or are they there for the season?

Pickering looks a hell of a signing based on tonight. Just too many Berwick riders under performing right now. Edinburgh gave a lesson in gating tonight. Some good races, Lewis Bridger produces a cracking ride in heat 10 to pass the brothers Riss. I'm not one for pushing the panic button but unless some riders improve you can see things slipping away. Crowds have been excellent so far, helped by travelling fans, but a run of defeats will start to affect attendances. Well done to Luke Ruddick as well, biggest cheer of the night from the home fans.

Another tough one in prospect for Berwick. Masters and Wells will score big, but I can see Mark Riss being the trump card at reserve, probably getting six or seven rides. Mitchell Davey is a very decent number 7 as well. Pickering? who knows. The Berwick newbies Bridger and Berge will have one more week experience under their belt. Need everybody on top form tomorrow night. Forecast seems good so hopefully a big crowd swelled by some travelling fans. Been some good racing so far this season, hopefully continues tomorrow night.

First things first, the promotion and helpers deserve a great deal of credit for getting this meeting on. A lot of rain overnight and up to early afternoon. Had it not been for covers the meeting would have been off. Given the conditions there was also some good racing as the track dried out as the meeting went on. Ipswich are an impressive outfit with a very strong top three. Danny King alwys goes well round Berwick and his ride to go round Kevin Doolan was just like his British Final win. Liam looked better tonight, cracking paid win in heat 1 and a win in heat 8. First time I've arrived early at the track this season. I like the way the riders are introduced, something different and a good way for the fans to get close to the riders. I also liked the presenting tonight, some interviews with riders and fans and again the meeting was run at a decent pace. No crashes helps and again that is a compliment to the track.

The same did go through my head, as this cost Newcastle on numerous occasions last season, but I would have thought the promotion would have tried to minimise fixture clashes this season.