topsoil

If Berwick have any sense, if the club is still running by this time, they will sign Leon as soon as is legally possible. Whether he goes on to ride for Berwick or goes on to bigger and better things who knows (it would be wrong to burden the young lad with expectations already) the club would be foolish t let the opportunity pass by.

For me the racing has been every bit as good as the Grand Prix (the meeting in Daugavpils was as good as I've seen in a long time). I also like the SEC because it gives me a chance to see riders e.g. Laguta, Milik, Vaculik, Madsen who I would otherwise not see. It also goes to different venues each year, variations on the same old GP venues. It would be great to see British riders involved in this, as well s the Pairs events Onesport organises. It would give these riders a great experience of riding abroad, preparation should they ever reach the GP or World Cup.

There are ways and means. If you really want to do something, you find a way. The first thing I would like to see clubs do is put out a call for volunteers to see if they are interested in doing it. Offer them an incentive like free entry to the meeting that night for the first dozen or so to turn up. Put the message out on local radio, if nothing else it gets a free bit of publicity as well. Or perhaps one of the promotion or one of the sponsors knows labourers in the building trade or similar? If you can spare them a couple of hours work and you have the machinery to help them, get them involved. In the end it is going to help the promotion which they are involved in, they are the ones who ultimately benefit. That's what happened at Berwick for a GP qualifier a couple of years ago. Or how about thinking out the box? Get in touch with the local unemployment office and offer a dozen or so of them a couple of hours work. Again sweeten the deal by offering them free admission to the meeting. A bit of PR in the local newspaper?

I can remember John Perrin saying about ten years ago that a rain off cost him about three grand. Covers would pay for themselves in no time. Try and get sponsors to fund the covers by getting their names printed in huge letters all over them? The big problem is finding staff and time to lay them. That's where volunteers would be needed. Clubs offer them incentives like free tickets to meetings?

It's a pity, because the new members of the board / management have brought a lot of new ideas. But now it seems it will be back to the same old same old.

Probably means another winter of uncertainty for the fans, will the club be here next year? the same sort of winter we had last year. Would be interesting to know why they have resigned, there are plenty of stories doing the rounds. Whether we will hear the full story who knows. The club had made several strides forward this year, in terms of raising it's profile, the track covers etc. but this is a massive hit.

Let's hope that if the covers aren't put down, none of the footballers fall into any puddles on the fourth bend banking. There could be lawsuits all over the place.

Can't make this stuff up

Any ideas of the starting time?

Covers required for Saturday by the look of the forecast

The playoffs are set up for a team like Newcastle who seem to be very strong at home. Somerset are probably the most consistent team this season, with Glasgow not far behind and Edinburgh seem to be getting stronger as the season goes on. But providing all their riders are available and there are no fixture clashes, I reckon Newcastle will sneak it.

Piss artists and rabbles are just what this club needs, especially if the stories doing the rounds are true as to the reasons for the poor performance in the 4TT final. I can also remember the same Stoney turning up obviously hungover at the Welsh Open at Newport several years ago, the day after the Grand Prix and cruising round at the back of every race. I've no problem with the riders of today interacting with fans, I've never heard of a Berwick rider not speaking to fans. We tend to look back to times in the past and think they were better, but I'm sure if you looked on the forum or went back in time we did lot of moaning back then as well.

I'm going to miss my weekly dose of Gary Havelock pulling faces at the camera and giving his pearls of wisdom like his views on the unsatisfactory starts in the home meeting against Swindon "its like... you know.... like.... you know.....it's just....you know....daft". Quite.

Can't argue with that

I agree with some of what Peter said, in regard that the speed of the bikes is killing the sport. So much focus these days is spent looking to get every last drop of power from the bikes, especially at the top end and this just filters down to all levels of the sport. Unfortunately he chose to attend probably what was the quietest and, up until heat 13, the least entertaining meeting of the season. Maybe that clouded his judgement. The promotion have done a lot of good things this season, bring in new sponsors, track covers and social media off the top of my head, but unfortunately the team has not been successful and the track hasn't provided great racing. What I certainly don't agree with was his comments that riders were not approachable these days. There are lots of times this season riders have gone into the crowd after meetings and spend ages speaking to fans, having photos taken. Last week I spoke at length to Kevin Doolan in hospitality. There were also a lot of riders mixing with fans in the Black and Gold afterwards. I've never heard of an occasion when a rider hasn't spoken to a fan when approached. I look back on the Peter Waite days with mixed emotions. There were highs, such as the 4TT win, finishing runners up twice in the league, several top GP riders in various Bordernapolis meetings. There were also lots of lows, there were some very poor signings, there were some nights when tracks were almost unrideable (the cup final against Workington was an all time low for me). But you also have to remember that bikes were also very different back then. How would today's machines have reacted to some of the grippy tracks prepared back then?

Very disappointing defeat tonight. Not a great crowd tonight, that's not great considering it's the height of the holiday season in Berwick, but I guess a lot of fans have been put off by the team's form and lack of entertainment lately. You got the impression this wasn't going to be Berwick's night when Stachyra fell while on a surprisingly comfortable 5-1 over Ostergaard, the when Jakobsen reared at the gate in heat 7 and again Berwick on a 5-1, the race was stopped. Jakobsen and Ashley Morris were the match winners tonight, very impressed with both of them. Not the best of nights for racing up until heat 13. There was very little grip to be had and there was only one racing line. The Craig Cook missed the gate. The second and third laps were worth the admission alone and the two moves he pulled off were amazing. Heat 14 was a very good race as well Berwick pulling back a 5-1 to potentially share the heat before Gappmaier fell, Morris doing well to avoid a worse conclusion. Then heat 15 with captain Kev doing wonders to hold off Cook for the win. Hopefully that will be a turning point for the captain and give him the confidence to kick on. How Berwick could do with an out and out heat leader. Have I tuned into Allo Allo?

This is another one of those meeting with a lot of questions going into it. Peterborough would seem to have the advantage in the heat leader department, as both Cook and Ostergaard fly around Berwick. Will either of those be beaten? in theory Berwick should have the advantage at the lower end. But Jakobsen had a good meeting at Berwick with Rye House last season. Hopefully Liam Carr will continue his good form from last week. Dawid Stachyra looked a little bit better last week, as did Gappmaier, Wethers and Pijper. I reckon this will be very tight. Berwick are all but out of the playoff race, but winning their remaining home games would be a decent end to the season and give the team a little bit of momentum for the second leg of the cup. Can't wait!

Also saw Etheridge in the Stars of Tomorrow and thought he did well that night, wasn't a great deal between him and Bewley, Liam Carr and Danny Ayres on the night.

Fascinating

For me the tie is on a knife edge. You could see how much the 5-1 in heat 15 meant to the Rye House riders. Up until then I would have had Berwick with an advantage. Hopefully the points dropped with Daniel falling while in second, then Matty being passed by Kennett in heat 15 won't come back to bite us. Seen better meetings this season, mainly because Rye were a two man team, although Cameron Heeps and Robert Branford both showed flashes. But have to give credit to Berwick riders after the mammoth trip to Plymouth and back. On a personal note, this was my first time in hospitality this season. Would recommend it to anybody. Much better this season, the food is excellent, good place to watch the racing, the chance to watch the racing from the centre green and a crack with the riders afterwards. All set up nicely for the second leg. Depends what you go for. I go for a Saturday night out, a laugh with friends and a night watching a sport i always enjoy. I had a good night.

Agree with Screm above, Kevin Doolan isn't a number one and is more a backup heat leader / second string who, like last season, has been forced into the number one position. For most of the season he has been a good captain and rider, but lately his form has dropped. Hopefully he can sort whatever problems he's had out soon.

One thing I would like to see brought in, which would give youngsters more track time, is mandatory junior teams after every meeting. Have regional leagues to keep the costs of travelling down, but try and get as many meetings as possible, obviously with injuries and weather holding some meetings up there will be the odd exception, this will get more youngsters more track time and this is what the sport desperately needs, more riders coming through. The NJL and MDL are excellent starting points, lets expand those. On race formats, personally I would keep 15 heats and go for six man teams. Have the first nine heats scripted where each pairing meets each other, then heats 10 to 15 is up to each manager, each riders has two rides, but any pairs allowed. A bit like the last four heats of the World Cup. The seventh rider will be a junior rider, available to replace any riders injured during the meeting. This might help the current rider shortage a little bit, but still need to run guests or r/r in the meantime until more riders can be brought into the sport.

Really disappointing result tonight, especially with one of our assets scoring so heavily against us. Looks like the captain is on his "donkey" again, in a bad run of form at the moment. Redcar must be wishing the season started in July! Too many inconsistencies in our team right now. Going to be a tough couple of days now with the long journey to Plymouth, then a massive first leg of the cup on Saturday night, to try and keep the season alive.

A bonus point would be nice, a win would be tremendous. Just wish we had David on our side.

An awful lot of ifs, ands and maybes to this one. Which Bandits will show up? The ones who hammered Ipswich and Workington, or the ones well beaten by Glasgow. Can Kennett and Robson be beaten? Kennett is a fast gater, always handy round here and Robson always goes well at Berwick. Berwick may have the upper hand at second string and reserve, although Leigh Lanham is usually good for 8 or 9 at Berwick and who knows about Stachyra. Berwick by 6 or 8 at Shielfield for me, whether or not that will be enough to take the tie overall is another matter, as Berwick had two good guests when they got a draw earlier.