topsoil

A couple more points from the Captain would have seen us get a bonus point. Hopefully just a one off, he's been the perfect skipper this season and has led by example.

Brilliant meeting, with great racing throughout. I'm sure they said at the end the crowd was up on previous years, certainly seemed to be a big crowd anyway. Shame about the dust, but that was probably due to the continuous high winds all day. Bit of a word for the likes of Covatti and Kus who were outstanding individually, but unfortunately didn't get the backup from their partners. The two semi-finals were worth the admission money itself, firstly Grajczonek failing to make the gate and then going from last to second. Then the Glasgow v Edinburgh showdown. Fantastic piece of team riding by Masters, but I would love to see a replay to see how close Fisher was to having both wheels on the grass. Must have been pretty tight. All in all though, a great way to start a great weekend.

I would agree with Gresham with a point that was made above. I have been a regular at Berwick for a few years now and similar to his thoughts on the Swindon v Coventry meeting, the Berwick match with Workington was far better live than on TV. It's obvious for all to see that the shape of Berwick's track doesn't lend itself to great racing. The track is too narrow, due to the size of the football pitch. This isn't going to change, so there isn't a lot the club can do about it. The increasing speed of the bikes doesn't help in that regard either. What I have noticed is that this season more than most, the track has been slicker, requested by the riders. This has meant that the track is smoother than in previous seasons and much easier to ride. It reminds me of a lot of the Grand Prix tracks under Ole Olsen. This is providing what looks like a safer surface for the riders. There have been very few mistakes made by riders this season. This perhaps also doesn't lend itself to great racing. How many times do you see on the smaller, more technical tracks, do you passing occur because of riders making mistakes? There is a huge amount that promotions should be doing between races to keep fans involved, informed and entertained, but sadly there is a general lack of this at nearly all clubs. To compete with other forms of entertainment, promotions have to learn that putting on 15 races, with a bit of music (normally out of date and over a poor P A system) doesn't cut the mustard any more. The races should only be part (but still the most important part) of the show, not the be all and end all.

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Tonight was one of those nights. Firstly, brilliant decision to put the covers down and great effort from the volunteers to get it done. The rain that fell between for and six, there was no way the meeting could have gone ahead without them. The accidents tonight had very little to do with the track, which actually rode well. Doolan and Neilsen tangled on the home straight in heat one, Simon Neilsen was injured taking evasive action. Matty Wethers got a bad one in a classic first bend bunching incident and Theo and Sam Simota looked to get tangled at high speed and it was one of those where you thank the invention of the air fence. Some decent racing tonight as well, I was quite impressed with Jack Holder and in parts Stefan Neilsen and Ellis Perks. Ben Barker seemed to be quicker than previously this season and you know Stevie Worrall is fast around Shielfield. But Berwick picked up another three points and down to five men, with Matty and Theo both picking up bad ones and getting up and scoring vital points, it was hard earned.Three points and a vindicated decision.

Just back from playing football on the pitch behind Shielfield and there was a group putting the covers down. Didn't ask their names but it could have been those named above. Anyway, it's currently chucking it down, so the covers were a great and idea and top marks to those volunteers who helped them. Hopefully it will pay dividends later on and the meeting goes ahead.

Ha sounds like TJ the pantomime villain. Nothing wrong with playing to the crowd, it gets the fans involved and it's all good fun. You have people complaining there are no characters in the sport these days, that the riders don't interact with fans. There's good example. Probably got the crowd going and added a bit of humour to proceedings. Just like Danny Ayres on Wednesday night. Nothing wrong with any of that. All good fun.

Round about what I thought Berwick would get from tonight. It was always going to be a tall ask to pull off the victory we had in the League Cup, especially with r/r. Please for TJ and Matty getting in the points after they started the season with injuries.

Expect Plymouth to be far better on Saturday than they were last night. Look back to the fixture last season and they drew the meeting at Shielfield and nearly came away with the win. Steve Worrall is a Berwick specialist, Todd Kurtz, Jack Holder, both go well at Berwick. Pity Kyle Newman is missing, he's also a good rider. Berwick are in great form at the moment, but will be weakened by the fact we cannot get a guest facility any longer for Seb. Hopefully another three points tomorrow night, keep us on the good run of form. Good luck to the newby Danny in the GP qualifier this weekend as well. Been impressed with the way he has fitted in this season.

I'm obviously in the minority here. I enjoyed the meeting on Monday night (far better live than it was on TV). Also enjoyed the meeting tonight, the score was close until heat 14 and there was some good racing. You can go back through every meeting that has been on TV and on this forum you will see fans moaning. What was there not to like about the meeting tonight? A big crowd, plenty atmosphere, a close score. Certainly a lot of promotions could learn from the things Glasgow are doing to raise awareness of the sport. Yes, they have a big budget, but you can still promote the sport heavily by doing it smartly. And good to see they are getting their rewards with big crowds. And just a word about Danny Ayres, it would be great to have more characters like him in the sport. At Berwick a couple of years ago we had Kozza Smith, if he won a race would jump off his bike at the start line and run back to the pits high-fiving the fans, they loved it. Rest easy Elite League fans, we'll be back to the only league that provides decent racing next week ;-)

I can remember Bruce Cribb riding his ice speedway bike around several tracks in the late 1980s breaking several track records on the way. I wonder what kind of speeds he reached back then?

Really hope I am not tempting fate here, but there hasn't been any serious accidents at Berwick this season. How much this has to do with track preparation I don't know. Certainly the track has looked very smooth of late and doesn't seem to be giving the riders any problems. That may well be one of the reasons for a lack of passing, you very rarely see riders make mistakes at Berwick. How many times do you see more mistakes on then the smaller, technical tracks? But I can imagine Berwick being scary to ride as well, simply because of the sheer speeds you will reach on the big track.

For the home meeting would be great if Simon Lambert was available again, but don't know how availability / averages stack up. Danny Ayres has also done well guesting for us in the past.

Berwick may get a more respectable score than in previous years, but I can't see them pulling off another win. R/R instead of a guest weakens Berwick, but I suppose Doolan, Pijper and Wethers, who should all go well at Armadale, will get an extra ride. Edinburgh by 12? Don't know who the guest will be, but Berwick have chosen well this year, so I have confidence in them. Is he missing for Saturday as well?

Arson Fire, if you believe what you read in the Newcastle programme and has already been suggested on here by Newcastle fans, it's easy to understand why they keep coming back. All you need to do is arrange for Nigel and Kelvin to have a stop at Newcastle on their roadshow next winter and Hey Presto a guaranteed appearance on Sky next season. Just need to up your game a bit.

Yes close. Your own fault for giving up after heat 6 I guess. Kenneth Hansen trying every line to get past Danny Gappmaier in heat 7, Mason Campton passing both Berwick riders heat 8, Doolan and Vissing great race in heat 9, Tommy Jorgensen passing Ricky Wells in heat 11 and almost catching Mason Campton and Bellego passing Campton heat 15, then picking up a huge amount of drive and almost pulling off a hell of a pass of Wells in heat 15. Sorry if that's not enough for you. You get nowhere near the experience on TV as you do of live speedway at Shielfield. hope you enjoyed the football.

Couldn't have went much better tonight, Berwick have hit a rich vein of form ever since the tour of Scunthorpe and Rye House. Really did not expect to win by such a big margin tonight, I looked at the Workington line up and thought we would be in for a very tough night. But Berwick seem very confident right now. There was some very fast, close racing tonight, possibly due to the track being slicker than usual. Had a laugh at Vissing spitting the dummy after heat 6 when Bellego pushed him wide. The later race between Doolan and Vissing was brilliant as well, two riders who clearly have a lot of respect for each other. Another great race between new boy Danny Gappmaier (who has made a brilliant start and clearly loves being here judging by his interactions with the fans) and Kenneth Hansen, hansen tried every line to get past, but Gappmaier blocked his every move. David Bellego has been a brilliant guest of late, how good would it be to see him back in Black and Gold next season in this form? Decent crowd considering the football was on, probably kept a few away. Great to see Sky back in Berwick, always love it when they come up, there is a buzz about the place when they are here.

Sky went to Newcastle before and have never returned, there must be a reason why. Arrange a fixture around one rider, then find out he's doubling-up that night? Wouldn't surprise me with Newcastle this season.

Unfortunately the football will probably have an effect on the crowd tomorrow night. But I've said before that crowds at Berwick probably look less that what they actually are, because they can be spread out over such a big area and not compact like at Wolves, Newcastle etc. Looking forward to this one, think it will be a difficult meeting against a very strong Comets side. Sure the promotion have their reasons for not reducing the admission prices, maybe it hasn't worked out for them in the past or something? Got to hand it to them for raising awareness for the meeting though, I spoke to people who have no interest in the sport yesterday, but they knew all about Sky coming because of the adverts on Radio Borders.

I had a chuckle to myself because I find the whole concept of national anthems at sporting occasions a waste of time and unnecessary. I know that will upset a few and many will disagree, but that's my opinion. And the fact that people can get so worked up about it makes me laugh even more. It's so trivial in my opinion. Am prepared to receive a hail of bullets now :-)

Some teams fill in fixture lists with national League fixtures. Could this be the answer to fans who want speedway every week? Those teams who want extra fixtures look at forming a colts team? I realized the National League is not for all and some only want top flight racing, but the chances of expanding the elite league in its current format in my eyes are very slim. Who in their right minds wants to step up?

Haha I saw this as well and had a chuckle to myself. He's a disgrace to Australian speedway and Australia in general. He should be dropped from their squad immediately!

Will probably affect the crowd numbers, just like the Edinburgh match a couple of weeks ago. I remember that and I thought at the time it was a great advert for the sport, a big crowd, it would look far better for TV than wide open spaces on the terraces and it gives would be sponsors huge exposure. It also provides an excellent atmosphere for fans and riders alike. And if the majority of them don't return, so what, some might. But the whole impression of a full stadium does wonders for the image of the sport when it comes to attracting sponsors, new fans and renewing TV deals.

In an idea world I would like to see all Sky matches free admission, with money from TV and a match sponsor meeting costs. That way, attendance are likely to be far bigger for the cameras and the sponsor gets more exposure. I'm sure Sky would let the sponsor in on the act with things like the coin toss, again more exposure. The free entry might attract a few new fans and would certainly add to the atmosphere. Like I say, this would be an ideal world, I have no idea how much money TV brings in towards meeting costs. In an idea world I would like to see all Sky matches free admission, with money from TV and a match sponsor meeting costs. That way, attendance are likely to be far bigger for the cameras and the sponsor gets more exposure. I'm sure Sky would let the sponsor in on the act with things like the coin toss, again more exposure. The free entry might attract a few new fans and would certainly add to the atmosphere. Like I say, this would be an ideal world, I have no idea how much money TV brings in towards meeting costs.

Why not let's change the date and venue of one of the most popular events of the season because it doesn't suit a couple of teams? Then when the re-arranged date doesn't suit somebody else we will change it again. Then when we can't find a suitable date to suit everybody we'll cancel it.