topsoil

The kind of result and meeting that must have emilali boiling :-) Without doubt the best meeting of the season and probably the best team performance from Berwick. A lot of passing, great manoeuvres from Barker, Vissing and Jorgensen and a welcome result after the negativity surrounding the club. If you ever get the chance, watch some races from the centre green. To see the speed and hear the noise of the bikes is brilliant. I guarantee you will appreciate the riders all the more for it. And just a word for the riders. I don't normally see the after meeting goings on, but I was in the box tonight and it was great to see all of them coming amongst the fans, talking and having pictures taken with young ones. Can only be a good thing and I bet the kids all love it.

And the replacements for the sacked riders would be?

Make the annual visit to Somerset for the Pairs on the Cardiff weekend. Really like the set up down there and would love to be there tomorrow night. To be honest I would have thought the OTA would be the ideal type of track for the likes of Barker, Vissing, Jorgensen and Doolan, but something tells me it could be a bit of a thumping.

Sorry for arriving late to the conversation but I've only had the opportunity to watch the meeting tonight. Very impressed with the Glasgow set up this season. Yes it has taken a lot of investment, but that is necessary after such a long time of neglect. I really hope other promotions take a look at the meeting to see what can be achieved. Every meeting looks better in front of a big crowd. I would really like to see other promotions try and fill their stadiums for the televised meetings, even if it means letting fans in for free or very little. See if you can get the meeting sponsored, to meet the costs, then give them a hell of a lot of exposure in front of the cameras. But perhaps the biggest thing I was impressed with was the idea that they are looking into building an academy next to the existing track. That would be brilliant news for Scottish speedway, which has fallen off the radar completely as far as Scottish riders are concerned. Hoping to come up to Glasgow later in the season when Berwick are up. Wish the club all the best, after looking like they could be going out of existence, the fans must now be in heaven.

Maybe crowd levels have gone up / down a little bit, but I think the bigger issue is the costs involved nowadays. Riders' pay, travelling expenses, bike spares, costs like that will have increased considerably. And to meet the rising costs, promotions need to increase income. This seems to be harder and harder to achieve each year.

Excellent, good work

Must admit I never get down to Newcastle, do they have many juniors riding after the meetings? I know they used to have the Gems but not heard much since. Would like to see every local team have a junior set up. Regular meetings between Berwick, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Redcar, Workington after Premier League games? Get more riders coming through the sport.

Normally gets well supported at Berwick, certainly did last season. Starting to see the fruits of junior racing as well, very early days, but Liam Carr, Luke Ruddick and Stefan Farnaby all into National League (and in Liam's case Premier League last year). A lot of work goes on with the young riders and hopefully this will get continued good support. Would be good to see more and more youngsters coming through, good for the health of the sport as a whole.

I must admit I really like this competition. Maybe it's the variety of countries in each meeting, but I think you can get some cracking matchups. I would like to see it become an official FIM tournanent in years to come (and Britain fully involved). I would also like to see a B division, with the likes of Latvia, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Italy, Hungary, France, Croatia maybe? I think it would be a good way to get these smaller nations involved in an international competition, much the way as the Rugby World Sevens did. Maybe even get a promotion / relegation situation going?

Was impressed with him on Saturday night, on the pace with the likes of Barker and Doolan all night. Would be a very good replacement, probably an upgrade, if he rides the same as Saturday night past.

Small steps, at least it was a win tonight, for the majority of the meeting I didn't even think that was going to happen. Don't think we will get anything at Ipswich, but like I say small steps. Heat 13 was the best race I have seen at Shielfield this season, two really good riders, Lawson and Barker going head to head, Lawson got the better coming out of the second bend, Barker chased him for four laps, the classic cutback on the fourth bend worth the entrance fee itself. For me Hawkins was the trump card. Must say I was also impressed with Stefan Neilsen. He was on pace with Barker and Worrall and looks a good prospect. Richard Hall was rusty, to be expected, but showed glimpses. Obviously needs more track time.Could turn out to be a good signing though. And how good was it to see Liam Carr making a comeback after the meeting? Hopefully he will get a spot somewhere to re-start his career.

Nothing new about this in sport really, look at the number of times clubs pull players out of international football matches with slight injuries. Those who pay the wages will always pull the strings. How many times did Ryan Giggs develop a thigh strain before a Wales game? but it was okay for the next Manchester United match. Different situation, but same principles.

With the rain tonight and forecast tomorrow morning, certainly won't have a Dry House situation.

Not going to turn this into a Dick Barrie debate, but I will say this about him, you only need to read his piece in the programme each week to know that he has a hell of a knowledge of the sport and certainly would have a few tales to tell. He does give the mascots their moment, which they will probably take away good memories of. I do believe he tries to be entertaining, his attempts to wind-up the opposition fans are probably a genuine attempt at banter, but a lot of people find him old-fashioned and a few even offensive.

This never happens. First race rarely before ten past seven.

This is always the danger with riders involved in Grand Prix qualifying. Must admit I am disappointed not to see Barker v King, but these things happen. Hope I'm not jinxing it bur Berwick seem to have brought in better replacements than Ipswich (on paper). Covatti could be a big miss. Still, Berwick will need a big first leg lead, because they have a poor record at Foxhall. Thought from the start this was a tough draw and still do.

I have asked the same question on the Eastbourne 2015 thread and the question is appropriate to both Birmingham and King's Lynn. I ask this as a fan of a Premier League team. Having seen Birmingham (and King's Lynn) at Elite League level, how does the National League compare for fans? In terms of entertainment, quality, crowd levels. Genuinely interested as I haven't watched Elite or National League speedway on a regular basis.

Cheers for the feedback. My reason for asking about the National League was brought about after a lot of comment about the track I support becoming a gate and go track and support is suffering as a result of this. My own opinion is that the shape of the track does not lend itself to good racing, combined with the increasing speed of the bikes. One of the closest races I have seen this season was between Luke Crang and Nathan Greaves, two National league riders. I just wonder if the slower bikes might lend itself to better racing here.

I remember my first time at Armadale, the riders were introduced in the old-fashioned way, jumped on the bikes and went to do a couple of practice laps. Michal Makovsky obviously didn't realise how tight the bends were and almost did a wall of death. It was the sign of things to come.

Genuine question (from a fan of a Premier League team), now that Eastbourne have ridden a few meetings in the National League, how do you feel it compares with Elite League? Enjoyment factor, entertainment factor, quality of racing, crowd levels etc. Having never regularly followed either a National League or Elite League team I'm just curious.

That makes a difficult looking tie even harder, Probably our two most consistent riders this season to date. Thomas looks more and more confident each week and Claus looks very fast when he gets in front. Hopefully get a really good guest in place and the rest of the team firing. Even a win in the home leg would be a boost for the season so far.

A lot of things have conspired against the club in the opening few weeks. Ben's injury, the team's collective equipment problems and defeats to local teams haven't helped. The postponement last week, early on, when the weather at night turned out to be perfect. Fans chose alternative entertainment for the night. The hold up last night waiting for medical cover to arrive, on a cold night, meaning fans did not get a full night's racing. There are plausible reasons behind each of these, but unfortunately in this day and age, with customers expectations, it's just driving more and more fans away from the sport.

Richard Hall been announced as a replacement for Luke Crang. A change had to be made, Luke was just not ready for the Premier League, it was obvious to see. Hopefully he can get his confidence back up in the National League for Coventry. Makes us a bit stronger at reserve.

Not a great night for Berwick. Three home defeats from three in the League Cup. Crowd was poor tonight, especially when you take away the travelling support. Cold night I suppose but things are not looking good on that front. As for the track, I'm no expert but for me it's not the preparation that's the problem, it's the shape, just too narrow, which given the increasing speed of the bikes, means there are fewer and fewer opportunities to pass. Don't want to be the harbinger of doom, but I've just got a bad feeling about the future of the club. it has that sinking look to it. Hope I'm wrong.

I don't have a problem with people watching updates sites, I do it myself, for meetings around the country. I don't have a problem with people downloading racecards to fill in while they watch TV, if that's what they want to do, if it helps them follow the meeting, fine by me. If people are making excuses not to go, then what's on offer mustn't be good enough. The sport needs to make itself unmissable. For instance other sports face live TV, poor weather etc. but still manage to attract good crowds. That's because fans don't want to miss out. Whether it's the atmosphere, facilities, the product on offer is better, could be any or all three of those. The sport in general needs a right shake, from top to bottom, to help attract fans, sponsors, TV companies and audiences back.