MD

Another brilliant away win from the rather inconsistent Tigers. Thats more the Riss we know. Sounds like MBA is injured which is going to be a problem going forward however now the play off teams are pretty much confirmed hopefully we can get fixtures planned asap.

Looks like MBA is riding at 4 tonight.

Naturally the best money could buy. It is us after all.

The rain ruined an excellent meeting there. Sam Jensen got stuck in, twice running Worrall from behind and Connor Bailey was brilliant to win ht7. Oster started very well but ran a last in his third then surprisingly never came out in ht8. Ht10 was a bit ropey and was never going to go any further however its more points in the bag.

Forgot about MBA.

Supposing we beat the weather can we beat Ostergaard at reserve?

Get over yourself, if he gets banned he gets banned, you'll be pi55ing yourself regardless.

The bottom four are fragile. We changed Sarjeant as the team owners thought the middle of the team was softening. Its positively mush now. Bailey cant take any of the heat as he's only three months into UK speedway and Bickley is only in his second full CL season. He has tailed off after a good start but young riders are often inconsistent, just look at Bewley still. Sam Jensen is in the team at the wrong time, he has shown potential in the match at Leicester however we cant groom a young rider in a struggling team whilst we are at the business end of the season. Next year he should be a serious consideration though for now we need Starke back pronto. Speculation on here that Cook will have his appeal heard on Friday, not sure how true that is, we should be kept aware via the SCB website which hasn't had an update since 15 August. If he does get banned that adds another layer of difficulty altogether.

Someone better get Starkey on laser treatment, a poor showing from S Jensen and the pitiful MBA. Hopefully Paul will be returning sooner rather than later.

Except by the governing body which made it.

Making the more sizeable support go second is better for business.

Many tracks no longer fit with modern engines. Look at what is served up at some tracks that were superb even less than 10 years ago. Whilst its not the only reason for the lack of entertainment, team owners need to adapt their product (track shape/width etc) to suit the modern era. Very few have or will bother to do so. Entertainment IMO is about passing not necessarily speed and the ridiculous gulf between abilities at the top and bottom of the riders averages wont achieve that. Nor will poorly prepared tracks. If last night the riders were on £250 for the meeting that is likely to be around a quarter of what most of the top enders will take home. I'm not surprised they don't take it seriously or put themselves out. There is no prestige in these events and wont be again unless the competitors are adequately rewarded for taking part. Speedway doesn't even give out medals to the league winners far less reward the riders and their teams for being better than the rest over a season. The whole ethos up is fundamentally flawed but we already know that. Unfortunately we also accept its not going to change.

Its all gone quiet on Starkey, maybe his injuries are taking longer than anticipated. Even if he returns this week he is unlikely to be race fit though his presence alone will be uplifting. A big weekend coming up, hopefully the 0131 can soften up the Bandits on Saturday night before we are on.

Congratulations to Scunthorpe but that was an absolutely pitiful spectator experience and result. We went to so much effort to get it on because we are running out of dates that we shot ourselves in the foot. It was so slick the entrances to turns 1&3 were shining bald after three heats, with barely a pass in sight as the riders looked like they were sliding on ice. There was an air of inevitability about the result after Cook's TS ride in ht7. With four home riders literally unable to find any grip to stay upright on the bends the only surprise is how Scunny never hit 60. Sam Jensen had a pretty difficult debut but warmed as the night went on. Vissing and Cook put in a decent shift, Cook not coming out in 15 is telling. Its hard to square up Josh Auty coming to Ashfield and pissing all over us but thats what happened. Top spot is now gone and we only have ourselves to blame. Hopefully we never see the likes of this again.

Can see Lambert getting 7 rides tonight. Lets get stuck in.

Interesting signing. He barely turned up at Armadale back in the day hopefully Berwick get better service.

Its a semi professional sport. Some teams can barely pay their riders.

Looks like the first part has happened, r/r at Brum tonight.

Sedgmen seems to have turned a corner, wouldn't have swapped him for Clubcard points previously. The only disappointment is the 0131 got 41 points here last week. Two more away meetings left with a rather busy September coming up.

He can complete the 4h/4a to get an average this season if he rides all our remaining league matches however that would mean Starkey not returning which i dont see.

2003 wasnt a year i enjoyed however you cant always compare averages of years gone by as at times they were calculated differently. Back then many PL teams had 3 genuine heat leaders at 1, 3 & 5 and some pretty decent riders through the rest of the order. I might be wrong but the team building limit around then was 45 points.

Fine line between an away win and getting a point but would have taken a point before the meeting. Damien will be raging with Proctor, only 2 weeks left to get another sacrificial lamb sent over from Owlerton. Onward to Sheffield tomorrow where hopefully we can do a bit better.

History would dictate a knee deep track with only the bravest/most experienced venturing off the single line on the inside after 10 or so heats. The weather forecast is good, gating boots required regardless.

After 1 heat!

Looks like r/r for Wood tomorrow has been successfully engineered at Edinburgh.