Arch Stanton

Based on one off the cuff comment by Doyle on Monday evening. Pretty sure thats not exactly what he meant.

Belle Vue will be fired up to hit us early. We need a strong start to eat in to their lead from the get go to take the wind out of their sails. The quicker we overhaul that 6 point deficit and build a bit of a lead ourselves, the more relaxed everyone will be. If we start sluggishly like we have at times, and that 6 point deficit becomes 8 and then double figures fairly early on, we’ll then all start getting twitchy especially fresh from that poor performance at home last week. You can then start chasing a bit too hard and that’s where mistakes can crop up. Need Emil to do a number on Kurtz in heat 1 and King to beat his opposite number for a heat advantage to set the tone for the evening. Let’s hope the rain doesn’t spoil it…

Because our record there with this bunch of riders has been absolutely wretched in recent years. Consistently battered there the last few years until a victory there in the cup (when the track was wet and heavy and a bit of a leveller) and a draw when you were missing a strong home heatleader. The one time we did face you this season when you were at full strength and the track was like it normally is, it was an all too familiar outcome and we lost by 14! Despite spurious claims that we should be disappointed we didn’t win and win easy, everybody connected to Ipswich Speedway including Chris Louis and Ritchie Hawkins, would have snapped your hand off if a six point defeat was offered up before the meeting.

But if they did have a “bonafide No1” rather than a 6 point number 1, they wouldn’t then have had a 6 point reserve either. You cant just chuck a top line number 1 on top of the strength in depth strategy they went with.

Yes, really. It’s clear what you’re trying to do here Mike and it isn’t working. The result isn’t what you were hoping for tonight, and it’s obviously stung a little. No. What I’m saying is nobody was tipping Ipswich to win this meeting, unless I missed it? And yet now Mike is saying we should have pi$$ed it because you’re so cr@p. We were all told ad nauseam that the only reason you lost in the very first meeting, was because you “always start slow every year and get caught cold”. The two league meetings since were a draw (when you weren’t at full strength), and a 14 point home win which was more typical of an Ipswich performance at the NSS in recent years.

Was well worth his team place this year so disagree. Comfortably upped his average and been consistent. Next year though, different kettle of fish now his average has risen again close to the 7 mark but that’s a discussion for a few weeks time when this season is done.

We were poo last week at home. Wouldn’t give up hope yet if I were you. Pray for rain.

Well you’re not are you Mike? Behave, nobody is buying that nonsense. You’ve only lost once at home this year, to Ipswich in the cup first meeting. The closest anyone has come since, was the draw, again against Ipswich. Nobody was tipping an Ipswich victory today. A six point defeat is an excellent result.

They’ve been messing around with the track the last six weeks or so, purposely preparing it differently each time to experiment according to the manager, to find a sweet spot for all the riders going in to these play offs. Of course when it rains, all that goes out of the window. As for the tie, if we don’t make it through from here we deserve to win absolutely nothing. That’s the simple truth of it.

Ipswich were expected to win at home last week as well. Taking nothing away from Sheffield, but it was such a flat performance and none of the home riders seemed up for it which is a concern. Been all sorts of speculation around average reduction etc etc, well I guess we’re about to find out if there was any substance behind those theories. Doyle and Emil’s averages have tumbled this year, yet we still find ourselves two and a half points above the starting points limit! I’m with Gavan here. There’s no excuse to be had for Ipswich this time around. Leicester are the closest in terms of combined points limit, at just a shade under a point lower than Ipswich. Everyone else significantly lower. Ipswich always were, and remain the strongest team on paper, and it’s time for them to deliver

Don’t be daft. Don’t follow your sheep at all costs it’s embarrassing. Nonsense. Complete and utter nonsense. Facts hurt you Rob? Where are you separating Facts from “excuses”? You know full well the extent of the problems Ipswich have faced, you’d just choose to ignore them and pretend they’re “excuses” to protect your own team so if they end up vulturing the pot again you can pretend you deserved it again like all the other Belle Vue “cult”. Your cult leader Phil, couldn’t give a toss. Ain’t that right Phil? 😉😉

https://ipswichwitches.co/raceday-guide-oxford-a-2/

Agree with others good meeting on an excellent race track. Seems to have settled down a bit now with a bit more rain recently getting down to the base which will help no end. When you see a good meeting like this it whets the appetite and makes you look forward to the next one even more. Was impressed with Sheffield and particularly the attitude of their riders after a poor showing against Leicester. Determination was evident so fair play to them especially Jack Holder. Not a favourite track of his and on the eve of a GP could have had his mind elsewhere, but he dug in and battled hard for his team. Another huge fan of the superheat here. Excellent addition that creates a buzz around the whole stadium like nothing else quite frankly.

https://ipswichwitches.co/raceday-guide-sheffield-h/ Masters in for Doyle, Mountain in for D Thompson.

Had some rain this morning, stopped now though and it’s a bit of a scorcher. Taps, have you got any of that factor 50 I can borra? Don’t wanna burn me bald bonce 😁

Oh I’m with you Telly, you can’t sit around waiting for teams to be at full strength of course. I’m just saying, we all prefer to see meetings when teams are both at full strength, so hopefully this is the case when this meeting eventually gets run…😉

If they have any sense, yes. We all like value for money so surely all of us would prefer to see a meeting with two full strength teams, wouldn’t we? 😉

With all the feeling of Groundhog Day with the injuries yet again, one thing has gone under the radar and that is the consistent form of Danny King. He’s already fully justified his selection and proven just how much that hand injury was holding him back last year. So pleased for him he’s one of the good guys is Danny.

Balls! Was looking forward to watching Lynn Ipswich in the Cup semi on BSN but that can’t happen now 😩

An outside chance of featuring in the Cup next week, although more chance of the second leg a week Thursday but nothing ruled in or out yet. It’s a day by day thing and extensive treatment continues. Again, you have to be careful not to rush back too soon and risk further damage when there is so much of the season left to run. It’s always tempting to get back on the bike at the earliest opportunity, especially when you’re not earning sitting on the sidelines, but you could end up not earning even longer by rushing back! The hands/Wrists are troublesome injuries and can be the worst type of injuries for riders. Yes you can ride with them, but it can severely restrict your performance. Just look at the struggles King had last year riding with his hand problem.

Perfect time to face Ipswich and Kvech won’t have Dan Thompson to deal with at Reserve. Edit: May have been a little hasty writing Thompson off. Outside chance he could feature I’m told.

A dry inside line, ONE line, develops very early because they’re all using it and follow each other through it. They worked hard sorting the camber through the winter to create more banking, but it’s had the complete opposite effect. I don’t understand it. Riders were going all over the track last year, King frustrated everyone by going nowhere BUT the outside line, but even he now takes the inside route! Something has clearly gone wrong with the alteration. This was from a few weeks ago, explaining how much track they’ve “cut” down. You have to wonder whether in their efforts to create better banking, they’ve cut down too far to the foundations. I’ve never seen a blue groove at Foxhall in all the years I’ve been attending.

SHOULD still be winning this. But, Leicester are a good side and have riders that go well here. Could be close

I wouldn’t say ANY of our top three (Doyle, Emil, Brennan) have hit top gear yet which shows our strength as we have a 100% record. It’ll be tested here for sure and wouldn’t like to predict any result. Could be close if the top three come to the party.

https://ipswichwitches.co/raceday-guide-sheffield-a/ Riding order has been changed for this one for Ipswich. Ellis moves to two, Emil to three and Brennan to Five.