Scott Cassell

Guess you will have to ask Tom Woolley. He was the only guy to race on both tracks. Nearly binned it on turns 3 and 4 in the first cancelled meeting. Stayed on his bike in the race he completed in the September meeting. Doesn't make any difference either way as the first cancelled meeting was a trophy meeting not a league meeting. Tough season to watch Birmingham, too many accidents and injuries. Glad it is over, as didn't want to watch however many guests and r/r in the play offs. Perhaps they should change it back to a straight league system, then no cut off date. Best team over the season wins. This season Mildenhall are bar far the best team but now have to enter the play offs without two of their top riders. If they want to tack on a play off - gold cup type event either forget the trophy or the meaningless friendlies at the start of the season. Good luck to Leon in NLRC. I will be cheering him on.

I think he said he first heard of it at 10.20 this morning, when it was referred to the BSPA. The BSPA then made the decision.

I had a quick chat with William O'Keefe after the meeting. Nice lad, he said he twisted his knee in a fall, I think avoiding a rider falling in front of him. He was prepared to go out for his last ride but it was decided it would be better if Sheldon rode instead, as he didn't want to potentially aggravate it more. Hope he has a good rest of the season, when he gets the chance. On Sheldon, only seen him very briefly in the Bulls vs Belle Vue meetings before. To win your first race in the NL must have been a great thrill. He looked a lot smoother than a lot of the riders on a difficult track, especially the 1st and 2nd bends. The referee kindly explained the situation about Gary Flint. Buxton did complain but the decision was made by the BSPA (I think he said Neil Vatcher but with the raceway in the back ground and the track grading going on, it was difficult hear). One thing he couldn't explain was his decision to put all 4 riders back in the first race, when Ben Wilson fell on his own on bend 2, with no one remotely near him. Hopefully we can secure the win against Cradley to get to the final.

I think he was helping out on the starting gate for the Birmingham vs Cradley match last Wednesday. Rumour has it that if Porky can't make it tomorrow, he could well be presenting for Cradley vs Plymouth. I guess he more likely to do either of those jobs, than ride for Eastbourne.

Top performance by Birmingham. Disappointed with Cradley, apart from Tom Perry they went missing in the first part of the meeting. How good was Liam Carr. Bike on fire. Sits on Mason's bike and flies around. Beating Ayres and Perry twice. Hampshire was impressive again. No wonder he says Birmingham is his favourite track

Birmingham need to stay out of the tapes in Bacon's case and Carr needs to react just as fast but hope the referee can differentiate between quick reactions and jumping the start. The top 2 for each team are fairly even, so second strings and reserves will be vital. Birmingham can't do what they did against Plymouth in the 3-4 positions otherwise Cradley will win.

Could you not use the guy that you actually declared in your 1-7. Or is that not allowed in the NL anymore.

The referees need to distinguish between moving at the start and quick reactions when the tapes go up. Both of Liam's "offences" were when he was on gates 2 and 3. The tapes tonight are a bit like me - a bit saggy in the middle, so if he was rolling or jumping the start he couldn't have avoided the tapes. The fact was he was wrongly penalised for good reactions. That said Lakeside deserved a point, so in the end it did not matter. Zach was quality, shame he now rides for Lakeside. Mason made decent starts and got an excellent win in heat 12, which went a long way to sealing the win. Taylor Hampshire rode really well, looked to get to grips with the track well. I think there are a few better teams than Birmingham this year and unless they improve the reserves, they will fall short of winning anything. No matter, lets hope the young lads can continue to develop during the season.

I cant believe Nathan is 13. Handling of the bike and commitment into the bends was as good and better than some of the NL riders I watched in the Bulls vs Stoke match the week before. He might have got some good shots from the helmet cam from Adam Ellis but in the first heat he was too far ahead to be seen. Hope Phil can help guide him to bigger and better things. Best of luck for the future

It was my second visit to Cardiff and I thought it was a fantastic day out. Thought the meeting was better than last year even without the Crump/Holder and Pedersen/Andersen tussles. Obviously Gate 1 was a graveyard but you could probably have the same situation with other gates at other venues. Personally I wish they wouldn't grade the track after heat 20 for the semis and final. Glad Greg won. Watched him all those years ago a Cradley a true good guy of the sport. Nice of him to wish all the best to Leigh Adams as well, during his victory interview. I thought Emil and Holder were quality after both having bad starts to the meeting. I love the way Emil manages to get so much speed up the inside when he doesn't make the gate, perhaps our non gating Brits should take notice. Glad to see Tai get a go, smart move up the inside, shame he went too wide and let Holder through. As a Brummies fan nice to BB get on the track (albeit for a few yards) when he bought Bombers second bike out. Atmosphere in the stadium was excellent even with the Poles being less vocal with their guys bombing. Even had an enjoyable journey back in a traffic jam at midnight on Broad Street. My son came up with some hilarious comments for a 10 year involving some bad guys and a woman splayed across a car bonnet. Definitely be booking for next year, wherever the venue.

Agree about Nielsen, given his age and first look at the track. A couple of his starts were very impressive, unlucky in is first two rides. Leading when it was stopped, then ef at the tapes in the rerun. The second one he got stopped by Starke, on the back straight, when he could have let him through.