Super Blue

I've heard a whisper that somebody maybe in negotiations to buy the Witches! Don't ask where I got it from as I was told in confidence.

Observations overall Swindon 1 to 7 definitely a strong team ( stronger than the Witches ) and have come into the final in great form and fully deserved their victory , I'm sure they will be crowned Champions come Thursday ! People have commented that the Robins wanted it more tonight , that's simply not the case , they were just better ! Obviously I'm disappointed as a Witches fan but I certainly can't complain about our season , predicted wooden spoon team makes the final , I'm happy with that . Back to tonight though - Witches can't gate , mostly whoever got out first generally won the heat hence only 4 heat winners in 15 races tells the story . When races were rerun Swindon always ended up winning them which didn't help our cause ( prime example heat 1 ) A few jump starts not pulled back and also IMO a couple of questionable decisions certainly didn't do the Witches any favours , no point in going into details as certain people will argue that black is white when it's not and it's all about opinions at the end of the day . I believe that Swindon would probably still have won even if the decisions had have gone our way but that's just the way it goes sometimes . Anyway I'm a big enough man to accept defeat to a deserving better team .

Bow locks

Bloody useless ref, not pulling back jump starts and excluding Heeps, joke!

Who said earlier in this thread Swindon are not a team of gating tarts? I rest my case after 4 heats.

With yesterday's and today's rain it would take a monumental effort to get the track in a decent condition for racing, but to be fair most of the time Foxhall is a gate and go track anyway with no dirt on the outside. Its time to wait and see how things develop.

Touchy ! They say the truth hurts sometimes. I've seen Swindon at Foxhall 3 times this season and compared to the Witches they are gating tarts.

We can't gate, full stop ! Nils, not renowned as a gater Cam, definitely not Bomber, maybe once a meeting but not Richard, sometimes Danny, he's ok Jake, hmm varies James, has behaved since his return Foxhall is not the best of tracks for passing on so if we don't get out we have no chance!

Oh well, was hoping for Wolves so we got the 2nd leg at Foxhall but it is what it is and we'll just have to get on with it. I know it's 3 days away but I've looked at more than 1 weather forecast and so far it's not looking promising for Monday in Ipswich. Every year its rain delays at the crunch time of the season but that discussion has been done to death. I'm just hoping for a Witches lead so we've got something to defend against the Swindon gating tarts come the second leg.

Can anyone answer the question as to whether there is a dedicated speedway stadium in the country that has a larger capacity than Foxhall ? As far as I know it holds more than Belle Vue although I do stand to be corrected.

We are very widely spread in a big capacity stadium, the noisiest bunch are the Massif on the back straight, absolutely no microphones anywhere near us though, in the video you can only hear the home straight people.

I assume that you're talking about at Poole? The cameras at Foxhall didn't do justice to the crowd, I reckon about 2500 to 3000 were there on Saturday which I think is pretty good in this day and age. The problem at Ipswich is that our stadium has about a 12000+ capacity and always looks empty, unlike many other teams that pack out 1 stand to look good on telly. Just saying

Track looks dry and slick. What flaming idiot decided that's a good idea when riding a team of gating tarts ffs!!!!

We are renowned for being slow out of the starting gate and if we don't prep a track suitable for us we've got no chance!

However, isnt this a nothing meeting after the cutoff date anyway? Will be interesting to see who Richard rides for on Saturday.

However, isn't this a nothing meeting after the cut off date anyway? Will be interesting to see who gets to win on Richards participation?

I don't think that will be on our agenda somehow, much as it pains me to say it. Unless of course the lads suddenly find some unexpected form that hasn't been apparent recently. We can live in hope!

I said that if we didn't win last week I wouldn't go tonight and waste my money. Although in hindsight I would like to change my mind I'm now on granddaughter sitting duties so I can't. I do however echo the track sentiments big time as very seldom do we get a decent one that suits our boys. It seems that come crucial meetings somebody says let's make it a gaters paradise! Anyway I do hope we win tonight so I at least get to see 1 more playoff meeting although I seriously doubt it with our home form of late.

A few observations about tonight . Firstly this may offend Bob but ffs after a decent track against Peterborough we yet again decide to prep one tonight for a team of gaters. No water put down to potentially aid an outside line until it was far too late and effectively the meeting was lost. I'm no expert on tracks but having watched speedway for 40 odd years i do know that a bit of the wet stuff contributes to a surface condusive to racing . Who decides what's done , Bob or Chris ? Poole overall deserved the win given the conditions , that can't be argued. However , a couple of debatable points occurred this evening 1 , Heat 9 Jonassons exclusion was not his fault but also not Bombers fault , he was going through the middle of the Poole boys and got sandwiched , something had to give ! 2 , I'm afraid my opinion of Kurtz fell through the floor in heat13 , he fell off , looked up , realised Witches on a 5-1 and stayed down till red lights came on . Unacceptable , bordering on cheating in my book ! 3 , Comments made by Poole fans that Grajczonek would have got more than the 6 pts from RR , maybe or maybe not but Cam would definitely have got more than the 3 pts his RR rides accrued . Anyway , my opinion on the Witches tonight Nils , pretty decent return for his first meeting here in years. Bomber , better than of late , just wish he could gate. Richard , very poor till heat 14 against 2 reserves. Danny , pretty unconvincing all night . James , didnt expect much really so can't be disappointed. Jake , worked hard for his 9pts from 7 rides . So overall a very disappointing night and that may well put an end to us being in the playoffs ! A great start to the season but a bad end, we've seriously lost it come crunch time !

Given the recent falling apart form of the Witches I was seriously considering not wasting my money tomorrow night but upon reflection it might be an interesting meeting to attend with new blood in the team. Last time Poole came depleted but with good choices of guests and gating tarts and promptly triumphed. I'm definitely not making any predictions this time. We'll just see how it goes! Oh, almost forgot and please make the track like it was against Peterborough, passing was possible!

A bit like Mildenhall last season, clearly the best team in the league but they were ravaged by injuries when it came to the business end of the playoffs!

I know one thing about this meeting. The Witches certainly need to buck their ideas up after the shocking recent performances away at Lynn and at home to Swindon ! A total inability to get out of the gate and no speed on the odd occasion they were in front going into the first bend. The Panthers pushed us fairly close last time they were here and that shouldn't be the case this time. The riders need to shape up or ship out as the expression goes if its not a comfortable win ! Whilst some may say loyalty to your team by the management is admirable we need to be convincing in our performance. We may well be at risk of falling out of the playoffs if we don't get the winning mentality back. Oh, and can somebody tell Bob to prep the track to suit us and not the opposition please ! Enough said for now

I've known you long enough, I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

Each to there own views and opinions I say, that's what forums are about, banter and debate. There will always be somebody out there trying to convince you that black is white. Won't change my opinion though!

Don't be a Div Baldy, Marshall waving a red flag well before he gets to him means stop, not ride past him. As far as I'm concerned he's bang out of order with his reaction.