Ommer Mon

When you talk to them they paint the picture that they are but trying to get them to support anything in practise is extremely difficult. There aren't any Councillors in Manchester looking for a transfer are there?

Thanks for confirming that Gambo. Yes it was the Yellow light. Whoops! It would have been a bit harsh on Cleggy to exclude him from a race he'd already been excluded from. Whoever came up with that 15 metre nonsense anyway. No criticism to the Ref for any delays with the exclusion then. Cheers.

On this occasion I have to agree with Hamish McRaker, I think Dave Robinson would have handled it better and avoided the incident that followed. Didn't think I would ever say that! Another thing I would like to see again on the video is when the red lights actually came on. I didn't have a good view of the clash between the two of them on the home straight but my intial reaction was that the red lights came on later as a reaction to the bike being parked across the track rather than the clash itself. Still I guess strictly speaking you don't need to stop the race to exclude someone and the white exclusion light may have been switched on earlier. Could anyone confirm that?

The Moggies are coming back on Tuesday for Take 2 of the POSF and I hope the weather will be kinder than it was last week. I've no idea on the Teams as yet but hopefully there will be some decent racing, especially with the new NLRC Champion, Dan Halsey, in town. Cradley to win by 20.

I agree with many on here that Friday was a bad night for Speedway. Whilst not trying to defend Nathan's actions, I have to say that Sarje has also got plenty of questions to answer. I'm not going into detail because I don't want to start another string of arguements. What I will say, though, is that when the Referee comes to draw up the list of those to blame for the incident I hope he has the decency to put his own name very near the top of the list. In 40 years of watching Speedway I have never seen such a shambolic start to a race. The arguement between the riders must have gone on for about 4 minutes with no action taken and it was clearly boiling over. If one or both had been excluded for delaying the start none of the rest of it would have happened. I echo the comments about how the Cradley and Coventry fans reacted. There was no trouble at all where I was in the main seats. Finally I hope the earlier comment about Oliver Greenwood not suffering a break is right and I hope he will be recovered soon..

A heavily depleted Heathens team travel to Brandon tonight. No Starke, Worrall or Williamson. Joe Jacobs and Layne Cupitt are guesting with R/R operating. Fingers crossed that Joe and Tom Perry don't have any mishaps in the first half of the double Header where the Bees face the Dog Heads. Healthy win for the Storm but 35 points should prove too much to claw back even against a short handed Heathens side.

That is excellent news. Fingers crossed that they field a team. It would be a massive boost to the NL and Coventry and Kings Lynn have both shown that there are benefits of doing so in bringing their own promising kids through (e.g. Lambert, Kerr, Rose & Sarjeant). At this rate Cradley fans may be changing their minds about moving up to face the better sides - the better sides are moving down to face us!!! I fully support the comment in the article about the standard of rider in the NL. They are generally far better than many give them credit for.

Have to say that I'm really surprised that the Eagles are dropping to the NL. I had presumed they would go PL. Still that's absolutely nothing to do with me and I agree that their addition will be a great boost to the League. My guess is that a Club of their standing will want to field a team that will push for honours and that should make things more competitive - which is good in my book. I wonder if there may be some more established Clubs heading in the same direction as the winter progresses. I really can't see the existing League structure remaining with crowd levels as they are. Good luck to them for next season and the great news is that at least the Club has survived and will be competing in the Sport next year.

Shame it was called off last night but there really was no alternative with riders doing 360s all over the place. Back to Monmore Wood next Tuesday. Hopefully Mildy will have one or two regulars back so we see some good racing. Fingers crossed for the weather!

Nice thought from Drop a Cog about Councils stumping up cash for a Stadium. Dudley is now a one horse town (without the horse most days). The Council moan about how dead the night time economy is. In the meantime the Heathens still race in front of healthy crowds over 10 miles away. Are the Council capable of stringling the two points together to come up with anything resembling a plan? Nope! (and that is in spite of many years pressure from fans and promoters alike). I congratulate all at Belle Vue for winning the Council over but it does help if you start with a Council that has an interest in competitive sport and Manchester clearly fits that bill on all fronts. Good luck with the development. I wish we were in the same position.

Bates and Johnson are both still listed on the Cradley website preview but I suspect, in the light of previous comments, that may be old 'news'. Josh would be a big miss. He flies round Monmore Wood and is one of very few visitors to give Starkie and Steve a race this year. If Brendan is out, and I hope he's not because he is a genuine competitor, it could work in Mildenhall's favour because he must list Monmore as his least favourite track and he really does struggle there at times. Still with Jacobs and Halsey, Midenhall do have some top end fire power remaining and Jack Kingston has always impressed me as someone with a future. Ellis Perks has also picked up some good scores but it may take a race or two for him to get the hang of the track. Heathens to beat the Moggies by 24 points.

Well, I was looking forward to some good racing at Monmore Wood tomorrow but I'm really sad to learn that Connor Coles broke his leg yesterday. He looked really good on his last visit and gave us a good run for our money. Best wishes to him for a full recovery. Equally I'm not sure whether Josh Bates will be fit as R/R operated yesterday. Looks like it could all add up to another large win for the Heathens but not in the way we would have wanted to achieve it. Fingers crossed for an incident free night.

I think the thing to remember with most of the lads on my list is that they are still improving and will, hopefully, continue to do so at PL level. They may not start off as heatleaders but most have the potential to get there given a little time and patience. Patience is the key and I agree that some Cradley fans don't have a great deal of it. I just think they will cut more slack to riders they already know from past performances will be trying their best for the Club rather than an import who is just here to pick the money up. Winding the clock back I think one of the most satisfying aspects of being a Heathens fan is when you look at the World Champions we produced all of whom had barely been heard of outside their native countries when they started out with us and just look where they ended up (and in one case is still going strong). Anyway we are speculating that there will be three Leagues next year. My guess is there may not be as the Elite League looks vulnerable on a number of fronts. Wonder what Mr Hancock's doing next year? Never say never!

Great performance from the lads yet again last night. I hope Danny Phillips isn't too badly hurt but I think he was suffering from pain in the pelvic area. A very nasty high speed accident - get well soon Danny! As far as the crowd reaction to a possible run of defeats at Premier League level goes, I share the concern. I think fans would be prepared to put up with defeats if we had the right set of riders in the team and by that I mean riders who have previously represented the club at NL level. It would be great to see the likes of Lewis Blackbird, Ashley Morris, Steve Worrall, Paul Starke, Kyle Newman, Adam Roynon, Tom Perry, Max Clegg and many others represent Cradley at PL level and I think fans would back them as we know them well and they are all great lads who have demonstrated a commitment to the club. Track seven guys who have no association, however, and I think there would be a quick adverse reaction from some quarters. Contrary to popular belief, however, there are plenty of Cradley fans who have experienced the bad times as well as the good and I would have no doubt about their loyalty. Cradley is a great club with a proud history but we need to look at the future now and the PL would provide the challenge that we need to progress and get back to the very top (which is, of course, where we belong ).

Alan Grahame's exclusion in the last race at Coventry when, having missed the start, with the Bees on a 5-1, he promptly parked the bike in the middle of the track and walked off. Never seen the like of it before or since. True to form Wiggy popped out and won the rerun and the meeting. Learnt a few new words from the Bees fans that night!

Let's get this one up and running then. Hopefully another comfortable win for the Heathens but there is sure to be some good entertainment as the Storm are the only team to beat us this year and their lads always put on a good show. Heathens to win by 20 and make the second leg an enjoyable night out for the Green and White Brigade. Whatever the outcome I expect the winner of this semi to go on and win the Final comfortably. 'Ommer 'em Cradley!!

Arnieg said - For example if a rider has been found to have taken performance debilitating drugs (e.g. Alchohol) should we add points to his team? On that basis would Poole break even given their Star Boy's reptuation for other hobbies? Only kidding!

Hope plenty of Bees / Storm fans make the trip to Buxton and Stoke. The Heathens did both in one day and it was a good day out.

Not different at all. Just more competitive opposition against teams of a similar strength and ambition to ourselves. It will make for some entertaining racing even though I'm sure we stand a good chance chance of coming out with the silverware again.

Nice gesture from the promoters to let the kids in free. Also to extend the Child designation to include those up to 17 - other Promoters please take note. Kids have to remain at college until 18 now so how come most tracks still have 15 as the cut off point? This may actually lose revenue for Clubs as families look at the additional cost and take the 'one out - all out' view. Worth thinking about in the Winter perhaps?

Whilst its nice to have finished top of the League yet again, the racing was not brilliant last night. The weather had an affect on the track (all credit to the track staff for getting the meetings on though)and it was obvious from the first bend of Heat 1, when all four riders came down that we would be in for a long night. KL battled away but there was little close racing. The track did improve significantly for the second meeting and the Bog Moggies were far more competitive especially Connor Coles who looked a great prospect. bring on the Play Offs!

It's just turned one o'clock and according to the Cradley website the meeting will be on provided that we don't get much more rain and the forcast is dry. Fingers crossed Luke Harris is in for Danny Phillips. Have to say on balance I'm expecting more of a battle against the Bog Moggies than the Young Stars. 6 points for the Heathens though!

It's double header time at Monmore Wood tonight. I have to say the rain has been persistent all day Monday around here and with our Landlords rained off last night we will need to have our fingers and everything else crossed for the meeting tonight. Start time is 7:15 if it goes ahead.

I agree Martin T - a stunning performance from Cleggy and Greavesie. Plenty moan about the Cradley attitude to team building but I think it proves the point that talented kids develop quicker when they have class riders in the side that they can learn from. Having said that, I'm genuinely pleased to see Moggo and Sam Chapman pick up a few points for Scunny in the second match.

A supreme talent and he seems to be doing his best to waste it. Somebody needs to grab hold of him and explain that if you want to be the best you have to be professional. Bruce Penhall liked to party. In fact he always maintained that he rode his best when he was tired but you always knew with Bruce that the racing came first. Come on Darcy - learn from this!