Ommer Mon

Should be a good meeting with Cleggy and Matt providing a very strong top end. Tom and Danny will need their gating gloves on because those two would take some catching. Very sorry that Ran will be missing for a while and hope he will be back from injury soon. It's a great shame, as he was riding and scoring very well. Welcome to Shelby Rutherford. He's a rider who has impressed me in bursts and I hope he can add some consistency. According to the Buxton website he's been a bit low on confidence lately so hopefully he will respond well to the support of our fans. I take Cradley to win by 14.

Bob C Off at a tangent. Just to say I love that photo of Christer Lofqvist. One of my all time favourite riders from the early 70s. One of the most spectacular riders I've ever seen. His outside runs at Custom House, leaving tyre tracks on the fence, were legendary. RIP

I think we should all be thankful to BT for picking up the poisoned chalice of covering live speedway. Long delays, last minute rain offs and the sun going down in the wrong direction all conspire to challenge the production crew. It was their first meeting and I think they did a good job. Yes there were teething troubles but that's to be expected. I know that they are keen to make this a success so we need to encourage rather than pick flies. So from me it's a big THANKS BT SPORT! I've got Virgin cable and you have the option to add time when recording live events. Handy for Speedway as outlined earlier!

Think I noticed him in the Ref's Box trying to get the result changed!

It was a close encounter and we only got ahead late in the match. Kent were entertaining and there was some good racing. I feel really sorry for Luke Clifton it was a nasty injury. Hope he will be on the mend soon. Hope Luke Bowen is ok after his Heat 15 fall.

Hopefully not too many. You can always record it. I'll take a live match every time.

Crikey is it still the Speedway season? We seem to have had a long spell of incativity recently. Hopefully the lads will not be too rusty when they take on the Kings. A bit of added spice for Danny against his former club. I'm expecting an entertaining encounter but take the Heathens to win by 10.

Couldn't agree more. I don't think any of the crashes have been his fault. He's always struck me as quick, stylish and totally in control. He just has a terrible habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Looking forward to seeing him against the Heathens. He will be sure of a great reception especially after his heroics in the Play off Final (2012?). Won't forget the ovation he got at a social after discharging himself from hospital just to attend. Absolute legend!

For me the voice of speedway was at Belle Vue..............I think his name was Ken Wrench. Also recall Dick Barrie winding up the Cradley fans up at Hyde Road in the 1980s calling us the cabbage patch kids (presumably due to all the green and while rather than any facial expressions!). I think we pelted him with sprouts one year. All good fun but both parties would probably be arrested in this day and age. Pat Foley was always good at Cradley as was Laurence Rogers. Nigel Pearson also recovered well from his famous opening line of "Four minutes for all two riders". Whatever happened to him? Rob Hawthorne also did a few second halves at Cradley. I think he does the Premier League on Sky now. What went wrong there? Porky is good at Monmore too. Didn't fancy him doing it when we came back in 2010 because he had always dished it out when Cradley were against Wolves (and receivedthe customary response of course). It's worked out well though. I think he has more fun with us than the Dog Heads.

I think it's fair to say Royno is one of the most popular Heathens of the modern era. Hope he has a great injury free season. I honestly think if it hadn't have been for all the injuries he could be in the Grands Prix now.

Very sad to hear the news. Like others have said already it was always my first port of call as a kid when I opened my Speedway Star. That's what got me into stats and I've dabbled a bit over the years. RIP Bryan.

1983 Heathens Team without a doubt. Simon Wigg, Lance King, Erik Gundersen, Alan Grahame, Phil Collins, Peter Ravn and Jan O Pedersen. Ended up with a CMA of about 63 if I remember rightly. Reserves had a 7 point average. Not too shabby! Just the antidote we needed to Mr Penhall's retirement.

Called off half an hour ago. :cry:

Thumping 60+ win for the Colts tonight against Stoke. Looks like they are warming up well!

This could be the match of the season in my book. Two teams on very good form. Dan Bewley will be back again and will be really tough to catch. He is a real talent. I fancy the Heathens to shade it and will go for a 6 point home win. Don't forget we are the second half of a double header with the support acts being the Dog Heads and Poole (good luck to Kyle Newman). Just hope the weather is good. Ommer em.

Fingers crossed for a Heathens win. I think Tom and Danny should be at their spectacular best tonight.

Hard to single riders out from Cradley. I think we've been fortunate to have many riders in the past who have been great with the fans - all the World Champions included. There have been very many great social evenings and the Events with Greg and Erik at the Venue in Dudley will long live in the memory as very special occasions.

At least KL have had some practice on the track already but I still fear it will be a cricket score. Campos was the best rider against Cradley and it looks like he's missing judging by the line ups in the first post.

Very sorry to hear the news. Best wishes for a full recovery Danny.

Q1. How many meetings will ellis perks ride for Buxton this season? 9 Q2. Who will finish bottom of the NL? Buxton Q3. Who will finish top (not win the play off)? Bog Moggies Q4. who will end the season topping the Nl averages? Boxall Q5. Which current nl rider will end the season with the highest championship average? Bewley Q6. Which west midlands (birmingham,cradley) rider finishes the season with the highest average? Ayres

I think if people come to watch National League with an open mind they will enjoy it. You can get some cracking meetings at this level, probably more so than the processional Premier League. At NL things happen, mistakes are made and you do get some close racing from genuinely good kids coming through, which is great for the sport. Cradley fans have been brought up watching the very best riders in the world (one of them still is!) so we were all a bit hesitant about the quality of what would be on offer. I for one have been very happy with what has been served up for the last 7 years and new heros have emerged in Smart, Roynon, Worrall, Blackbird, Starke, Morris, Clegg and now Ayres (what a showman!). Ok it's not Penhall, Gundersen, Pedersen and the 'H's but it's been good to see the progress that the likes of Worrall and Starke have made and they are now racking the points up at the top level. If there are any doubters at Lakeside, I understand their concerns but they need to give it a go. They may be pleasantly surprised.

Caught Kings Lynn at Monmore in the 'warm up' event before Cradley took to the track. Chris Holder was dreadful. If he doesn't improve on that I expect him to be back at Poole as reserve in time for the Play Offs!

Well if its a choice of Premier League or National League for entertainment, on last night's showing I will take the latter. Lakeside gave it a real good go and Morley and Greaves were involved in some cracking races towards the end of the meeting. Have to confess I was a little disappointed to only win by six and allow Lakeside to take a league point. Dan Greenwood and Joe Lawlor were clearly having a few bike problems all night. That said congrats to Lakeside on a gutsy performance. Contrast that with the 'warm up' event between the Dog Heads and Kings Lynn. Pretty poor from an entertainment point of view IMO. Chris Holder had a shocker. Fully expect him to be popping up at reserve for Poole in time for the Play Offs!

I still want to call them Arena Essex but Lakeside are the visitors to Monmore Wood on Monday in the second half of a double header. With Ben Morley and Zach Wajnecht around they will give our top end a good run for their money. Hope there is some dirt left on the track or Tom and Danny may struggle if they can't get out of the traps. Overall I expect Cradley to bounce back after the shock against the Bewley inspired Bog Moggies. Heathens by 14. Start time is predicted to be 7.45 but that will depend on how long the dog heads take to demolish Kings Lynn. Whoops. Just noticed the spelling in the header! I'm sure Cardley will do just as well.

Not sure you can call Dudley Council inept. They are very good at what they do, which is preventing the Heathens getting anywhere near the Borough. Never understood why, Dudley has few redeeming features!