Ommer Mon

I see the Hit men are using Ellis Perks again as a guest. I'm sticking with my prediction.

I agree with the comments about Frank Ebdon. I saw him referee a few meetings at first hand and he was extremely good at pushing meetings through. I recently went to Perry Barr for the Belle Vue Cup match with a couple of colleagues who had never been to Speedway before. The meeting actually finished by about 9:20 which is akin to record breaking pace these days. Having said that, seeing the meeting through newcomers' eyes was enlightening. There is a lot of downtime between races and the interminable tractor racing after every 4 heats and 10 minute interval that often turns into double that is very off putting. I think the old regulars, like me, don't notice the gaps as we spend most of the evening gassing to our mates and only break off when each race starts. Putting yourself in the place of a newcomer, who just turns up to see the racing, however, you can easily see why very few seem to be returning for a second bite these days. How do you fill all those gaps when you're not surrounded by mates and you've read the cover off the programme? Whatever happened to track rakers pulling the dirt back after every race. In my view this really helped to speed up meetings. Food for thought for Promoters but we've said it all before on here. PS I'm not having a go at Birmingham here. This applies to every track in the Country.

Candidate for the daftest ever guest situation was the 1989 KO CUP Final when Jimmy Nilsen rode for both teams! He rode for Cradley at Monmore and for Wolves at the Wood. Happily our Jimmy Nilsen was much better than theirs and the Heathens scooped the Trophy! I wonder which medal he picked up or whether he got both winner's and loser's.

Buxton are at Monmore Wood on Monday and, via excellent choices of guests in the Cup (Nathan Greaves and Elis Perks), they almost pulled off a surprise last time. With Lee Geary and Shelby Rutherford netting paid 16 between them, it took the Heathens a last Heat 5-1 to win by a mere 4 points. I somehow can't see the same outcome on Monday and take the Heathens to dish out a 53-37 'ommering. Any thoughts

Totally agree that we have got to the right decision in the end. Interesting that Mildenhall have been told to reduce admission prices for the rerun and dish out free programmes. I wonder what the reduced cost will look like. You would have thought the BSPA would have specified a figure or we could all be looking at a 1p discount!

At the end of the day isn't this an example of what Speedway desperately needs these days. A bit of controversy, a whiff of conspiracy, showmanship, gamesmanship and a bit of needle between teams. With crowds at a very low level, you need to have something to put some passion back into the sport and bums on seats. What happened to the good old war of words we used to read between Promoters which gave all fans the 'got to be there to see that' feeling. I bet there are decent crowds when the clubs meet again. Might even go along myself.

Good luck to Lee Dicken. I hope he can click back after a few years away and put a few points on the board. Buxton need a bit of good fortune for a change.

Well, I was spot on with the score prediction. Bet that would never happen if I filled a slip in at William Hills! I thought the two Connors rode well for the Bog Moggies and Armo gave it a good go as expected. Richard Andrews has made a really noticable contribution to the middle order and Bradley had another good night. Wonder what's going to happen when Ben Basford comes back. Will we keep R/R for Big Jim or just run with what we've got? The R/R ride for Richard would be a bonus I think.

Weather not too bad but some showers are predicted this evening with a temperature of around 15C. Hopefully a good and safe nights racing ahead. I'm sticking to 52-38. Get well soon Ben Basford who will be missing after his crash at Sheffield.

I can't quite go back that far. I'm talking about the early 70s and the pre McCormick era. Happy days but we saved a fortune on silver polish back then (by not using any).

When I started going to Cradley you needed a sense humour to keep going every week with the endless stream of defeats we used to suffer. My Old Man used to say "I don't know why you keep bothering to watch them. They never come to see you when you're bad!" We've all been through it. It's all about supporting your club.

I've always liked Chris - Ever since he rode for Club CH in a Challenge match at St Austell. 100% effort every time and who will ever forget his performance at Poole to win the League for the Bees.. I have to say I have been a bit puzzled as to why the still bothers with the GPs. It probably costs him money to do them. We're all entitled to our dreams though and he was really good in the one before Cardiff.

Which bit? The attempt to have a bit of a laugh or the score prediction? Oh well. I guess you can please some of the people some of the time and then there's the others! Lighten up chap!

Thanks Mr Ore That would seem the sensible solution. Though I have to say any contest for the Pork Scratchings Trophy would be anything but meaningless. Come to think of it hold the Trophy I'll just take the scratchings!

Rather than hand 4 points to Cradley it would have been fairer all round to take 4 points off the Bog Moggies. That way they suffer some kind of penalty. Even if they win the rearranged match they still can't claw all 4 points back. Just a thought.

Crikey Jayne What a headache with two top riders quitting suddenly. Hope you can sort a replacement or the powers that be agree that you can use guests until you are sorted.

Now that opens up a whole new avenue for 'co-operation' as away wins are more valuable than home wins. Conspiracy theorists please line up!

I know this is a bit early to start this thread but I think we could have some fun with it. Can anyone think of a 'legitimate' reason why the Cradley Management should call the match off? I will set the ball rolling with the Mildenhall race jackets not being to our liking. There is far too much orange and black on them! Back to the match itself. It should be a Cradley win especially now the Andrews boys are delivering some good points totals but Armo is sure to be determined to put in a good performance and I think Connor Coles is always a great entertainer. I take the Heathens to beat the Bog Moggies by 52 to 38 (unless we can find a good enough reason to cancel it of course!). Over to you.

Cradley v Wolves without a doubt. I can recall Sam Ermolenko telling the story of when he tried to explain the meaning of the Dudley / Wolves Trophy to Freddie Lindgren and why half of each side was regularly injured at the end of each encounter. All Freddie could keep saying was "I don't understand - it was a challenge match!" Yes but what a challenge match!

Well done to the Heathens on netting their first away points of the season. Looks like the Andrews boys had the final say. Bradley has really come on over the last couple of weeks. Folks forget he had a long time out with injury and hadn't had much practice when he arrived here. Hope the good run continues.

Well 4 away points have appeared on Cradley's record but that's as a result of yesterday's win at Rye House. There is clearly something going on behind the scenes here.

Still no sign of the points being added to Cradley's League Record. I wonder what's going on?

I quite fancy Cradley to put some League points on the board tonight. As waco said there should be plenty of good racing at the front and the back. I think the Andrews boys could play a major part in the final outcome.

The League Table still hasn't changed on the BSPA website as far as I can see.

Yep, but I thought it would distract attention from how daft the decision is and nobody will have any time to appeal as they will spend the next 12 pages having the usual go at us. Cunning eh?