EnglishRoundabout

I guess so, although the net cast was for rockpools rather than a trawler....

No bites just yet Skippy....

Once again a cracking match for a holiday crowd of around 1000 I guess. Hougaard's brilliant ride in heat 13 was incredible. He simply moved Josh aside before timing his move on Dyer to perfection. Josh was a little animated after the race and Garry May was there to put a consoling arm around him as he walked back to the pits. I managed a quick chat with 'Paddy' after the match and he described his move to get past Josh as a 'little naughty, but I knew I had the speed and needed to get past him'. Kyle Newman was involved in another frightening crash, hitting the deck face first after going past Birks entering turn 3. The Rebels young riders really are brave lads and fairly steam through the slightest gap at high speed. An observation on a couple of fans tonight. There is a geezer who stands on the back straight who whenever there is a crash, leaps over the fence, rolls his sleeves up and sets to work in repairing any damage to the fence. Once finished, he simply gets back over the fence and re- joins his mates in the crowd! Compare that to another guy, in his late fifties who whenever a Rebels rider hits the deck, he uses foul language and obscene gestures at the opposing riders. Tonight, he gesticulated angrily at Ashley Birks after Newman's crash. He did similar again earlier to Birks after his clash with Nick Morris in heat 3. For the record, the ref got both decisions correct and the numpty was left literally hopping mad! I nearly offered to buy him an ice cream to calm him down....

Or indeed how he rode at Kings Lynn this evening. 13 plus one from 7 rides.

Everyone must be watching to see if William and Kate leave Hospital....

I saw Glasgow at Plymouth recently and they were pretty dire. Tonight they are even weaker without Screen....

Was looking forward to coming down to Somerset again tonight, but no Doyle or Screen put the dampeners on it for me. Nick Morris to clean up tonight?

I used to enjoy the rivalry with Newport in those days sidders. Crump, Herne and the pantomime villain, Gresham. Their friendly and noisy fans, the crap track at Somerton Park...

Ahh the brilliant Ace of Spades.....terrific track to play as the riders approach the tapes... Who? Is that a mountain in Surrey?

Hey boy hey girl....The Chemical brothers...the music used as the riders revved their engines prior to the tapes going up in heat 1 at Swindon. Inevitably it also reminds me of the great Leigh Adams emerging from the first two bends in front....

asi Taken your time to witness this great little track stevebrum! You will enjoy it I am sure. Not there tonight myself, but you will soon see it is great little circuit with basic but nevertheless worthy of a visit facilities.

Thank you Cliff. I try to get to the OTA as often as possible. The racing is always first class, so its always worth the trip.

As I trudged out of the OTA after the disgraceful debacle a week or so ago, I wondered why I ever bother with speedway. My own club Swindon treat the loyal supporters at the Abbey shabbily at best, and the Somerset promotion missed an opportunity by not getting on the microphone straight away to at least explain things to a baffled crowd that Tuesday evening who had stood in sunshine to be told the track was unfit. However, tonight's match was everything good about speedway. The track curator, much maligned the week before, produced a slick dustbowl (probably nervously refraining from adding too much water this time) that incredibly still produced fantastic racing. Passing and re passing in almost every race. In heat 3 Alex Davies, having passed Tulley, began hunting down Lindgren, and clearly had the speed to pass, but coming out of the second bend, picked up extra drive and hurtled into the fence at speed. He was thrown head first over the fence, somersaulting and landing several yards from my feet. Like others in the crowd, I rushed extinctively to his aid as he lay stricken on the grass between the fence and the lighting rigs. Amazingly, the first person who got to him first was Jason Doyle who had sprinted across the centre green, before leaping over the fence and quickly removing his team mates goggles. Fortunately Davies had missed the ironwork on the other side of the fence and amazingly was on his feet after 10 minutes of treatment. He later returned to the track to rapturous applause and produced two very fine rides. Has this boy been signed by an EL club yet? What a terrific, racer...brave and tenacious. Jason Doyle was in sublime form and is a truly great captain, leading from the front when the Rebels had their back against the wall. Nick Morris looked smooth and rode very mature for one so young. Josh Grashoniek is in the best form of his career and is really dialled in around what I reckon is one of the best tracks in the country. Superb nights entertainment, restoring my faith in speedway once again. To cap it all, I dropped a £10 note on the floor and a very nice gent behind me kindly pointed it out......nice fans are the Somerset folk.....

At least the M4 is open and you don't get diverted half way to Wales on your way home Shadds...

Sneak in over the wall, a programme and a couple of pints and that's about a tenner Sidders....

Thought i'd heard it somewhere before. Took a chance signing him TWK.....

Is Beech the local ale that they were selling in the portakabin?

'Spouting anymore rubbish'? It is called giving an opinion. I admit i have no intimate knowledge of track preparation , but i do have decent eyesight and a pretty good understanding of the sport, and can also give a fair view. I stood in the temporary stand on the backstraight just prior to the entrance to the third bend, and i can tell you there was a large rut there! Cory Gathercole hit it twice, and both times it put him out of shape. Sure enough Glasgow came good later in the meeting, but that was also due to their better gating, which early on was indifferent.

My first trip to very sunny SBA. Healthy crowd turned out for Mikkel Bech Jensen's debut. My guess was the attendance was around 1200. Great little track although a big rut appeared on the entrance to bend 3 as the riders did their warm up laps. This hindered the racing up until heat 9 when the constant re grading improved it slightly. A much needed thumping win for the Devils though. Pre match entertaintment was provided by a raging fire within a green VW Camper van on the A38 which has an elevated view of the track. A distraught driver of the vehicle stood and watched and a brave passer by attempted to put the blaze out without success. Trumpton arrived some 10 minutes later to applause from the crowd! Meanwhile, Jensen went from last to first in his debut race for the Devils, and Screen went from first to last in his second ride. Try as he might, Joe, could not seem to get to grips with the track, although every race he was in it was pure entertainment. mikkel Bech as he wants to be known, was an instant hit with the crowd and he certainly looked the part. He has natural balance, especially for one so tall and slender as he is. There is no doubt he will be a big hitter and the Devils fortunes will change. Their crowd deserve success as they are fair and sporting bunch that created a good atmosphere. Good to see Todd Kurtz mixing it. I have been a critic of his recently, but he looked agressive last night, and didn't take too kindly to some rough treatment from Henning Bager, 3 times snapping at him after heat 8 had finished. A nasty looking crash concluded the nights racing after Screeny lost control of his machine which in turn brought down the closely following Lemon. Fortunately both riders were up pretty quickly. Will be back again soon hopefully. Ben Barker's return might be a bit spicy!

Yes sure, will do.

Thanks lewy. Saw a clip of the racing at the SBA recently on youtube and it was superb. Really looking forward to the trip. Good forecast too!

I seem to recall John Louis against Martin Ashby at Blunsdon. 'Tiger' was in his prime so it must have been around 1975. I remember a fantastic tense atmosphere but with Louis coming out on top.

I have seen in the Plymouth media that Jensen will make his debut this Friday. Can anyone confirm this please as i am considering coming down to this one. Moreover, any tips for where the best viewing is at the SBA please guys?

Leigh Adams for me. The best team rider i have ever seen. I have bought numerous DVD's of Swindon matches, especially at Blunsdon, where he nurses his team mates around for all 4 laps. Absolutely worth the admission money alone to watch it. Sure, on occasions i have seen him make the odd error and the opposing rider gets past...Woodward at Eastbourne springs to mind where he went past both Adams and McGowan, but generally it was an inevitable 5-1. Leigh and Lee Richardson's partnership in the latter heats was almost telepathic, and a close second was the Adams, Zagar show in heat 15. Simply fantastic stuff. Leigh was a good guy too. A solid team man, good with the fans. Sadly missed. Have to agree Blu, i used to enjoy watching Louis. Like lightening from the gate. As a kid, i thought his 'tiger' stripes on the arms of his leathers were really stylish too! Saw his magnificent 15 point maximum in the British Final at Coventry in 75. That final contained probably one of the best races i have ever seen...Ray Wilson/Martin Ashby...think it was a run off...Wilson won because Ashby was too nice....something you would never say about Louis!

The Shay at Halifax was brilliant to wach high speed racing. Being inches from the riders made it feel even faster. I was lucky enough to see Dutchman Henny Kroetz (think that is the right spelling) who was mustard around the huge banked bends. Martin Ashby always seemed to do well there too in Robins colours....it was a hell of a long way there on a coach from Wiltshire though!