Roger Jacobs

It's the reaction of the fans, with everything at stake. I suggested they consider their reaction if it had been a Witch making such a pass a Star, and the Witch had been excluded ...

No idea, but you often see riders “cutting the nose off” the rider behind. It turns out Thompson has been suffering with an ear infection - he pulled out of Glasgow’s match on Friday - I wonder if that had any effect on his perception, thoughts, balance? Oh well - as said by many, the Witches should never have been in that position.

He left such a gap - I think he should have turned earlier, and Kerr wouldn’t have had the opportunity. As we saw from several riders, the wider area provided nothing by way of grip - it was only if they stuck their back wheel on the inner edge of the dirt line. Maybe Thompson was aiming for that, Kerr simply dived under him and negotiated the bend quite easily.

I didn’t think he did. The ref must have had a good view. The track certainly did respond the way it did for King the week before.

I still can't get over how differently the track behaved compared to last week - there simply wasn't the outside line that King used to such excellent effect. Several riders got caught out (including Doyle who looked uncomfortable on the outside of Bend 2 on more than one occasion) - and KL soon sussed that if you made your opponent go wide, you had the advantage. Also, which I found interesting, was the complete lack of atmosphere. The attendance was no different to last week's match against Belle Vue. Maybe a dozen KL fans? Certainly no noisy group of them during the match - just a few cheers when the team paraded to very empty terraces. Overall though: an splendid effort by the Stars, and a comparatively poor one by the Witches.

Definitely no contact. it was an excellent ride by Thompson to work his way under Kerr off the second bend - he had tried it the previous lap and obviously thought if he got it right it would work, and it did. Unfortunately, he then made entirely the wrong choice entering the first bend on the final lap - I wonder if the track had got Thompson confused, and he thought he'd be better off trying to put his back wheel on the grippy line, instead of trusting the inside that had served him so well? As it is, Kerr saw a big gap, took advantage, and Thompson had nowhere to go on the outside, which offered nothing at all. The Ref would have had a clear view. When offered such a gap, any rider would have done what Kerr did - if it had been an Witch inside a Star, I'm sure the fans would have been miffed if the Witch had been excluded. Overall, the Witches should never have been in the position of needing three 5-1s in the last three heats at home! KL did just about everything right - and earned a (cough) well-deserved aggregate victory.

Her achievement has been recognised online by the Witches, so a parade with her trophy would be a great way to celebrate 🙂

It had crossed my mind that the Witches gave Chapman the dramatic comeback victory to boost his own chances of bigger crowds for the remaining fixtures at Compost Corner ... there's nothing wrong with helping the noisy neighbours occasionally.

Apparently if you have a a Sports Visa and refuse to compete, but compete elsewhere, you are not violating the conditions of the visa - however, the sponsor can withdraw their support, which then jeopardises the status of the visa. So, if the Visa Sponsor is happy with the situation, the competitor is OK.

To be fair, KL did the trick for the KOC-Up match and got Kildemand, leaving Ipswich with the Lambert option - and Lambert beat Kildemand 😃

I made a rare visit to Foxhall, and thought that BV were poor - three riders whose only points were scored against Vinnie Foord. They seemed on a mission to hold on for the bonus point, but the reliance on Kurtz and Bewley (the pairing chiefly responsible for the 14 point lead) was too much - outgated and racing each other in 13, and then passed on the opening lap of 15 by King, who squeezed outside Kurtz off Bend 4 in the type of move that everyone raves about in GPs. KL should give the Witches a tougher match on the 18th - I might even go to that one too!

"It’s great that Workington have been able to enter a new partnership with a blue-chip national company in Allied Mobility, which is synonymous with investing in speedway in the UK, and I’d like to thank the Facenna family for their support.” So why is hasta la vista a clown? It's not needle, it's a statement of fact. Tracks have often survived with the help of other owners/promoters.

Is that your standard demographic for BSN? Apparently Doyle had anticipated Sayfutdinov getting inside Janowski, but instead the expected gap was closed, and he was carrying too much speed. Definitely a split-second error, and very fortunate that they all got away with it.

I’m sure he would have said the same whichever team was allowed to do that, while the Witches have been denied - although, to be fair to the SCB, I can understand why they’ve made that decision. Comment here deleted, after finding out actual reason for Ford being unable to ride at Oxford.

I don't think he would want to be the Spires new Team Manager 😉