Roger Jacobs

No, only from teams not in the play-offs.

I still don't understand where misfortune contributed any significant difference to a comfortable home defeat? Edit: just saw your list of "reasons". Tungate fell under pressure, but I don't think Zagar was at fault (neither did Nicholls). King was awful, and failed completely twice on the third/fourth bend - that's not misfortune, that's poor riding. Summers *might* have done a bit better in Heat 8 - maybe the ref should have stopped the race and excluded Rowe - so no better than a 3-3. Heat 9 - no idea if the red lights came on or not - there didn't seem to be any protests. It was a strong performance by Belle Vue who learned quickly, and outfought, and outthought the Witches, winning heats 2 to 15 by a score of 29-49 ...

From a 6 point lead to behind after Heat 8, and none of that was to do with bad luck.

No TS in two-legged ties.

That will be a necessity for the Witches to build any sort of lead.

The point is, that Cook at Ipswich could be a very different rider. It's a track he knows and rides well - so a fired-up Cook can do an excellent job. Despite being a good team, they haven't dominated at home - a ten point win against BV was their biggest victory. Also, the Witches don't have a recent record of being able to rise to the occasion - it will be terrific tonight if they can come out and perform collectively the way Poole did last night, which put me in mind of the great John Berry Witches from many years ago. I'll be hoping for a Witches victory as a minimum but, as you say, BV must be favourites to take the tie on aggregate. The Witches are joint top on points, but have three "additional" league points, thanks to the Stupid Heat - an opportunity that Belle Vue have been denied because they haven't experienced the one result that apparently isn't good enough after 15 heats to call a result.

He will be riding at Ipswich against the Witches ...

I don't think they are allowed to change the advertised start time - certainly would be an unwelcome thing to do on the day of the meeting. Edit: just checked the Regulations - the Meeting Steward has to be present 2 hours before, and riders 1 hour before (other officials at different times). Changing the start would have an impact on so many people - mostly volunteers, who have other jobs, as well as riders and, most importantly, paying customers.

I don't recall a six week break - maybe I'm getting too forgetful!

The October Green Sheets are in: https://britishspeedway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/p22_issue_19.pdf

The October Green Sheets are in: https://britishspeedway.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/p22_issue_19.pdf

Which shows how far down the pecking order speedway has fallen.

That was the point I was making … indeed, what’s the point of fixed race nights if they’re not going to race regularly, as in Poland? There was a time that people claimed the clubs couldn’t survive without home meeting every week - Poland has them every other week, while the Prem teams often go two or three weeks between home fixtures. It’s bizarre that the BSPA* can’t schedule a consistent fixture list. * I don’t like to use BSPL, even though they clearly are (very) limited

Can't see where it was that "low"? Don't forget that averages were also affected by the reduction in numbers of matches month-on-month. Even so, not every rider is suited to the #1 position - the rule that forces the top average to be #1 is unnecessary and pointless.

And it would be an even bigger defeat than usual

Interestingly of course, Poland just have one home/away league meeting between clubs, so although they've got 8 teams in the Ekstraliga, they only have to squeeze in 56 matches, as opposed to the Premiership's 60 ... ahh ... blimey, if only the Premiership had two fixed race nights per week and more than 20 weeks to stage the matches ...

You don't really believe the Witches could win there?!

Erik Riss?!

And probably at Plymouth on Tuesday ...

Not with only 10 home fixtures. Acceptance of mediocrity has allowed the sport to reach the heights to which it has now plummeted.

If BV win at Sheffield and at KL, they could finish top ...

Desperate for cash. Look out for carrier bags stashed under a desk - don’t want them to go missing like they did when Reg Holdsworth was in charge.

If BV win at Sheffield and then at KL, the final table would look different again. Or they could draw both matches and win the Stupid Heat - that would balance it out, because BV haven't had the chance to experience the ultimate thrill of winning extra league points because of one specific result.

Might be for some of the riders ...

What difference would that make? Recently, Glasgow celebrated a record attendance of 1,931 ... being a city is irrelevant. Ipswich has a population of 130,000+ and draws from the wider areas of Suffolk and north Essex. King's Lynn & west Norfolk has an area population of 150,000+. Over 22,000 were at Portman Road on a Tuesday night to watch 3rd Division football, so there is an appetite for a night out to watch sport ... even paying £30 to sit in cramped plastic buckets.