Steve Shovlar

Max wasn’t scoring. He needs to toughen himself up, but he is young and could improve. Vinnie Ford is chalk and cheese to Perry. Same age but not afraid to get stuck in and mix it. Raw in the extreme and similar to Killeen when he was at Plymouth. Fast but wild. His experience will grow in the next couple of seasons and by 20 he could be a very good rider. Matt is loyal to riders. In return he expects commitment and improvement. Also said commitment cost us the title last season when Tarasenko offered his services to Poole but he stuck with his 1-7 as no rider at the time deserved to be dropped. He said In hindsight a mistake as it handed Glasgow the title.

How old is Vinnie? 17? A young lad who is fearless, aggressive, but lacks the skillset currently to match his ambition. Certainly one for the future and Poole need to hang onto him for next season if possible.

Just got back from a fantastic final. If you didn’t like that you don’t like speedway. Huge crowd, fantastic atmosphere wound up to eleven, top aggressive riding and knocked the Belle Vue / Leicester PO final into a cocked hat. First of all commiserations to Oxford who battled well in the final and had a deserved advantage coming into the second leg. 12 points is a hell of a lead with no tactical allowed. But it seemed there was trouble afoot in the Oxford camp before tapes up. Boughen had upset the management and rumours said he was packed and in his van by heat 13 of the first leg. Then his failure to show in the u19 final the following day. Hearsay today is that he wants to go to Glasgow. Be interesting how this plays out. Killeen was meant to be a serious threat at reserve but before the meeting it was very quiet on his fitness after taking a heavy fall in the U19’s at Cowley. Given a hard time in heat 2, and rightly excluded, he then fell on his own which ended his evening. Paid 14 last time, zero tonight. Every race was tough. Every rider giving beyond their comfort zone, shown straight away in heat one. Richard Lawson said he thought he was through on Masters going into the third bend but Masters started leaning, and leaning, then slid off. Lawson thought it was a tactical fall but those are the margins. Heat two and although Killeen gated, both Pirates were through on him going down the back straight. Killeen tried to get a place back but clipped Vinnie Ford and down he went. The right call and gifted Pirates a 5-1. Special mention to Tobias Thomsen with a brilliant paid 12 from 5. He started the season well, faded after an injury, but was man of the match for me. Vinnie is brilliant. Only 17 but what a battler. Never gives up. Yes he makes mistakes but I would have him signed for next year already. Going to be a bit of a star imo. Our top 4 all did their job tonight. Brennan said afterwards the reason Poole had to work hard tonight was his fault as he’s employed as a heat leader but rode very poorly in the first leg and wanted to make it up. Certainly did. Both Cooks did their job though afterwards Ben was far from happy running a last. For Oxford Masters was solid but faded, Nicholls had a bit of a stinker. Gilkes was a good guest, Heeps did what Heeps does, Boughen gated in one race, Killeen was injured and Scott out of his depth. This is what our sport is about. Tonight had everything. Hard racing, drama, crashes, a huge noisy crowd and Pirates crowned Champions. What’s not to like? Hope the Oxford fans had a safe journey home and the good news is we do it all over again next week in the KO Cup Final. Will Oxford get their revenge or will it be a clean sweep for Pirates?

What you going for Neil? 48,52,53 and 54 gone

Just caught up with this meeting this morning and as expected an awful meeting. The season was decided before a wheel was turned and the final was completely predictable. While sides are built so lop sided in Poland you can see who is going to win straight away. Utterly boring. While it could be applauded that no guests are used, once injuries occur, it’s the end of that sides season. Gusts etc is just not going to cut it. If it’s the same with certain teams head and shoulders above the opposition it won’t be worth watching.

The problem is even if Masters misses the start he leads into the first bend. And Nicholls loves the Poole track and usually charges through. Not many capable of beating Lawson from the back but Nicholls does.

As long as it’s not deluge rain all day tomorrow it should be good to go.

Not sure why you posted this forecast is for a dry day on Wednesday. Showers tomorrow.

Rather both teams use their riders than have a guest come in because a rider is off form. Going to be difficult for Pirates to start strong with Masters in heat one who is virtually unbeatable with Gilkes at two seeing of Hagon, then Killeen in heat 2 it should see Oxford 14 up. Lawson needs to beat Masters out of the traps. Not an easy task but one which needs to be made if Pirates can get that 12 points back. It really needed to be 8 or ten and worse.

Laguta was coaching Vinnie Foord, while Emil and Lindgren were in Tobias’s ear. Other than that nothing to see.

Oxford do have a couple of security guys but they either ignored it or were oblivious to it. I can’t believe it was the latter. Pantomime booing and giving it large at a win is one thing. Intimidation with threats is another and one step from up close confrontation and fists flying. The Oxford management need to get a grip and get this stamped up. As I said, my daughter and I can walk around Liverpool, Arsenal, Everton, Nottingham Forest and West Ham this season wearing our football shirts with no trouble whatsoever. In fact we have had fans from most of these teams come up to us for a quick chat. Sure, there’s plenty of banter inside the stadium but not seen any trouble whatsoever outside this season.

Yes last night my daughter, who hasn’t much of a clue about speedway, got the middle finger and Wker sign off them as she went to get a drink. Scared her a little she couldn’t understand it. She had been with me to Leicester Bournemouth footy in the afternoon and no trouble or problems at all. Weird that Oxford speedway has a small but vocal yob contingent. When we were leaving after the meeting had finished it was repeated. There’s celebrating a win and perhaps waiving bye bye, but wker signs and the middle finger while shouting abuse is really not cool. Doesn’t bother me but don’t do this to young women.

Of course but I was talking about since the revival.

Thought it was a decent meeting played out in front of a big crowd. Possibly the biggest ever Oxford crowd. Certainly larger than the pairs. As expected Oxford took advantage on their own circuit, with Masters never led in five rides and backed up by Nicholls who was almost untouchable after a first ride blip. Add in a gating Killeen and a decent performance from guest Gilkes, a couple of gates from Heeps and the damage was done. Pirates battled hard but couldn’t match the Oxford riders once they led down the back straight and that was game, set and match. Special mention to Zach Cook who threw everything at it, and Vinnie Ford for impressing in his first two before taking a purler and withdrawing. Not sure he is OK for Wednesday. 12 point lead is probably enough for Oxford. Has to be 70/30% in their favour. Both Masters and Nicholls are excellent at Poole. Killeen scored paid 14 from 5 last time. Poole needed to keep in to 8 but didn’t have any riders to match Masters and Nicholls in 13 and 15 and so it was a from the tapes gift 8 points. To be honest I thought this would happen before the meeting. Hagon, after a decent start to the season, has certainly not progressed and gone backwards. Tobias, who started well has faded as the season has gone on and Vinnie, while a battler, lacks experience. While we have a good top 4 to get us over the line, when one has a poor meeting we are left vulnerable. Brennans 4+1 killed us dead last night and was his worst score this season. Someone said he looked knackered in the pits before the meeting, having travelled back from Czech the night before, on top of a busy week in the U.K. Not the ideal prep for our most important meeting of the season. Well done to Oxford, who should have used Killeen in heat 12 for a bigger lead. What the hell was that about? Couldn’t believe he didn’t replace Boughen.

Not looking forward to the mad dash (not exceeding speed limit) from Leicester to Oxford later. Accepting I will probably miss the first 4 heats. Hope there’s someone on the gate for late arrivals.

Scunthorpe put up a bit of a fight but the result was never in doubt. Next week much harder meeting with Oxford capable of winning both legs. We need to ride better than we did tonight or the tile is going north. Note to one’s self. When I make a score choice, never change it. I picked 57, saw the Scunny lineup and adjusted it to 61. I lost £206. 😩😂😂

The home riders look over to the other side of the pits and do a little poo. One team riding at a much higher level and wanting it.

Reported on BSN thatChris Harris was in A&E today and his wife posted she was very worried about him. Think he was released later? Not sure what happened. Anyone any idea?

Very enjoyable meeting. Yes it was one sided, made more so by bringing in Boughen as a number one when they could have used Allen, Mountain, Lambert and Howarth/Harrison and kept the score reasonably close. Boughen was on a hiding to nothing. Special mention to two young riders. Harrison and Foord. Both raw and prone to errors but both aggressive and great fun to watch. Harrison was excellent for a reserve and deserved his heat 15. Gave Lawson a hard time and Lawson had to use a bit of skill to back Harrison away. Vinnie Foord doesn’t know when to give up and deserved far more than his score. Some great racing and the meeting was done and dusted in 75 minutes. Can Scunthorpe surprise the Pirates in the second leg? Not a chance. But I hope they come to Poole and put up a fight for their fans.

At what? The teams?

If Boughen is in for Palm-Toft that is a ludicrous replacement, with all due respect. Do they think Boughen is going to score more than Lambert, Allen, Howarth and Mountain? Boughen is a good rider in the making and has a big future, but as number one? And with no T/Rs allowed, he has to take his allocated 4 rides unless replaced by a reserve.

Why would Poole fans get behind Scunthorpe? Poole fans support Poole. Poole is built to entertain and win the same as every club.

Looking forward to this afternoons meeting. Do fancy our chances but take nothing for granted. Young Harrison at reserve has been scoring very well and taken some big scalps this season. We know Allen and Howarth will do well as well as Simon Lambert and all get an extra ride. Four points either way.

Great GP shame about the winner. Dan choosing gate one was a terrible call. The speed was on the outside. Zmarzlik left the best gate!