Steve Shovlar

Tell us more Gordon!

Yes well remembered. Knew the name in the back of my mind but was struggling to place it. 98 is a great innings and most of us would take that if offered. RIP.

Poole are not the highest payers. But they pay, and riders know they are in with a shout of a title. Richard Lawson said last night that was the first trophy he had won in his career and it means a lot to him. Imagine going through a whole career but no trophies to show for it? Nearly all riders in their career win very little individually. A very few win the odd title. An even smaller amount win a national title and we are in to thin air with world championships. To win a club title is very important to most riders, and they know if they are lucky enough to join a club like Poole they are in with a chance of just that. For riders like Kemp, Ablitt, it has come early in their careers but might not happen again. When they retire they can look back and remember they were part of that team. Poole don’t pay a guarantee. They do pay riders points money which is affordable to the club. As for some on here saying the playoffs sg]hould be scrapped and it should just be top of the league is champs, imagine if Poole next year went through the card and the title ws decided in late June. We would have clubs putting out weakened teams at away meetings to save money, robbing the public, because the club have no chance of catching the runaway winners. The playoffs have been going strong for 20 years and will not be dispatched with. They bring in huge crowds, keep the league alive and keep the fans interested. And I for one love them. As do many others.

Nathan is a nice likeable lad and not scoring doesn’t seem to get him down. He is young and raw and it’s no surprise another promoter would take him on if we don’t.

Re: Drew. He clearly has ability it’s there for all to see. But he seems held back by his temperament. He rarely smiles, seems withdrawn and if he has a bad first ride seems to sulk rather than geeing himself up. His head tells him he can win heat 14 and he normally does. But often it is too little too late. Last night he was in a great battle until the spokes were ripped out of his wheel. But it caused him a massive strop, enough to miss the celebrations. There’s no doubt the ability is there but being held back. Perhaps having a course with a sports psychologist might be the way for him to overcome the issues he seems to have during meetings. His temperament definitely looks to hold back the potential.

Poole won the league. And the KO Cup. There is no argument. Leicester won nothing however you dress it up. Poole are deserved Champions!

I might have mentioned it to them before the meeting. But then again I am pretty sure they had done their homework and knew their stuff. Record viewing figures for them last night. They have invested their profits back into their budding business with new equipment and it shows. I would say they do an excellent job. But they need to improve their website. It’s a little confusing and a viewer can go around in circles looking for what’s coming up or to buy a stream. BSN need britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk, not “watch.Britishspeedway.co.uk” They have done a great job.

A long day for travelling Poole fans who made the arduous journey to Kings Lynn yesterday, but worth every mile. An early start to the meeting and few delays after heat one meant we were able to celebrate and leave the stadium a little after 9pm, meaning I was back at home in Poole by 1am. What was surprising was the similar size to the Leicester and Poole fans in attendance, considering the distances having to travel. Only about 5-600 there with the difference being made up by the local supporters. A real shame but not unexpected that the crowd was so low. But a special mention to Buster who laid on a proper racetrack that gave the riders the opportunity to race and pass. Best I have ever seen it and harks back to the racing of the 80’s videos on YouTube. Would Leicester have won the title if the meeting taken place at their home track? I don’t think so. Perhaps I am bound to say that but the Poole team would simply not be denied last night. There was utter determination from the Poole riders and after about heat 7 the Leicester riders heads dropped. Special mention for Richard Lawson who shared his knowledge of the track with setups and on the track walk pointing out all the racing lines. As for the Cooks, both on their first visit, astounding to be honest. Ben Cooks double pass of Dan Thompson and home track rider Richie Worrall in heat 6 was quite incredible, then repeated in heat 8 and 15. And let’s not forget Middlo, who showed why he is the best in the business. Another title to add to the many. Top bloke as well. I think next season Poole will retain two of the three heat leaders with Ben Cook coming in as third heat leader and Zack as second string.

If Lynn think they can walk up to Ben Cook tonight in the hope,of talkingnhim into signing for them for next season, they are probably 3-4 months too late. And I should imagine he is getting offers from Poland (League one) as well. Pretty sure he will start next season as Poole’s third heat leader. Mid way through this season something just clicked and from following the rider around in front in the same line, he suddenly got very good at gating and his passing ability kept forward. Tonight was a culmination of his development. One race to get to know the track, then pow! Zack isn’t far behind him and is younger. Have a good feeling that these two are the next generation of young Aussies breaking through.

Long journey back but for the 50 odd Pirates fans it will pass quickly. Commiserations to Leicester. Spoke to Gary May but he said nothing he could do to stop the onslaught. Some great racing tonight on a very good track.

As requested Poole gave Lions first two heats to start even. Then mullered them.

All too easy.

Leicester have been practising all afternoon. Nothing going on now. Just spoken to the BSN guys and they are expecting the viewing figures to be smashed tonight.

Arrived on Kings Lynn and its much colder than when I left Poole this morning. Certainly jacket and hat needed. Weather is clear and dry and all systems go.

Because three of the Poole team have never ridden KL. Poole go well at Leicester. Plus Leicester have a big practice session this afternoon. Just pulled in for a coffee north of Ely. Been s clear run and taken about 4 hours 45 mins. So many speed cams about it will take the same to get home. Lovely weather though. Think it will be cold tonight got my woolley hat.

Moving to Kings Lynn gives them a better chance of winning the title. The downside is loss of revenue so I think they would rather have a big crowd and defeat than winning it in front of 4-500. Leaving early to make sure I am not under stress in traffic jambs. Luckily have some good business on the way so will be able to say business trip. Come on Poole let’s do well deserved back to back titles! Same 1-7 we started the season with.

Only club with more fans at the pairs was Oxford.

So Leicester are practising all afternoon tomorrow at Kings Lynn but Poole are not allowed in the stadium. And Poole have 3 riders who have never been on the KL track. Understandable if Leicester were practising on their own track but this will give them a huge advantage tomorrow with setups, lines on track etc. Going to be very hard for Pirates to not lose the lead in the first few heats. And some on here want Poole to throw the first two heats? It could be 10-2 regardless!

Remember it well. And the horrendous journey home with many road closures and had to do a motorway awareness course for getting a ticket for doing 56 in a 50 on the M25 at 2 am and not a soul around.

Seriously, are you asking Poole to pity Leicester?

Too obvious. Poole fans would have outnumbered Leicester 2 to 1.

Why would we do that? You seem to think we should start from 0-0 as Leicester couldn’t get their track sorted? Why in earth is it Poole’s fault? We had to struggle for over half of last weeks meeting due to the track not being great.

You keep thinking that. In fact there are several posters on this thread as well as you who are trying desperately to make this second leg as meaningless as possible. Yes we are all aware of you and others hatred of all things Poole but the final does mean something to both clubs. Don’t forget this farce has nothing whatsoever to do with Poole. We rode last week on a track that was far from normal, caught out the team taking away any home advantage and it was only when the track settled in the latter heats we managed to get a small lead. Under normal circumstances we would have had a 55-35 scoreline. Leicester have done their best to sort their track but it’s come down to this. Yes it’s a farce. But no other choice. Let the best team win, let’s learn from it and make sure it’s not repeated next season. The big winners are BSN who will have hundreds of extra viewers.