Steve Shovlar

Zmarzlik being 5-1’d is a shock. Lions to win this.

Woryna did a job there holding up Zmarzlik. And Swidnicki nearly blew it final bend.

He’s better than his. Expecting him to improve. What surprises me is size of crowd. Poor with loads of empty seats. Polish fans deserting the sport or hate the format this season?

Nice to see Andy Smith being interviewed. Was a real top Brit in his day. How many consecutive British finals? And he kept qualifying for GP’s if I remember!

Plymouth still have a good chance with their little track. We got hammered there earlier this year. And Plymouth scraped a draw at Poole. So clearly Plymouth favourites to go through and it will take an almost impossible effort from Pirates to make it to the semis. Can they do it against all the odds?

So common sense was used and the first leg of the Playoff Quarter Final takes place on Tuesday at Plymouth. The delaying tactics trying to be used by Plymouth failed to impress the Management Committee who stated that Plymouth Meeting with Glasgow could no wait and that the Playoffs, rightly, take precedence.  Poole are clearly concerned that Steve Worrall is injured and might not be fir to ride either meeting. Whether we go for a guest or R/R is open to debate. There is limited choice due to the playoff rules and I would just go with R/R. It weakens us but the options are Arnio, Flint, Batchelor, Sedgmen, (who I think has returned to Australia) Etheridge, Wells, (who has now retired) Plymouth are without Eddie Kennett, who might have a late fitness test (joke) Barker, and Andersen, who is out with concussion. Harris and Nicholls guesting? Wouldn’t surprise me and will certainly make Plymouth a strong team. Current forecast is for sunshine and a risk of light showers being blown through on a stiff breeze. No real risk of a rainoff. For the return, I believe Scott Nicholls could guest for Steve Worrall with the extra 5% available. Thoughts?

Forecast for Plymouth next Tuesday is a few light afternoon showers. Not enough to stop a meeting going ahead. Plymouth do not have until the end of October to fit in the Poole quarter final. There are semis and. Final to be run afterwards, whether Plymouth or Poole are in it. They cannot delay the inevitable and have to run it.

It really should be a case of See You Next Tuesday. Plymouth Tuesday, Poole the following night. No reason why not. It should be a great couple of meetings. Both clubs have injuries. Hans and Steve Worrall suffering injuries at the moment. Do Poole go with a guest or R/R? Or will Steve declare himself fit to ride?

Lewy, I met you earlier this season on a visit to Plymouth and we had a nice friendly chat with no animosity. You came across as a decent knowledgable fan and a good guy. But as soon as Poole are mentioned on here you grow a pair of horns and slag our club off like there’s no tomorrow. Rather than look at Poole green with envy and jealousy, surely you should think that you want Plymouth to aspire to where Poole Speedway sit. Still the biggest speedway club in the U.K., regardless of what league they are riding in. Middlo’s testimonial was pencilled in for last night for many months. No one knew what teams would be in the up coming playoffs when the date was announced. But Matt Ford wanted to give Middlo a prime summer date when the biggest crowd could be achievable. A damp October night wouldn’t bring in the thousands that turned up last night. But for injuries the lineup would have been great. Tony Rickardsson flew in from Sweden, and Mark Loram travelled down to sign autographs along with Havvy and Sam Ermolenko. Many Polish riders wanted to attend but were barred by their Polish clubs. You personally might not think it but Middlo is held in very high esteem by the worlds best riders and Hans Andersen WANTED to be there to support a manager who was a guiding hand at the start of his career. His crash was very unfortunate as he entered bend three on the outside of his team mate and just lost it. He was knocked out so automatically is out for ten days. But he wanted to be there. It looks like Poole v Plymouth playoff meetings take place next week. Let the best team win.

Well that was a great, if expected long night. Great crowd for Middlo who fully deserved a night to remember. Rickardson, Loram, Havelock, Doyle, Chris Holder were the world Champs at Wimborne Road. But Bomber Harris was the star of the show with an unbeaten 18 points. He showed last week in his last two rides what he can do when his bike is dialled in. Sublime stuff. Hope Hans Andersen recovers quickly from a very nasty tumble. South Today ran their sports section from the stadium it’s interviews with Middlo and Danny Ford. Big firework display to end the evening. Well done to every rider who gave their time.

Nasty crash for Hans Andersen. On outside of team mate Chris Harris. But lost it on third bend and cartwheeled into fence. Ambulance on track. Best wishes for speedy recovery.

I should imagine the whole of the back straight at Plymouth will be filled with Poole fans. But really, we should be at Plymouth on the 6th as we finished 3rd.

So you think Gary is not “in the loop”. Barker has no chance of riding. In act I wish he was as most of the time he isn’t great at Poole and a guest is more likely to do better. See you on the 7th.

Redcar look up for this. Plymouth got their work cut out.

Dusty track after two heats. And crowd looks down after last weeks debacle.

Typical Drew. Looked a complete novice to a class act in the same meeting. Hard to fathom his thinking mentality.

I said on here last week that Leicester won’t pick Poole should we make the semis. If Pirates get through the quarter finals we will be heading to Glasgow. Hope it’s streamed! If Plymouth get to the semis they will be heading to Leicester. There’s no way Leicester will pick Glasgow or Poole over Plymouth. It would be madness.

Hope there’s a great turnout for Middlo. He deserves it. Top bloke top manager.

Laguta and Saifudinov will be out for several years. No Russians will be allowed until Russia leave Ukraine. Expect their careers are over to be honest.

I said it was a hard move, no doubt, but I see the same move played out in Poland every week. It’s a man’s sport.

I heard it from someone in a very in the know position. Not gossip.

But the third tier of Poland is no stronger than U.K. leagues. Needs Polish League One. Guess he is putting himself in a shop window with a come and get me. Providing he is smashing in double figure scores.