Steve Shovlar

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.

Lawson clearly didn’t touch him. The slow mo proves it. I spoke to Lawson the following week about it. He said the throttle goes both ways and Toft had the choice to throttle off. Lawson said he played the same move on Harris the week before in heat 15. Harris throttled off, cut back under him and took the win on the line. Toft could have averted the crash but freaked out. Similar moves are played out every week in the Polish league and this would have ended with Palm Toft being excluded for stopping the race. I am not saying it’s not a hard move by Lawson, it clearly is, but there was no contact. If people don’t understand this, we’ll, take up tiddlywinks.

Season ending injuries I should imagine. A broken bone won’t have enough time to heal before the season is over. On another note I heard last night that Leicester won’t touch Poole with a barge pole until the final, should they make it. Should Poole progress to the semi finals, Leicester will avoid Poole and go for the other quarter final qualifier. So it will likely be a Glasgow V Poole semi final.

Heard that the BSN has been a mild success. Enough to go again in 2023. I think the webpage on the British Speedway site is terrible and hard to navigate. A dedicated website is required and much more promotion. BSN is a great value for money platform with about 3 quid for a live meeting if you have the season pass.

I hope they do for the sake of British Speedway. But we are falling further and further behind those on the continent and for all the great effort put in by Neil Vatcher, the difference between our young riders and their Polish and European counterparts is vast. The top ten Polish u21 riders would knock our equivalent into a cocked hat. Brennan has a team berth in the Polish third tier, which helps him but he needs to be riding in the second tier to really meet riders a step above him. The chances of a team berth are slim unless he does something special to catch the eye. Polish talent spotters will be more likely to use local talent which is cheaper and more than likely score more points. I expected Brennan to win a race last night, or at least come a close second in a couple of heats. He was nit really any better than Flint who scored the full minimum. Brennan has ridden Poole well in the past in league meetings. Perhaps I am being on the harsh side but I expected more of him. Flint had a blinding meeting at Poole earlier this season with big double figures. Last night he was invisible.

Neither are anywhere near good enough imo. The opportunity to get a place in Poland is difficult in the extreme. Brennan has been around for quite a few years now and won’t get to the level of King, Lawson or Wright. He would have broken through by now. Flint certainly won’t. Both championship riders. Brennan will get further than Flint but when you compare them to Polish riders at the same age, well they are well behind the curve. People moaned left right and Center about Poole’s bumpy track, so they took out all the bumps, and now people moan about Poole’s perfectly smooth and fast track. Just perhaps they moan for moanings sake, as it’s Poole. The track was fine last night. There were some great races. Didn’t the Lawson/Batchelor/Wright race thrill? If not, then perhaps the sport is no longer for you? The track is there and allows riders to produce great races, if they wish to go for it. We see it often enough in league meetings here. Just perhaps, riders not in contention were not pushing it as they had nothing to gain? And Riders like Masters, Pickering, King, etc are very hard to catch if they gate? Pretty sure the crowd there last night enjoyed the whole meeting, even if it was too long and drawn out. Blame the ref not the club.

Well done to Sam Masters on his win. Never really in doubt once he had proved his fitness at the start of the meeting. The fact that he loves it at Poole just added to the likelihood of him being the winner. Big well done to Danny King on securing second spot and to a deserved Louis Kerr third. Unlucky in Douglas who had to withdraw from the final. The meeting was played out in front of a good crowd. Perhaps a tad down on last weeks league meeting but still very good. No other club would have got close to the attendance so it’s no surprise it ended up at Poole. The crowd were appreciative of all the riders and all received warm applause all evening. I thought the meeting could have been pushed on at a faster pace by ref Christina Turnbull. It was an extra 7 heats so the parade should have been at 7.20 with first heat at 7.30. With track grades every 4 heats and an interval at heat 12 it was always going to finish late. Add to that riders changing their back tyre for the semi, the add on a demolition of the safety fence in the final and it was a long night. Luckily the atmosphere and racing was good enough to keep everyone in the stadium very happy. Not the best meeting at Poole this year but certainly not bad. Of course meetings like this are not the same passion wise as a proper Poole league meeting but that’s how these meetings go. Masters a worthy winner if it was expected, and a Pirate finishing runner up. Next week is Middlos testimonial. A very good lineup and fingers crossed for decent weather and a big crowd.

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Nasty crash in final. Been a cracking meeting in front of a good sized crowd. Some very tough and aggressive first bends. Great nights entertainment. Delay in final as the first bend is demolished.

Being Champions.

Dry all day. Plymouth track is a disgrace. When Poole were down there a hole appeared on the third bend with billowing dust for the last few heats. The track man down there should be sacked. Clueless. Imagine the frustration of the Glasgow fans who have made the huge journey down? And don’t come back say the Poole track is crap blah blah blah.. Plymouth should hang their heads in shame.

All day to fix a track, get a big crowd in, and then call it off. Shocking stuff.

Leicester would choose us at their peril. They won’t repeat their win earlier this season. And Poole’s record at Leicester is very good.

Enjoyable meeting that. Made hilarious by Havvys comments.

Jordan Jenkins take a bow young man. Excellent performance.

Nasty crash for Cook there. Just a racing incident with Wright. Cook has been on great form tonight.

That’s a disgraceful decision to exclude Kerr. Makes no sense however you look at it.

Leicester will never pick us in the semis. Not a chance.

I quite fancy finishing third and getting 2 extra meetings. Keeps the boys active and race fit.