Steve Shovlar

Keep,the Polish meeting off here. Watching it later. Thanks

The forecast hasn’t changed in nearly 3 days. Should have started at 3pm and it would have been no issue. We can all see the rain radar and the wet stuff closing in. Fingers crossed Gandalf turns up with his staff, shouting, “you shall not pass”.

Have to be next Friday or Sunday then.

Rain getting very close. Feel sorry for the Pirates fans that have made the long trip up if this is off. Rerun it tomorrow?

Great ride by Pickering in heat 13.

Yes it’s far, far better than the original track which couldn’t have been worse.

Edinburgh a two man team and poor as a playoff team. Cannon fodder over the two legs.

With Glasgow so far not moving the meeting forward, it could play into Poole’s hands. A meeting can be called at heat 10 with the result standing. The Met Office have rain from 6pm. https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/forecast/gcuvz3bch#?date=2022-09-25

Asked him on Wednesday. Havvy in charge.

Doesn’t do the weekend northern clubs as he runs a weekend family business.

Middlo is not at Glasgow.

We might not be there. Got a very tough semi which can and will go any way. Leicester showed tonight why they finished top of the league and are favourites for the title. They backed off at Poole to save themselves when they knew the tie had gone. Don’t read too much into the drubbing they got. It will be a different story if we meet again in the final. And I am sure Glasgow will have a lot to say on that.

Leicester tonight have been everything they were not at Poole. Favourites for the title by the proverbial mile.

Difference is Poole have heat leaders to match Leicester, and second strings to beat Lions. Edinburgh have Masters and Pickering, and when Masters shows poor form it’s one way traffic. I expected Leicester to win tonight but Edinburgh to put up more of a fight. Frankly, they have been pathetic. Feel for the home fans. Team has let them down.

Men against boys. Call off tomorrow night.

This is over already. Easy for Leicester. Edinburgh not in the same class.

Trouble is Edinburgh are just a two man team to be fair. If masters allows a 5-1 against him in heat one it sets the tone. Worrall, Howarth and Morris have the beating of Pickering so it as always a Leicester win. This is the easy semi final and it shows. Sunday a completely different affair.

No wonder Leicester picked Edinburgh. The Monarchs are cccrrraaaaapp!

You think? I think Glasgow are stronger with the more experienced Starke, especially so at reserve. I was gutted Danyon was not in this years team as he is a great lad and has improved a lot this season. But Paul Starke has been there and got the t-shirt. At reserve he could get double figures and come in for an under performing top five rider. All the Pirates need to put it on the line on Sunday. They don’t want to leave Glasgow without giving 100% effort and Havvy will no doubt expect maximum effort. If we come up short, we’ll so be it. But no silly tapes exclusions or falls.

Starke was always nailed on, and at reserve will be a serious force to be reckoned with. He goes very well at Poole. But I am sure the Pirates will be well up for this and it will be a very tight couple of meetings. Glasgow go into it as favourites and we need to hold them to 8-10 points to stand a chance of making the final.

Championship league leaders and odds on favourites for the title Leicester Lions got their paws clipped tonight by a battling Poole Pirates. It was a very good meeting on a well prepared track and lots of very entertaining heats. I think when Poole had opened a 10 point league Stewart Dickson told his team to not take risks. No point chasing something that had got away from them and a bigger meeting at Edinburgh on Friday. Thing is, Steve Worrall had bike issues in his first two rides. What would the score have been had he not had these issues? All the Poole boys are riding well, and I include Nathan in that. He’s battling to the best of his ability. But it was refreshing to see both Drew Kemp and Zack Cook bring their A game. Rider of the night was Ben Cook, with an amazing pass of Howarth on the very last bend which brought the house down. Richard Lawson also unbeaten. Pirates head to Scotland on Sunday for a very tough and challenging meeting in the first leg of the Championship Semi-Finals. Back to Poole next Wednesday for the second leg. If, and it’s a big if, Poole were to meet Leicester in the final, the two meetings this week will be meaningless. Now Pirates meet Redcar in the KO Cup final.

He would do a good job at reserve for any team but I feel he needs to lose quite a bit of weight to progress. His battles are nearly always from the back. Ten kilos lighter would help his starts. He said tonight he had to lose some weight to get riding again. He lives right up north and said it was a 7 hour drive to Plymouth.

Gary said he had aggravated a shoulder injury. They knew at mid day so got Roynon in. I thought it was an entertaining meeting. The track rode well and there was some good passing. Nicholls and Lawson excellent, but rider of the meeting was Complin with his never say die wall of death blasts around the outside. What a shame he turned his back on the sport for 11 seasons. He was a talent in his youth and one wonders what career he would have had had he not quit.

Has Ostergaard ridden since end of July? Heard they can use Starke or Etheridge in place of Hume, which would be a hell of a guest.

Pirates need to be on top form to keep it close. We are capable but need to hold it to ten points. With no tacs allowed, reserves play an even more important role and this is where we can come unstuck. But I am sure we will be fired up and giving it our best shot!