Steve Shovlar

Terribly sad news. Not old at all. Rest in peace and commiserations to his family and friends.

Think we will need it. Sam Hagon is completely off the boil. Tobias looks like he is nervous when close to pass after his couple of spills, and no Vinnie Foord.

Hearing Vinnie Foord could be out for quite some time as he has to have an operation after his crash at Leicester. Get well soon Vinnie. Hope it’s not the end of your season.

Probably. He is now looking like a very novice reserve for Poole. Next to useless in his first race but not charging around the outside like he did earlier this season. Tailed off at times. Foord now looking the more reliable reserve. Considering Foord was brought in to pickup the odd point, it’s now gone completely the other way. Hopefully Sam will capture the form that won him the U21 title.

Good meeting to watch.. Poole boys in good form. Thought Brum were the better team all night but the dive from Riss when turning left on Brennan who was through won it for Oxford. Lindgren should have done better in 15 though. Didn’t think the crowd was big. Normally more when Poole visit.

Fingers crossed it’s on. Storms now passing.

Huge thunderstorms in the area.

There is nowhere near the same amount of passing there was at the start of the season. Not sure it is that there’s not enough clay in the shale, or the home riders are now too good for the opposition, or a combination of the two. What riders can come to Poole and see off Lawson, Cook and Brennan? Backed up by Zack and decent reserves? If our boys make the gate it is almost impossible to pass them. Same with any track who have a powerful heat leader trio.

Won’t get journeymen at Poole. Personally would have kept Rowe. Could see the potential and he is showing it now. Going to be a good rider. Kemp cooked his goose with a tantrum at the playoff final at Kings Lynn against Leicester. Pi55ed off Danny Ford and that was that. Kemp is certainly showing his improvement and always has a point to prove at Poole. Would have been a far better guest than Barker. Just needs consistency.

Well that was one sided as we expected. Big crowd tonight on a very warm evening. Huge queues at the bars. As for the meeting, shame Glasgow are so weak really. No competition for the rampant Pirates. Harris battled and Ivacic gave some backup, but the rest were poor. A surprise 5-1 over the Cooks in heat 3 the highlight for them. But take a bow Vinnie Foord. Coming on leaps and bounds with 8 points tonight, backing up his fine efforts at Glasgow and Workington. He thanked his new sponsors who have helped no end. This has to be countered with Sam Hagon going the other way and struggling to find points, after they came easy earlier this season. Tobias came back a week too early and wasn’t on any real form though picked up paid 5. He starts at reserve with Ford next week with Hagon going to two. Sam might end up with three rides unless he picks it up. Richard Lawson was sublime. Full 15 point max and only led by Ivacic in one heat. Cook started slow but improved and topped off his performance with a last to second, passing Harris and Ivacic off the 4th bend in heat 15. Tom Brennan continued his great form dropping only 1 point. Glasgow perhaps did better than many expected. Harris loves the Poole track and it showed again tonight. But he found it too hot against Pirates top guys. Ivacic the best of the rest. Garrad way out of his depth, expected more from Pearson and Flint. Smith is a reserve and Barker is nowhere near the rider he was. On to Scunthorpe next week and a break from the league I believe with the first leg of the K O Cup.

Big crowd in already. Very, very warm evening.

Sizzling day in Poole today. Hot with cloudless skies. Luckily no wind. Hell of a chore spending the whole day watering. Free beers the order of the day for track staff.

Be very unlucky if there’s a thunderstorm later. Forecast shows hot and sunny on the south coast riviera. Beaches packed, bars and restaurants busy, flat whites sold out, what a wonderful place to live. And trouncing Glasgow this evening at the Mecca of British speedway. What’s not to like? Seriously, let’s hope for a close, exciting meeting that exceeds expectations.

Looking at the teams, who the hell is going to lead Pirates for us to pass? Other than Harris who will need to be in top form, who is going to challenge our heat leaders?

I brought up Tarasenko as he was riding for Glasgow the last time they rode at Poole, and was comparing last years Glasgow team with their current lineup. Every reason for him to be mentioned. So tomorrow Pirates go for revenge on last season. Feel a little confident, though nothing is guaranteed. Weather is set fair. 27 C late afternoon. Oh, there’s also a live stream so fans in Glasgow don’t have the travel the length of England. (And a little bit of Scotland) to watch it. ;O Thoughtful, eh?

Are we not allowed on here to talk about the last time we met Glasgow at Poole?

I said that very day that Glasgow had won the title. They replaced a 6 pointer with a GP rider. I was proved correct. Anyway water under the bridge now. Tomorrow the two teams meet again. Will Pirates take maximum points off the Champions?

Can you imagine the melt down on here if we had done that? I am glad we didn’t.

If Poole had signed Tarasenko it would have gifted Poole the title. It’s a completely fair comment and if I went back to the day on this forum Tarasenko signed for Glasgow I said exactly that. It’s a fair and honest comment. Tarasenko changed the whole balance of the season in the Championship, just like the ridiculous late signing of Robert Lambert did for Belle Vue in the top flight. At least this massive hole in the rules, which the BSPA admitted afterwards, was quickly closed.

Notice I didn’t blame Glasgow for bringing in Tarasenko. I blamed the pathetic rule hole from the BSPA which allowed a 6 point top league Grand Prix rider to enter the Championship on the same 6 point average.

Looking at the teams a rout is likely. How Glasgows team building efforts have fallen from last season. Instead of bringing in the likes of Tarasenko, which showed the rule book not fit for purpose and gifted Glasgow the title, this time around they bring in Ivacic. Perhaps they thought lightening would strike twice. Ivacic is a poor signing. The declared team at the start was poor. If Kemp is available they have missed an opportunity to keep it reasonable. The lad is showing proper improvement. Barker has passed his sell buy date looking at his form this season. You never know though and predictions before a meeting can lead to egg on face. Harris will battle. Pearson at reserve might pick up a scalp or two. Flint has scored well in the past but his form currently is off the boil. Garrad shouldn’t trouble the scorers. Ivacic hadn’t seen the place. Smith has never done anything of note. Expecting 60-30. If Glasgow do better than that it will be a surprise.

Shocking performance from Brum. Can’t give an 8 point lead in the first 2 races and expect to pull it back. As someone else has said, where’s the grit? All too nice and pleasant. Palm Toft laughing and joking while watching an heat after doing sweet Fanny Adams would pee me off if I was a Brum fan. And as for TM Adams, too soft and nice. Those two Poles are stealing a living here.

He led Laguta for 3 laps in his first, then a third, then fell trying to be a little hasty on the second bend when pinned, a race he could have won. Was superb in his ladt two leaving top riders in his wake. Really coming on big time now and taking the step to becoming a really top rider. Hope he is still at Poole next season.

Just watched it on catchup and it was as easy as the scoreline suggests. Pirates dominant and Workington had no answer. Again a terrible decision from the ref in heat 14 to exclude Zach. What was he expected to do? It’s called first bend bunching and it should have been all four back. And he allowed Sam McGurk to race with a dirt deflector bent upwards! Yes we all know he wasn’t going to score but ref, have some consistency! First time I have watched a meeting from Workington and it seems a good track. Shame about billowing dust from the start though. Safe journey home to all the Pirate fans who made the trip up.

Does anyone actually film the meetings at Glasgow so they could release a few heats on YouTube?