Steve Shovlar

Yes a pain. Needs to be moved off track along with water tractor.

I did say constructive criticism. Many in that crowd might not be back. Plastered in billowing dust.

Terrible to read of this abandonment. Couldn’t Auty have been driven to hospital by one of his crew in his van?

Some constructive criticism. Just got back and first thing to do was jump into shower to get the dust off. Terrible. Billowing clouds of dust covering everyone on the 3rd and 4th bends is not good. Track might have been watered all afternoon but far too dry and the water bowser thingy needed to be double the capacity size to flood the track. Arrived at the Unipart car park and it was just a 5 minute stroll to the stadium. All very easy. Crowd was good, at limited capacity. Plenty of room for a 1000 more on the bends. Lots of space. The track seems a decent shape but outside line really not working at all. A massive advantage off gates 1 and 3 with four a dead duck. Speaker system far too loud. Had to shout for the person next to me to hear. Ears are ringing. Also, hearing the same awful techno/synth Kraftwork type music before every heat was grating. Please vary it. The promotion also gad the opportunity to bring in a modern, younger centre green announcer. But they got Peter York. Who announced Nicholls and Batchelor as Coventry riders. And he really didn’t work to get the crowd going. Heat results were given out as the next heat were at the tapes, and they missed Stonemans ride in heat 11, when he was brought in as reserve swap for Ruml. This led to a delay and issue in heat 14 when the ref thought Stoneman had only taken 2 rides and needed to be on track instead of reserve switch Ruml. Sound like a big old moan? No not at all. There are bound to be teething problems and certainly things need to be improved upon. As for the meeting, Pirates dug very deep when it looked like Oxford could it, having 1 and 3 in heats 13 and 15. Some good hard riding from our heat leaders and much better performances from the Cooks, helped bring home the victory. Kemp fell in two of his rides but did the business in heat 14 to secure the victory. Ablitt also got into the points beating his counterpart Stoneman. Good luck to Oxford for the rest of the season. Think they will be a force at home once they have got the track right. Not many will come away with points.

https://twitter.com/steveshovlar/status/1516826514309984256?s=21&t=OoIHOJ1KG88BaRXREybN-A

14 point win. Tsshhh! Never going to happen. Much, much closer. Oxford know the lines. Home advantage, home crowd. Going to be close imo.

Poole fans were told before the season started that they had no decent reserves and that Drew Kemp was the worst pick of the up and coming Brits. Seems Ford got it spot,on again as Drew has been excellent so far this season and will be moving up into the team at the first GS.

Ok at home, not great away.

Have to re-assess Leicesters chances of making the playoffs. Not as good as most of us thought. Outside contenders for a playoff berth by the look of it.

Ha! What a surprise. Heeps was a heep of carp at Poole and if Scott and Jack Thomas can take a ride it boosts their chances of more points. Still, think Pirates can do this. Forecast is good. Bring it on!

One I am really looking forward to. Think it will be fairly close. Pirates haven’t ridden there. Ant count Worrall and Kings as young lads. Means nothing. Need a race or two to work out the lines. Expect Oxford to take a lead but after the halfway stage Pirates to come on strong and do the business. Will be disappointed if we don’t pick up the win but nothing is guaranteed. Batchelor and Nichols in 13 and 15 are a serious threat to be dealt with. Did a Google earth on the unipart car park and it’s only a 5 min walk. Think it’s safer to walk to the stadium than be on the covid express.

Got to be Lawson if Plymouth harbour any thoughts of beating Leicester. Harris’s performance today guesting for Newcastle was very poor.

Good meeting but all this nonsense stats. How far did a rider go in metres compared to another rubbish. Just clutter, as in rider v rider stats. Doubt even Rob Pendleton would want that much ridiculous baloney.

I have read the forwarded post from Natalie Quirk from Kelvin Tatum and it was devastating to read. I do hope after some time of grieving and healing Kelvin returns to the commentary booth to continue his work in memory of his mate Nigel Pearson. The fans would love some form of continuity but would fully respect any decision Kelvin makes.

I Never noticed it Skidder. Think Terry has got the track spot on. Just needed a little more grip on outside but Oxford were poor do doubt it would have made any difference.

There was no dust at all. Not sure why it is being bought up. Track is in great condition, no ifs, buts or maybe’s.

Agree about Oxford but track was bad? We’re you there? Smooth as silk thanks to Terry.

When Mountain had ef King had passed him two laps earlier. Poole too strong for Lions. If this was playoffs. We would have the champagne open.

Was disappointed with the Cooks tonight. Expected Zach to pick up a few but not close. Kemp though got his lines worked out and was top notch. Lad has ability and speed. Think he will move up first green sheets but be fine.

A good meeting in the end though King unfortunate to be exc when Worrall again looked the culprit. Was. 3-3 with lawson charging down Howarth to get a draw when coming together happened. 5-1 rerun made score look better for Lions than they deserved. If a playoff Pirates would be celebrating. Cooks struggled but Kemp a revelation. Ablitt as expected. Good crowd. Good racing tonight with some tough battles.

Discovered where all those holes at Poole ended up! First and second bend at Leicester. Plus a jump ramp at the starting gate where riders bounce in the air !!

No doubt Ablitt was at fault in his eagerness to get past Stoneman. It looked bad and it was good to see Stoneman get up to his feet after a few mins.

Disagree. Team seems very nicely balanced with both Cooks, so far, doing more than their expectations. And Kemp could have scored a max last night but for a lost chain. Agree Ablitt will struggle but we knew that anyway. Kemp at reserve will get 5-6 rides with Ablitt getting 3, and would replace a Cook if they are struggling.

The track is so much better than in recent seasons. Smooth with plenty of dirt down, but it didn’t seem the outside run was working as well as it has this season in the two previous meetings. It didn’t help that the opposition was so poor. Pirates could have scored 64 but for an ef to Kemp and Worrall and Ablitt clipping a back wheel when heading into a 5-1 position.