Gresham78

I spoke with Terry Russell at the Press and Practice day back in March and other than saying the track would be about 300 metres and based on the Cardiff shape he didn't seem to know an awful lot else about the stadium when I quizzed him on the facilities and the capacity. At the end of the day the speedway club remain the tenants at the new stadium and the only people who really know what's going on are Stadia UK (unfotunately) I don't think the Robins promotion has ever really been in a position to announce with any certainty when the new stadium wll be ready. I think 'in time for the beginning of the 2016 season' was always just wishful thinking.

Farewell to the Abbey! Enjoyed seeing the ex-riders and Briggo signed my programme which was a fitting end to the meeting for me. Also enjoyed Sam Ermolenko's prototype Jawas which could prove to be a way forward for the sport in these environment concious times. Disappointed in Batch with his comments which I think were ill judged given the occasion - his thoughts on the play off meeting against Belle Vue have been well documented elsewhere and I really think he's 'cooked his goose' with Swindon now and will be very surprised if he's a Robin next year. Loved seeing Rosco doing a couple of laps at the end - whether people like him or not he's a showman and the sport needs more like him.

Congratulations to the Aces - they were the better team in both legs of the semi final and deservedly go through to the final.Best of luck against the Pirates. Batch has come for a lot stick after his performance last night and given he's club captain its hard to defend. IMO he's looked out of sorts all season, the injury he sustained in the opening league fixture at Blunsden against Poole seemed to dent his confidence and he's never really recovered it. Personally, much as i like the guy, I think it would be in the best interests of both rider and club if he moved on elsewhere next season. I think he's got stale at Swindon and needs a new challenge to get back to his best. Best thing from last night was seeing the lovely Sophie Blake in the Pits!

As a Swindon fan I'm obviously pleased that they won last night but it was a hollow victory. This result was always on the cards seeing that Andersen and Robson were never going to be there and King and Garrity were going to be severely restricted if they rode given their respective injuries. I witnessed Danny's crash at Somerset on Tuesday and it was a really big impact and as he couldn't complete his rides on Wednesday and didn't ride on Thursday was it any surprise he only managed a point last night? Similarly with Garrity once he was kept in hospital overnight how could anyone expect him to be in a position to ride competitively if he'd appeared last night? Given the importance of this meeting to Coventry surely action should have been taken earlier to replace both riders? Finally, its obvious from the postings on this thread many fans (including myself) were annoyed at the lack of any announcement on the website despite being told there would be 'full team news to follow on Friday'. Any announcement would have been better than none even if it was just to say' Garrity and King have failed fitness tests and the management are trying to draft in replacements'. I think that simple act would have alleviated a lot of the frustration from last night as at least people could have made an informed choice as to whether they would attend or not. What the Bees management ended up with was a lot of disgruntled supporters feeling they'd been cheated out of witnessing a competitive night's racing. Its called having respect for your paying public. Honourable mention for Bomber; sounds like he rode his socks off and despite what some have said, seems like Walasek put up a decent show for Hansi who I understand has been well below par recently.

I normally go to this fixture as I enjoy watching speedway at Brandon and this meeting in particular was building up to be a real clash and I was looking forward to it. However with the news that there were major doubts about King and Garrity's fitness and that Andersen was unavailable and Robson was ruled out too it seemed likely that the Bees were going to have to field a cobbled together team. That being the case I didn't want a 200 mile round trip to see a non representative Coventry team. But having read the article on the Bees website last night which said " full team news to follow on Friday" I thought I would wait until the team was confirmed before deciding whether to travel. So I've spent most of today hanging on for the team news that of course has never materialized. So like 'Had' I've not gone tonight because I didn't want to take a gamble on what team the Bees were going to field. Its very frustrating as the management must have known by lunch time who was going to ride. If not a news update should have been issued to keep fans informed. I feel the Coventry management have been very thoughtless over this and shown a disregard to the supporters (yet again).

I was going to go to this but if King and Garrity don't ride, with Andersen and Robson already out, its going to make it a bit of a farce. So, Bees fans, given that there's still no news confirming Coventry's line up for tonight is it fair to assume that King and Garrity aren't fit and Mick Horton is frantically trying to book guests? I'm not blaming anybody; unavailability and injuries can't be helped but if I'm traveling up from the west country, like most people, I'd rather watch a meeting where both teams are as close to full strength as possible.

Great night's entertainment. This is the 6th or 7th time I've been to the Oaktree Arena and this was by far the best meeting. Both teams gave it a real go with Tungate and King outstanding for the Witches. It was great to see the riders having confidence in the track and really going for it. Congratulations to all concerned for a great night's speedway. PS Glad to see Danny get up and walk away from what looked an awful crash..

Congratulations to the Aces on their victory which they thoroughly deserved, A good all round team performance with a special mention for Stefan Nielsen who was outstanding. They needed to win this and it showed; Darcy was brilliant and supported by Batch but it was in reserve where the Aces out-gunned the Robins. With some 'unconventional' refereeing there was always plenty of incident (Nigel and Kelvin would have loved it!) All in all it was a good night's entertainment and as on previous trips to Kirky Lane I enjoyed the banter and chat with the Aces faithful .

Really looking forward to this one. Frustrating for Aces fans; your team on paper is so well balanced and strong throughout you should be right up there with Poole and the Bees but for some reason the team doesn't come together on the night often enough. You did when you last visited Blunsdon and you were too hot to handle. The arrival of Darcy has revitalised the Robins season but there have been other pluses too with the form of Zengi, Morra and Charlie Wright. Batch has struggled this year but has picked up with the arrival of DW and with the signing of another Aussie in Summers I'm sure it will only enhance team spirit further, something Rosco seems to value a lot. Yes tough to call tonight but if the Aces ride to ability with home advantage can see them doing it by 7 or 8.

Tough on young Ed but its a professional sport and Rosco had to make the decision for the team. At least he was given the chance, hope he tries his luck over here again when he's got a bit more experience. Summers will boost the middle order without doubt.

Hats off to you Sommelier that's dedication to the sport! I thought I was doing well with Belle Vue Mon, Poole Wed, Swindon Thur and Coventry Fri but your travels are unmatched!

Pleased for Leicester last night, big crowd on a fine summers evening just proves if the weather's good and the admission fee is right the fans will come. Thought the Robins were disappointing and the Miedzinski appearance was just out of convenience so that Rosco can re-declare, AM just wasn't interested and pulled up very early in each race, Praise for Zengi and Charlie Wright who both gave their all and scored decent points. It is becoming a trait with Batch that if he misses the gate he loses interest - unlike Nick Morris who always sticks at it.Troy hasn't been right this season, maybe the accident he had against Poole at the beginning of the season has knocked his confidence? I'm a fan of Kyle Howarth but he is struggling at the moment and seems short of power. Work for Rosco to do if the Robins are going to make the top 4 this year.

Totally agree with this Dean. The sport in this country will continue to decline while the promoters run the show. For its long term future speedway needs to be run by an independent body. The noises coming out of the pre-AGM meeting were not good as it seems those concerned are not pulling in the same direction - what a surprise. I suspect this years AGM will probably flunk the big issues again and produce little more than a bit more tinkering. Expect another year of dwindling attendances and possible further track closures.....

Thanks for the reply ER. I only came back the sport in 2010 so was not aware of his past behavior. As you say in your second paragraph I'm only going on what I've seen of him in the last 5 years so have based my judgement on that but could understand some Robins fans not wanting him in the team...

You have me at a disadvantage there Roundabout, I didn't realise Schlein is unpopular at Blunsdon. Any particular reason..?

I'd go with the same as Titus except I'd have PK instead of Batch. PK's got to be one of the most entertaining riders in Speedway even when he's not quite on it. Doyley in for Batch for me as I think he would give us the top end consistency which we've lacked this year. I hate leaving Batch out as I think he's been a great skipper and is a real team man but I think Jason is in front of him at the moment and has really come to the fore over the last 2 years. Schleiny in for Simon as he loves the Abbey and is a battler...

Congratulations to the Bees on reaching the final. Adapted to the conditions far better than the Robins and seemed to want it more - no complaints from this Swindon fan. Very pleased for Kyle Howarth; he put in some good performances for Swindon last year, especially away from home and after being dumped by Poole deserves some success this year.

Congratulations to the Bees and commiserations to the Eagles however this was a pretty sad evening for the sport again in this country. For any Eastbourne fans who may have made the trip up from the south coast how do you get behind a team with 4 guests in it? I'm not blaming the Eagles promotion, its not their fault they've got riders injured but teams turning up with multiple guests is becoming more and more common. Anybody new to the sport (or prospective sponsors for that matter) would find it incomprehensible that a team takes to the track with more guests than its own riders. Absences are too frequent in the sport over here now and its not helped with the likes of Jepsen Jensen and Piotr Pawlicki showing utter contempt for their EL teams and just not bothering to turn up. IMO its a major problem that's contributing to the demise of the sport over here. No wonder the media takes so little interest in the sport nowadays. Don't know what the answer is but certainly having more British riders would help. I think the fast track scheme is a move in the right direction but it definitely needs refining and adjustment for next season.

Another inconsistent performance from the Robins tonight. Batch is struggling at the moment - personally I think the GP series is catching up with him a bit. He got very little time to prepare for it and his resources must be stretched to the limit. Nick has struggled this year and not kicked on as many expected he would - perhaps the new race format has had something to do with this? Many congratulations to Stevie, our Mr Consistent and also to Dak who put in another solid performance.

Thoroughly enjoyed last night, great commitment shown by Peter Kildemand for his journey in from Russia. I was sure we would struggle but a fine team performance proved me wrong. Batch gave another Captain's performance and Nathan Greaves got rewarded for his perseverance. For the Aces I thought Nicholls was excellent. Zagar seemed out of sorts but I remember how good he was in this fixture last season nobody could get close to him, total class so I guess everyone's entitled to an off night. For me the biggest disappointment has to be Craig Cook - away from Kirky lane more often than not he's been poor this season, his EL career seems to have stalled a bit this year. Finally it was good to see entertaining racing at Kirky Lane given the amount of stick the track has received from some quarters in the last few years.

You need your top two going well if you're to pick up anything away from home and both Batch and Killer are inconsistent at the moment. So yeah, only Aces asset Steve standing between the Robins and a tonking. (Hope I'm wrong because I'm going tonight! )

Yep, sorry my fault, first time I've started a thread and I've ended up duplicating the original post.

I can't see the Robins getting much out of this - we're so inconsistent this year except for 'Super Steve' who's been the brightest part of our season along with the return to form of Simon Gustafsson. Cookie will no doubt put a shift in tonight but why has he been so indifferent away from home? He's not supported Zager and Scotty too well on the Aces travels..

Well, anybody got any thoughts on this one? Will PK return to some sort of form for the Robins? Any thoughts, Aces fans, on why your team has struggled so much away from Kirky lane this year - I imagine Craig Cook's performances have something to do with that...

Sad day for all connected with the Brummies, in particular those who fought so hard to bring the sport back to the city. Here's hoping for a swift return in 2015.